A lot of the time I avoid sequels to successful comedies, but "City Slickers II" received some fairly good ratings, so I decided to check it out. Unfortunately, I found this film just not funny or emotional enough, and it felt a bit unoriginal. There are some things that had potential, such as Billy Crystal thinking he sees his old friend Curly at several places, as well as his dream at the beginning of the film, which was worth a few laughs. One problem is that the jokes just do not feel original here, and this film uses the exact same gag from the previous film in which Crystal mouths the words his mother says when she calls on the phone. Neither Crystal or Daniel Stern is very funny here. Jack Palance is pretty good, but not flawless as with the previous movie that won him an Oscar. One downfall to this film is the addition of Jon Lovitz, who cannot act and behave like a child most of the time. There were good scenes, such as Palance discussing his relationship with his brother and such, but ultimately the film becomes cheesy and anticlimactic. There are some fairly off-color scenes as well, one thing that earned this film a PG-13 rating. If you want my advice, stick with the original, a funny film that had good jokes, emotion, and even some lessons, and somehow felt like an original, good comedy.
**1/2 out of ****
**1/2 out of ****