Beethoven's 2nd (1993) Poster

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6/10
A little contrived and mediocre in places, but is an entertaining and watchable sequel
TheLittleSongbird22 March 2010
I really enjoyed the first Beethoven, while it had its flaws, it was cute and charming. This sequel has its contrivances and a little mediocre in places, but it is a decent sequel, definitely one of the more watchable ones in the franchise. The script is weak in places, and the plot is something you will have seen before. Plus the pacing is rather hectic, and the film could have been longer. That said it is beautifully filmed, with lovely cinematography and even better scenery. The music score I couldn't fault either, and the gags are interesting(the hamburger contest was a riot). The acting is decent, with Charles Grodin very entertaining as George and Bonnie Hunt luminous as Alice. As the villains of the pieces, Debi Mazar and Chris Penn also impress. But the real stars are the dogs, Beethoven is still his funny and adorable self, but he is almost upstaged by the beautiful and equally adorable Missy. Overall, has its problems, but as a sequel it is watchable, certainly better than the rating here(and I also think the first film is rated too low). 6/10 Bethany Cox
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6/10
Just as good as the first!
ashleyparsons1153 March 2011
Okay I know a lot of people don't like this movie, but I don't see what is wrong with it. The Newmans this time decide to take a family vacation and of course bring Beethoven along. Although this time he has had puppies. The puppies mother is after them and tries to steal them. But the family sticks together to try and save the puppies.

If you enjoy the first one then you will love this one. It is the same great cast and family setting. It is a non stop laughing fest just like the first.

Most of the time sequels aren't as good, not in this case. There are some great scenes involving Beethoven and his puppies. Children of all ages will love this along with their parents!
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5/10
Okay, But No Match For The Fist One
ccthemovieman-13 July 2007
This isn't a bad sequel but it's unable to measure up to the first "Beethoven," which was an extremely likable film. This is still a "cute" film and one parents and all the kiddies certainly will like.

It features a litter of St. Bernard puppies, and who doesn't go "aww" at the sight of little puppies, especially St. Bernard's? The puppies are the main story here, which turns into a "crime" story when "Missy" is dog-napped and the little ones also become endangered.

I didn't think this was a "silly" story as there are some good morals and lessons to be learned, but it was a bit "sappy." I get a little annoyed, too, when animals are pictured as smarter than the humans. I'm sorry but, as much as you might love pets and hate some people, that just ain't so.

Nonetheless, if you loved the first movie you'll find enough to like in here to enjoy it. If you thought the first film was just okay, you won't like this.
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7/10
Lovely family movie
jonathanspellman20 February 2020
What's not to like? Captures 90s nostalgia, family values , peer pressure and bullying for kids, a baddie!! And super nice puppies 😍. Give it a chance it's a rewind and a reset on life away from super heroes and depression on modern Life!!!
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Great Fun!
blackarachnia25 May 2004
Beethoven's 2nd is, without a doubt, the most fun movie I've ever seen. This second generation of St Bernard pups renews my faith that animals can be treated very well in the movies. The dogs are the most fun part of this movie. Missy and Beethoven getting into some trouble and having their pups while Missy's surrogate owner is completely unaware. It's a really fun movie for adults and children that are over 8 years of age. There's quite a bit of inappropriate content in this movie such as Chris Penn's character dangling one of Missy's puppies over the cliff. Other than that it was a fun movie.
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4/10
bland family movie
SnoopyStyle1 May 2016
Beethoven is back along with the Newton family. George (Charles Grodin) and Alice (Bonnie Hunt) are forced to put up their home for their business. Ryce (Nicholle Tom) has a crush. Beethoven is also in love with a dog named Missy. Regina (Debi Mazar) gets Missy in the divorce. She and Floyd (Chris Penn) are keeping Missy until her ex pays $50k. Missy escapes and 10 weeks later, there's a litter of puppies. Regina recaptures Missy but the Newton kids manage to save the puppies.

