Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous
Directed by: John Pasquin
Starring: Sandra Bullock, Regina King, Diedrick Bader, Treat Williams, Heather Burns, William Shatner
Rated: PG-13 for sexual references and a scene of violence.
Parental Notes: This film is fairly innocuous for most preteens. There is a little violence but nothing graphic and some sexual references but nothing all that explicit.
Some sequels are made because there are questions left unanswered at the end of the first films. Others are made because the first film ended with the characters moving into a new phase of their lives, and audiences are understandably interested in seeing what happens next. Then there are the sequels, like most of the ones out this year, made because the producers wanted to capitalize on the success of the first film. “Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous” is definitely in the latter camp, but succeeds in being fairly entertaining anyway.
In “Miss Congeniality” we watched FBI agent Gracie Hart (Sandra Bullock) overcome her incredibly unladylike tendencies to go undercover in a beauty pageant. She made some friends along the way and discovered that one can be gorgeous and tough at the same time. Unfortunately, as “Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous” opens, Gracie is finding that the publicity she got as a result of the pageant assignment has made it essentially impossible to work undercover anymore. The bureau director suggests that she give up undercover work and go into pageant mode full time as the new Face of the FBI. She can do the talk show circuit, write a book or two, and generally help the department’s image. Since Gracie has lost the two things she loved the most (her undercover work and the boyfriend she won at the end of the first film), she figures she might as well.
Everything goes forward in classic fashion, with Gracie’s new partner, Sam Fuller (Regina King), taking an instant dislike to her and Gracie buying into the whole frappuccino/personal stylist//moisturizer glam lifestyle a little too much for her own good. She gets a wake-up call when her best friend from the pageant, Cheryl (Heather Burns) and pageant host Stan (William Shatner) are kidnapped. Of course, the head of the local FBI won’t let her do anything besides brief the press. This is particularly frustrating for Gracie because she is actually onto a good lead, so she goes off on her own to save her friends.
The story is obviously a bit predictable, which is a shame. The first film was clever, with a plot that didn’t always go in the obvious direction. Anyone who’s seen more than a couple buddy movies or “be true to yourself!” comedies will probably be able to predict exactly what is going to happen in “MC2.” This isn’t always bad, mind you, and here there’s enough well-timed comedy to keep you chuckling through the standard twists and turns.
There are a number of weak points in the plot, which has been stretched to hold as many jokes as possible. For example, Gracie and Sam go undercover as drag queens and find that they have to perform in order to reach their intended destination; rather than bet the drag show MC won’t hassle FBI agents and flash their badges, they perform. Why? Because it’s much funnier this way. For those who prefer their humor to grow out of plausible events, this kind of thing is annoying; if you don’t mind this type of shenanigans, most of the film should be fine for you.
The buddy aspect is actually a nice change. Usually films which feature a strong female character as the lead have a romance subplot — even the creative “Miss Congeniality” did. But here we have a buddy subplot as Sam and Gracie learn to get along. Sam is pretty much what Gracie used to be — strong, in-your-face, masculine, and sometimes a bit out of control. Sam has more anger management issues than Gracie did, and the friction between the two women is the source of plenty of good humor in the film. That they wind up friends is unsurprising, but it’s handled well and the two characters both develop as a result of their eventual friendship.
Is “Miss Congeniality 2” a great film? No. It’s fairly entertaining but also rather flawed. If you enjoyed the characters in the first film, this one is worth seeing, but it’s chiefly out to entertain and doesn’t bother with a sharp plot or much originality along the way. If you’re looking for an amusing way to spend a couple of hours, it will probably satisfy you, but it’s not going to engage your mind much in the process.