Elwood has been released from prison after doing an 18 year sentence. He learns that his brother, Jake, died some time ago. Elwood feels he has nothing left, but little does he know that a new adventure is coming his way.
Blaine: In 1991, Dan Aykroyd had a “Blues Brothers” sequel in mind and John Landis got excited about the thought of doing a sequel after Dan told him about it. Dan thought there was a second story to be told and so he started writing the draft for the sequel in 1995. It’s interesting how Dan and John took this story in a new direction from the first “Blues Brothers” and show how Elwood does on his own without Jake. So much happens in “Blues Brothers 2000”. “Blues Brothers 2000” shows a lot of familiar faces who were in the first “Blues Brothers” like Aretha Franklin, James Brown and Frank Oz, but the ensemble is 50 times bigger than what the first movie had. A lot of the celebrities in the ensemble are very talented musicians. It’s an ensemble of musicians. A lot of musicians contacted John Landis saying they wanted to be apart of the “Blues Brothers” sequel after hearing about it. The Blues Brothers band participate in this Battle of the Bands thing towards the end and their competition is a band called the Louisiana Gator Boys, which is this big group of musicians. That was mind blowing to have all these talented musicians come and sing together. It was something no one wanted to end because they had too much fun.
John Landis and Dan Aykroyd informed the other members of The Blues Brothers band that they were going to make a sequel and it wasn’t a surprise to some of them because fans of the first “Blues Brothers” would ask them if there was going to be another movie. Five years had past and the band members were thinking that the sequel was never going to get made, until all of a sudden Dan and John informed them they were ready to make “Blues Brothers 2000”. Paul Shaffer was supposed to be the pianist in the first “Blues Brothers” and he helped Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi put together the Blues Brothers band. Paul had to drop out because he had this other project that he had trouble getting out of. Paul always regretted not being in “The Blues Brothers”, but lucky thing for him second chances come around and so he was able to do the sequel. They gave Paul the part of the assistant to the person in charge of the Battle of the Bands, Queen Moussette, played by Erykah Badu.
B.B. King had worked with John Landis and Dan Aykroyd before, but he never sang. “Blues Brothers 2000” was the first movie B.B. King got to sing in front of a camera which was frightening for him. B.B. King shows up towards the beginning of the film working at a place that sells cars and Elwood wants to buy a police car. B.B. King’s character informs Elwood that he selling his place because he wants to pursue a new career and Elwood supports and wishes him luck. I think B.B. King’s character really appreciates Elwood’s kindness. Then Elwood runs into B.B. King at the Battle of the Bands and they’re happy to see each other again.
Elwood doesn’t have a mission to go on in “Blues Brothers 2000”, not like when he and Jake had to raise money in order to save an orphanage. Elwood just wants to put the band back together and relive the old days because music is his life and he just can’t walk away from it. Elwood doesn’t have much luck at the beginning, but his drummer, Willie Hall, gives Elwood a job at his club so he can still put his musical talents to good use. Elwood also has a talent for getting himself into trouble. In the first “Blues Brothers”, Elwood and Jake had to deal with Illinois Nazis, now Elwood is dealing with a Russian mob.
Elwood also manages to find new people to join the band and have them be his co-lead singers. Dan Aykroyd knew that Elwood was going to need a new singing partner now that Jake is gone. Dan needed someone who could sing and dance for this new character he had written. Elwood meets a bartender at Willie’s club named Mac. Mac's passion is music. Mac helps Elwood out with something and in return Elwood promises him that he can sing on stage at the club. It’s a great way for Elwood to test Mac out. Elwood loves hearing Mac sing and loves singing with him. Mac really likes that Elwood is giving him the opportunity to be a singer because that’s what he has always wanted. Mac also likes how good Elwood is to him. Elwood gives Mac a nickname, Mighty Mac, and that gives Mac the giggles. John Goodman is a big Blues Brothers fan and both he and Dan connected once they met. Everyone felt John Goodman was suitable.