It's a pretty bland family movie. Charles Grodin gets the worst part of deal. In the end, there are a bunch of puppies and there's a floor to this. No matter how bland, the puppies are still adorable. It's just not quite as much fun. The slapstick is more painful than hilarity. It's a lot of puppy love and it's also a bit hokey.
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6/10
The last watchable "Beethoven" film...
MovieAddict201612 February 2004
Watchable first sequel to the surprise hit stars Charles Grodin and Bonnie Hunt as the reprising Newton family, whose slobbering Saint Bernard--Beethoven--gets himself a female doggie to make love with and produce tiny little doggies with. Problem: Two evil dognappers are chasing after the puppies.

Why do they want them? Well, why did Cruella Devil want puppies? Because they're villains.

A very poor movie, but compared to "Beethoven's 3rd, 4th" and "5th" this looks like a masterpiece.

2.5/5 stars -- mediocre but watchable sequel.

  • John Ulmer
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5/10
Less good than the first one
Atreyu_II8 January 2009
This sequel to the hit movie "Beethoven" is not bad, but the first one is a better film. It's still amusing and entertaining enough and cleverly it keeps the same main cast, but the plot is a bit more lame and cheesy. Some characters are annoying too, like that ugly girl Ted's in love with, the two bullies (more irritating than those from the first one) and Taylor Devereaux's drunk friends, for example.

The villains of the story are Regina and Floyd, two cold and cruel people who hate dogs and any kind of animal. They're not likable persons.

George Newton is more amusing here than in the first one. Ted and Ryce are beginning to show signs of teen age, which is not a bad thing, but I rather then the way they are in the first movie. Not that Ryce is a child in the first film, she simply is more teenager here. As for Emily, she's still the very same cute and adorable child, although more mature.

Although Beethoven is the main doggy star, this movie also focus on Missy, the beautiful female St. Bernard-like dog. The puppies, of course, are cute.

While still an okay family movie, some things about it are disturbing, such as Taylor's intentions towards Ryce and that McDonald's scene when the dogs and their owners make a contest to eat hamburgers in 3 minutes, which I consider a bit disgusting.

On the other hand, there's some classic humor too. One good example is whenever George makes that funny suspicious face towards Ryce's boys. Or the scene when Emily asks her father a question about babies and he feels so embarrassed that he doesn't know how to explain well.

The main actors are still good here. I don't like Ryce's haircut here, however. I rather her original haircut.
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10/10
Actually quite good!
cohru014 February 2003
I don't understand the trashing comments I just read. This film is very, very good. I've seen it at least 5 or 6 times and it was enjoyable the first and last time I saw it. The film making was superb. I actually did some research to see where that cottage was located and see if there were any rentals.

I saw no character flaws in anyone. Each character was precise and very believable. Continuity errors were at a minimum. I also don't understand the rating this movie got. It was NOT THAT BAD! If there was poor acting, or plots, or errors then I could see trashing the movie. But really!

Even the musical score was perfect for each scene. A mixture of real classical and real rock. The music score designer deserves an 'A'.

Best parts: 1) Beethoven's nose in the beginning, followed by his dream sequence. 2) Anything Regina did. She was perfect! 3) Grodin trying to explain where babies come from. 3) The bully sequence at the fair (bite this guy in the weiner!) 4) The hamburger eating contest. 5) The tree stump scene with Penn. 6) Finally, all of the grunting noises Beethoven made. I can actually imitate each one. My kids love it when I do that.

Come on people. The movie was really enjoyable with quality Hollywood direction and design. Please stop knocking it. Give it another try. Or next time, try watching it with a child. You'll see.
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6/10
Enjoyable to watch
OMTR26 June 2022
This second installment in the Beethoven film series is a family comedy that is pleasant to watch when you wake up with a coffee on Sunday morning.

The story is not only funny but also educational.
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5/10
Beethoven Rolls Again
bkoganbing4 March 2016
The entire Newton family of Charles Grodin, Bonnie Hunt, Christopher Castile, Nicolle Tom, and Sarah Rose Karr are back in their roles from the first Beethoven movie. That lovable slobbering St.Bernard is also back and he's now a family man.

In the first Beethoven movie the star has a leading lady who is a female of the same breed. But now Beethoven's beloved is the object of a custody battle between Debi Mazur and her ex-husband. Mazur doesn't really want the dog, she's just using her as leverage. Now Beethoven becomes a daddy when the female gives birth to four handsome young pups.

