Sandra Bullock Returns as Gracie Hart in Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous
Written: Apr 06 '05 (Updated Apr 06 '05)
Product Rating:
Pros: Sandra Bullock. Some funny scenes.
Cons: Gracie wasn’t Gracie anymore. No Victor. Not as funny.
The Bottom Line: Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous had some problems and wasn’t as good as Miss Congeniality, but it was entertaining. People could enjoy it if their expectations aren’t too high.
dragonfire88's Full Review: Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous
Sequels can be tricky to do well, but many are made every year. Some are better than others, and only a few manage to be as good as the original movies. Some movies do end with remaining questions and a need for a sequel, but others don’t. In 2000, I saw Miss Congeniality when it was released in theaters and went on to buy the DVD because I enjoyed the movie so much. There really wasn’t a need for another movie, but Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous was made anyway. Since I had enjoyed the first movie so much, I did want to see the new one, though my expectations weren’t very high.
Some things I mention when discussing Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous could be spoilers for Miss Congeniality for people who haven’t already seen that movie. In that movie, FBI agent Gracie Hart went through a make over and went undercover as a contestant at the Miss United States Pageant because there was a threat against it. Gracie ultimately saved the life of her new friend Cheryl, Miss Rhode Island, during the final minutes of the television broadcast of the pageant.
Three weeks after the Miss United States pageant, it became clear that Gracie could no longer work as a field agent when a mission went wrong because she was recognized. Gracie’s day got worse that night when the man she had been dating, Eric Matthews, dumped her over the phone. Gracie’s boss McDonald told her that the director wanted her to be the new face of the FBI. Gracie wasn’t sure about doing it until she learned that Eric had transferred to another city without telling her. McDonald arranged for Gracie to work with Joel, a stylist. He said that she needed to change things about herself to be the face of the FBI.
Ten months later, Gracie was completly different. She was always worried about her appearance and spent her time doing appearances on talk shows. Sam Fuller, a female FBI agent that had trouble working with everyone had been working with Gracie. Sam and Gracie didn’t get along. Cheryl and Stan Fields, the host of the Miss United States pageant, had been making an appearance together when they were kidnaped. Gracie was sent to Las Vegas to do all the press related to the case for the bureau with Joel and her hair and make up team in tow. McDonald sent Sam along as Gracie’s bodyguard. Gracie wanted to be more involved in searching for her friends. Collins, the agent in charge at the Las Vegas field office, didn’t want Gracie doing anything except press conferences. He ignored everything she said. Sam wasn’t happy to be in Las Vegas and wanted Gracie to stick to what Collins told her to do. Gracie was determined to save her friends and worked on the investigation on her own. She did manage to convince Sam and Jeff Foreman, the agent that was assigned to keep track of Gracie, to help her.
Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous was funny and entertaining at times, but it wasn’t as good as the first movie. The first movie wasn’t perfect, but I thought it was really funny and it is one of my favorite movies. The sequel didn’t live up to the original. I didn’t really expect it to, so I wasn’t surprised by that. I didn’t let my expectations for the new movie to get to high, which is probably why I did enjoy it for the most part, but it wasn’t as good as the first movie. The first movie wasn’t the most original, but this one seemed to be even less original. Gracie was in a different situation, but she still went through almost exactly the same things again. She was put in the place of having to dress and act differently for her job and had to work with a stylist. She figured out things for the case and her superior didn’t believe her and wanted her pulled from the investigation. She was clashing with the agent she was working with. She ended up being caught on video taking someone down in a flying tackle. Cheryl and Stan were back and in danger. The resolution of the case took place in front of a crowd, though it wasn’t anywhere as entertaining as the cat fight for the crown that happened at the end of the first movie. Since the decision to make another movie was made, it would have been nice if some more thought went into the script to make it a bit more different. There were some things that happened that I didn’t expect, but overall the movie was predictable.
Most of the humor in the original movie was provided by Gracie and how she reacted to the situations she found herself in. She was focused on her job and wasn’t feminine. Some of the laughs came from silly things like Gracie not being able to walk in heels or how she snorted when she laughed, but it was entertaining. Gracie had some very funny exchanges with Victor, the man hired to turn her into a believable pageant contestant. Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous did make me laugh some, but I didn’t think it was as funny. Bullock didn’t have the same opportunities for laughs that she had in the first movie. She had a few Gracie moments early in the movie, but then the character changed drastically. Gracie didn’t act the same anymore, and that eliminated a lot of chances for laughs in my opinion. It was funny when Gracie dressed up as an older woman at one point, but that was only once scene. There were still some silly moments in this movie, like when Gracie ended up chasing suspects in a show girl outfit with an elaborate feathered head piece. The movie did make me laugh, but I just didn’t think it was as funny as the first movie. There were some bloopers shown at the beginning of the credits, but even most of those weren’t that funny.