At the beginning of the film, Elwood feels he has nothing left in the world, until he learns that Curtis, the man who raised him, had an affair once with a married woman and she got pregnant with his son, Cab. So Elwood believes he still has family out there and that gives him hope. Cutis was the closets thing to father Elwood had and he considers Cab to be his stepbrother. Cab is a commander of the police force and Elwood was told not to bother him or tell him about Curtis, but Elwood disobeys that. It doesn’t take that long for Cab to learn the truth that the war hero he believed to be his father his whole life was never his blood and the truth messes with him. Cab also wants nothing to do with Elwood because he’s nothing but a trouble maker. Elwood manages to get in trouble with the police once again after he steals, or as Elwood would put it borrow cash from Cab’s wallet so he can buy the police car. Cab wants nothing else but for Elwood to be put behind bars. It kind of reminds me of something out of a cartoon the way Cab goes after Elwood. It’s like Cab is Elmer Fudd and Elwood is Bugs Bunny. Cab won’t stop until Elwood is caught. Finally, Cab finds Elwood and the rest of the band at a tent revival, a gathering of Christian worshipers in a tent, and there’s no way to get out. But then the priests played by Sam Moore and James Brown transform…...or redeem Cab, and make him realize that music has always been in his blood. Cab becomes a completely new person. He’s so full of life, he joins the band and he has an amazing singing voice. Cab had nothing but hate for Elwood and now he loves him like a brother.
Elwood is also responsible for looking after this little orphan boy, Buster, just for a few. Elwood doesn’t want to look after a kid at first because he has his own stuff to deal with, plus Elwood thinks he is no good for Buster and wants him to succeed instead of being a trouble maker like him, so that shows Elwood does care. But Buster sticks to Elwood like glue and he rather be with Elwood than go back to the orphanage. Elwood shows a lot of passion in his voice when he talks about music and that interests Buster. It gives Buster a purpose in life and it makes him want to be a musician like Elwood. Elwood also becomes a role model for Buster. Buster feels alive when he becomes a member of the Blues Brothers band. Problem is Elwood was supposed to have Buster only for a couple of hours and then take him back to the orphanage. Because Elwood never brought Buster back he’s now being accused of being a kidnapper. Elwood just can’t manage to stay out of trouble. He gets out of jail after serving 18 years and it takes him less than three days to become a criminal again.
“Blues Brothers 2000” has a few similarities with the first one, but that’s the spirit of the Blues Brothers. For one it shows Elwood’s police car, the Bluesmobile, doing neat tricks. It only jumps in the air a couple of times. Another thing is the 50 police cars that are chasing after it crash into a construction site and into each other. They shot that sequence one take at a time, with stunt drivers driving into other crashed cars. The third thing is people dancing to religion like the church in the first movie, only it’s the tent revival in the sequel. There’s so many great dance moves in “Blues Brothers 2000”, but the people I would say who are really good on their feet are the people at the tent revival. They are dancing at a really fast pace and moving around the whole tent. The choreographer who taught all the dance moves for the first “Blues Brothers” was really good, but he passed away shortly after that, so John Landis needed to find a new choreographer. He found Barry Lather, who is all about dancing. Barry's father owned a dance shop growing up. Barry loved teaching everyone these different dance moves and John Landis loved seeing him teach. John Landis is a very passionate filmmaker, like a lot of other filmmakers I’ve written about. John’s so full of energy when it comes to making a film. He doesn’t take anything seriously, except for what he wants to see. He tells everyone what to do and have fun with it.
The ending makes me curious to know what Elwood’s fate is. Good news is a lot of the charges against him are dropped. Bad news is he is still in trouble for not returning Buster to the orphanage. Buster has never been so happy in his life. He likes being with Elwood and being apart of the Blues Brothers band. So Elwood and Buster make a run for it while the rest of the band cause a distraction. There was never a third “Blues Brothers” movie and it’s too late to make one now. I would liked to have seen one more “Blues Brothers”. There is so much to watch in “Blues Brothers 2000” from beginning to end and during the end credits it shows all the names of the ensemble of actors and musicians as they sing along to the song “New Orleans”. Then it cuts to an after credit ending showing James Brown singing a song called “Please, Please, Don’t Go” with Elwood and Mac singing in the background. “Blues Brothers 2000” is a lot of fun to watch. Even my dad says it’s just as good as the first “Blues Brothers” and like me, he says it’s a great adventure. Dan Aykroyd was happy that a sequel was made because this is what he wanted.
My rating “Blues Brothers 2000” is five out of five stars
