Psycho's Movie Reviews #86: Sister Act 2: Back In The Habit (1993)

Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit is a 1993 American musical, comedy film loosely based on the life of Crenshaw High School choir instructor Iris Stevenson and starring Whoopi Goldberg. Directed by Bill Duke, and released by Touchstone Pictures, it is the sequel to the successful 1992 film Sister Act. Most of the original cast reprise their roles in the sequel, including Maggie Smith, Kathy Najimy, Wendy Makkena, and Mary Wickes.

Plot:

Deloris Van Cartier has become a famous performer in Reno since her time posing as a nun to hide from the mob, having an entire dinner show based on her experience. During her latest performance, she reunites with her friends, Sisters Mary Patrick, Mary Robert, and Mary Lazarus.

They ask for her help, reuniting her with the Reverend Mother, who explains that the convent nuns now teach at the St. Francis Academy in San Francisco, where Deloris attended as a child. The school faces closure unless its reputation can be improved. The nuns ask her to reprise her persona as Sister Mary Clarence and become the new music teacher. She reluctantly agrees.

At the school, Mary Clarence meets the school's staff of friars, led by the humble but inept Father Maurice. She attends her first music class, meeting the rowdy teenagers, who are there just to get n easy "A". Mary Clarence butts heads with the ringleader, Rita Louise Watson, who walks out when she introduces a firmer hand in class. The other students stay to avoid failure. When they break into spontaneous, synchronized singing, Mary Clarence decides to turn them into a choir, to which the students initially object.

Mary Robert overhears Rita singing, and Mary Clarence convinces her to return to the group. The class and nuns restore the school's decrepit music room and practice extensively, later performing "Oh, Happy Day" before the whole school, led by the talented vocalist Ahmal. The nuns discover numerous trophies, revealing the school won the All-State Choir Championship multiple times in the past, and decide to enter them once again. Father Maurice allows it, as long as they raise the money themselves and each student has a signed parental permission slip.

Rita's strict but well-meaning mother Florence refuses to let her attend, believing a musical career is a dead end as her husband died trying to chase fame. However, Rita forges her mother's signature to go anyway, leaving an apology note for her, prompting Florence to drive to Hollywood to see the competition for herself. Mr. Crisp finds a magazine in the school library with Deloris Van Cartier on the cover. Recognizing her as Mary Clarence, he warns Father Maurice of the sham. The choir has already left for the competition so, the friars pile into their old van and race to confront Mary Clarence.

Backstage at the competition, the choir are intimidated by the other entrants and consider quitting, but Mary Clarence inspires them to persevere. The friars arrive, and Father Maurice decides to support the choir upon seeing their enthusiasm. The other friars trap Mr. Crisp in a closet to prevent him from interfering. The choir takes to the stage, Rita performing a solo before the choir perform an urban contemporary gospel rendition of "Joyful, Joyful", with hip hop choreography.

The choir wins the competition. Impressed with the performance, the school's local diocese agrees to keep the school open. Consequently, despite his desire for early retirement, they also give the freed Mr. Crisp a promotion, cementing it in place with the Reverend Mother claiming that upon discovering the sham of Mary Clarence, Mr. Crisp instructed Fr. Maurice not to withdraw the choir from the competition but, `to handle it internally'.

Rita and Florence make amends, while the choir learns Mary Clarence is actually a professional singer. They ask her if she is a Las Vegas showgirl, to which she claims she has never been such, but is a "headliner".

The end credits feature the film's cast performing "Ain't No Mountain High Enough".

Release/Reception/Box Office:

The film earned a 19% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 37 reviews, with an average rating of 3.5/10. The consensus states: "Sister Act is off-key in this reprise, fatally shifting the spotlight from Whoopi Goldberg to a less compelling ensemble of pupils and trading its predecessor's sharp comedy for unconvincing sentiment." Despite the negative response, Goldberg was nominated for an MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance.

Despite the negative reviews, the film gained a strong cult following since its release and became a cult classic among fans. Director Bill Duke said about the reception: "The reviewers at that time could not really be linked to our communities or the message. As you know, the faces of the reviewers were very different than the viewers. So I was surprised, but not shocked, because they didn’t get us at the time. They didn’t get the message and did not relate on an emotional level."

It was not as successful as Sister Act. The film grossed $57 million in the United States, against a $38 million budget

My Review:

Just like the original, this movie’s highlight for me is the music. They also brought in some real talent for the kids that form the choir. Ryan Toby has an amazing high tenor voice, Jennifer Love Hewitt does an amazing “looks obsessed” teenager, and Lauryn Hill is simply amazing. It is a shame her acting career never took off because she shows potential in this movie. Kathy Najimy and Wendy Makkena reprise their roles as Sister Mary Patrick and Sister Mary Robert. I love them both in this movie as much as the original. The plot works, but the villain doesn’t and most of the third act scenes involving him and the fathers are lazily written so they could concentrate on the kids and Whoopi Goldberg.

This comedy movie is hilarious but not for the reasons that one would think. The portrayal of rapping kids from the hood is hilarious because of how unrealistic it is. The acting from the Whoopie isnt any good because she did not want to be in this movie. The singing in all seriousness though is quite good. It gets better though when you realize that one of the characters is only in the movie because Whoopie lost a bet on a German talk show.

For me this movie show me the struggle young teens has to deal with everyday, how they need to fight against all troubles they faces, coming from dysfunctional families, violent neighborhoods, friends pressure, etc., and how they need a friendly helping hand that make them to have trust by themselves to them to see their internal potential they carry.

Overall, I recommend the film; it's not as good as the original but it's still fairly decent; 7.5/10