Gracie was still an FBI agent, but since she was so well known after what happened during the Miss United States pageant, she wasn’t working in the field any longer. She became ended up going on all kinds of talk shows to discuss the FBI, what happened on the pageant case, and to push the book she wrote. She didn’t even do her own demonstrations of the self defense moves she used as a talent in the pageant. Even though Gracie had become more lady like, she still ended up in fighting with Sam. The two women ended up fighting some suspects at one point late in the movie. Sam was devoted to her job like Gracie had been. The first time Sam was in the movie, she was working out with another agent throwing him all over the place. Sam was more physical than the new Gracie. Guns were shown in a few different scenes, but they weren’t used that much. The only violence was really provided by the few fights. The movie really wasn’t violent.
Gracie and McDonald returned from the first movie. Cheryl and Stan were also back. McDonald didn’t have much to do in either movie, but I think he may have had a few more scenes in the first. Gracie was the main character of both, though she did seem like a completly different person for most of Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous. Gracie was established as a woman that was devoted to her job and didn’t really care about beauty and fashion in the first movie. She went through a make over that changed her appearance, but she was still the same person. She was still clumsy and snorted when she laughed. She was cute and likeable. In this movie, Gracie took the change further and actually changed how she acted. She almost seemed to be obsessed with her hair and make up. She was always dressed perfectly, didn’t fall, and didn’t snort. She wasn’t the same down to earth woman she had been before and didn’t act like a serious agent. She was acting like a pampered princess and expected others to wait on her. She tried to send Sam to Starbucks for some sort of coffee one time. After her change, Gracie didn’t seem as nice and she wasn’t as likeable. In the first movie, her outer appearance did change, but she remained the same inside. She pulled off being a contestant in a beauty pageant, but her clumsiness still turned up now and again. That didn’t happen in the new movie. She had one or two clumsy moments and snorted a few times early in the movie. She didn’t do anything like that again until near the end of the movie. She acted so different that she didn’t seem like the same Gracie to me. When she was still considering McDonald’s offer, she said she didn’t want to become FBI Barbie again, but that is exactly what she turned herself into with Joel’s help. She was hurt when Eric dumped her, and her confidence was shaken, so she bought into what Joel told her and took it too far. Once Gracie started acting like her old self again, I liked her more.
Stan didn’t have a very large part in the first movie, but I do think he had a few more scenes in it. He did have funnier lines in it. Cheryl had a much larger part in the first movie. It was a bit disappointing that she didn’t have more to do. She was still acting the same. None of the other characters from the first movie returned for this one. Eric wasn’t one of my favorite characters, so I didn’t miss him. I never did like him too much, and the way his absence was explained in this movie just added to that feeling. I did miss Victor though. He was one of the best parts from the original. He and Gracie had some very good scenes together in the first movie, including some funny exchanges. I think this movie suffered because he wasn’t in it. One of the new characters, Joel, served the same purpose as Victor. Joel was a bit more flamboyant, but I didn’t think he added anything to the movie. He was a poor replacement for Victor.
Sam Fuller started off a lot like Gracie from the first movie, though Sam was a bit tougher. The character was all right, but nothing that special. I thought that Gracie had better interactions with Victor. Collins acted much like McDonald did in the first movie. Collins was harsher with Gracie though, and I really didn’t like him. Janet, another agent in the Las Vegas office, seemed to only be around to look pretty most of the time. Jeff Foreman was just supposed to be keeping an eye on Gracie, but he got pulled into what she was doing. He at least did listen to Gracie.
Sandra Bullock was fine as Gracie. When I felt that the character wasn’t as likeable, it was because of how the character was written for this movie. Bullock just followed along with what she had to work with. She was believable in the part. I just missed the Gracie from the first movie. Ernie Hudson, William Shatner, and Heather Burns were all fine in the parts they returned to. None of them had much to work with though. Regina King played Sam, the new character that had the most to do. She was good in the part. Diedrich Bader was in the background of several scenes, but he really didn’t do too much. He was all right in the part, but he wasn’t as good as Michael Caine was in the original. Treat Williams did the best he could with what was a flat character. Abraham Benrubi had a few scenes as one of the kidnapers. He played a different sort of bad guy in Without a Paddle.
CAST
Diedrich Bader - Joel
Abraham Benrubi - Lou Steele
Sandra Bullock - Gracie Hart
Heather Burns - Cheryl
Ernie Hudson - McDonald
Regina King - Sam Fuller
Enrique Murciano - Jeff Foreman
William Shatner - Stan Fields
Treat Williams - Collins
Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous was released on March 24, 2005. The movie was all most two hours long and rated PG-13. I don’t remember there being any swearing in the movie. At one point, a character was having a conversation about sex, but not much was even said. There really wasn’t anything objectionable in the movie.
Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous was entertaining, but it wasn’t as good as the first movie. Even though I thought it had some problems, I did end up enjoying it. People that like Sandra Bullock or liked Miss Congeniality may also enjoy this one if their expectations aren’t too high.
Sandra Bullock returns as Federal Agent Gracie Hart in this action comedy and goes undercover in Las Vegas to rescue her best friend, the Miss United ...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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