This of course is a bad situation, but the Newtons one and all take a hand and families human and canine are stronger than ever.

Debi Mazur does her best Cruela DeVille imitation in her performance and she's Cruela if Cruela came from Bensonhurst in Brooklyn. Her boyfriend Chris Penn is muscle head with his little gray cells few and far between. They deserve each other, but they're pretty funny too. Mazur looks like she's enjoying herself.

Best moment for me though is Nicolle Tom when young rich player Ashley Hamilton invites her up to his bedroom for a quick romp. Beethoven rescues her in a truly spectacular manner. Those St.Bernards are really strong animals.

Beethoven's 2nd even got some Oscar recognition in the Best Song category for The Day I Fall In Love.

Beethoven's 2nd may not have pleased the critics, but it's still fine family entertainment.
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4/10
Cynical and workman like sequel with watered down charm
IonicBreezeMachine18 June 2021
The Newton family consisting of George, Alice, Ryce, Ted, Emily(played once again by Charles Grodin, Bonnie Hunt, Nicholle Tom, Christopher Castille, and Sarah Rose Karr respectively), and Beethoven are all still living together with their St. Bernard dog Beethoven. Beethoven still routinely escapes his enclosure and has a chance encounter with female St. Bernard, Missy and her kindhearted owner Brillo (Kevin Dunn, uncredited). The three are interrupted by the arrival of Brillo's cruel ex-wife Regina (Debi Mazar) and her loutish boyfriend Floyd (Chris Penn) who take possession of the dog until Brillo gives her $50,000 in alimony payments. Beethoven and Missy continue their relationship unknown to Regina, which results in a litter of 4 puppies and when Regina leaves town with Missy, Beethoven is helped by the Newton children in caring for the puppies until solution can be found, with hijinks aplenty in tow.

The first Beethoven from producer Ivan Reitman and screen writers Amy Holden Jones and John Hughes (under his pseudonym Edmond Dantes) was an unexpected hit grossing just shy of $150 million worldwide against a modest $20 million budget. With a rate of return that impressive a sequel was fast tracked for the following year with most of the key cast returning. While I thought the first Beethoven was familiar, I gave it credit for being well made, cute, and having a well trained canine actor who helped give the titular dog a personality that was a lovable engine of chaos. Pretty much everything (save some exceptions) audiences liked from the first film is on full display here....and really not much beyond that.

I will give credit to Beethoven's 2nd that unlike a lot of comedy sequels, the movie doesn't reset to square one with George hating Beethoven once again so we can have a repeat of the schtick from the first film. George is on good terms with Beethoven (to the point that George doesn't even really interact with him) and he's integrated into the family. Unfortunately the fact that George no longer has animosity towards Beethoven robs the movie of comic friction so there's no conflicts instigating humorous set ups and pay offs like in the first film. Debi Mazar and Chris Penn seem like they're poised to be the comic foils in the film (and also the villains following complaints received about Dean Jones' creepy performance in the first film) and not one are Mazar and Penn not threatening as antagonists, they're also not all that funny as they're basically a lower rent version of the wealthy unscrupulous snobs David Duchovny and Patricia Heaton played in the first movie.

Along with the puppies the movie adds five new dog characters to the cast with no idea what to do with them. Missy is basically just a objective for Beethoven to find while the puppies (who all have names but none I can remember) are basically chaos engines who create conflict. Once George finds out about the puppies we basically get a rehash of the George getting annoyed by Beethoven shenanigans only this time with puppies (even doing a variation on the dogs covered in the mud that's not as funny as the original). While Beethoven isn't the best written film, it worked because it gave the dog a larger than life personality that played off well against Charles Grodin's delivery and we just don't have that same level of setup and pay off here The movie is also lousy with coincidences with Ryce's would be boyfriend, Regina and Floyd, and the Newton family all on vacation in proximity around the same lake for 4th of July weekend with all of them just basically pratting around until we get an artificial climax that feels like a toothless version of Benji: The Hunted. While Dean Jones did go to ridiculous extremes for the sake of obtaining that particular dog for the sake of testing ammunition on, it at least gave us proper setup, build up, and pay off that made the plot point easy to swallow. Regina and Floyd feel like placeholders and just aren't all that engaging.

Beethoven's 2nd is what it is: a cynical attempt capitalize on an okay movie by giving audience more of what was in the first with no added twist or new elements. While the actors are fine, and the dogs are reasonably well trained, the novelty from the first film is missing as it just putters aimlessly from setpiece to setpiece in what's essentially the first film without the effort.
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5/10
Good, but as the 1st one
This 1993 sequel to the St. Bernard hit finds big, fluffy Beethoven now at home with gruff-but-lovable dad Charles Grodin, supermom Bonnie Hunt, and their three kids. The story continues with Beethoven falling for a female St. Bernard and having a litter, unbeknown st to Grodin, while the new dog's owner (Debi Mazar) starts angling for benefits from this union. The larger dog pool certainly adds more cuteness and laughs to this follow-up, and Grodin and Hunt--consummate professionals--don't let sequel-its lower their energy or their wonderfully idiosyncratic way with dialog. Mazar brings her own edge to the proceedings, too, but in the end, the film's accent is still very much on a feel-good experience for everyone.
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Send this sequel to the pound
soranno28 October 2002
Like the first film really deserved a sequel? This unnecessary waste of a film adds a girlfriend and children into the lonely Beethoven's life but that doesn't really do anything to enhance this film's levels of enjoyment (if any). Released around the same time as "Look Who's Talking Now" which was also a rather played out sequel but that wasn't anywhere near as bad as this one.
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1/10
Charles Grodin, what went wrong with you?
lee_eisenberg15 September 2016
Charles Grodin starred in a number of good movies: "Rosemary's Baby", "Catch-22", "King Kong", "Heaven Can Wait", "The Great Muppet Caper" and "The Couch Trip". He even got considered for the role of Ben in "The Graduate".

But then later in life he turned to what are known as paycheck movies: atrocious flicks in which he starred because he needed the money. The first "Beethoven" was entertaining once (it might be of more interest nowadays for the early appearances of Stanley Tucci and Oliver Platt). "Beethoven's 2nd" was a cynical excuse to make money.

Bonnie Hunt managed to star in better movies later on ("Jumanji", "The Green Mile"). I'm not sure that we'll see Charles Grodin in any sort of high-quality movie again, although I liked how he challenged Sean Hannity to get waterboarded.
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8/10
Very good kids movie!
lauradevo-628847 September 2019
Lovely movie, watched it many times as a child now enjoy it with my children. Can't believe it's low score on here.
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6/10
Decent sequel and family film. Alas, too mediocre.
swedzin16 February 2010
I have really enjoyed the first Beethoven film. But, hey, I've also enjoyed this one. When I was a kid, I was very happy when I found out that there's a sequel to the first film. But, of course, when you are a kid, you love everything. But, as you grow up and start to grow rational and critical thinking... Well, you know how that goes. So let's dive in. This film is very cute, cheerful, childish and (but) mediocre and over the top when it comes to new puppies. The plot is very simple. Beethoven finds a female Saint Bernard, and of course, later, to make story even cuter, they've got puppies. But, the evil owner of Missy (female Saint Bernard) has some wicked plans of her own, along with her stupid boyfriend (a classic image of Cruela De Ville and her two silly henchmen). Therefore, Newton family has a new riot in their house. The villains in this film are not that interesting, nor charismatic. And the Newtons, well, George and Alice were just in their own element. George is upset because of the new puppies and Alice is defending them. It was already used in the first film, please give us something new! The weakness of this film is too much mellow and irritating romantic scenes! That was not necessary. It was somehow expected, in a way. But to go way over the top, even with that, it's just makes film longer and less interesting and cringing on occasions. The big focus this time is on the eldest daughter Rice. Emily and middle brother Ted didn't have much of the focus. A little focus was on Ted in the first film. That is really bad in the film when you use characters as tools to move the plot, instead of developing them. Focus on Rice was not that strong, nor developed. And the youngest, Emily, for example, she was basically robbed of her development through this and the first film. It's kind of tragic. Just speed up these romantic scenes, and jump to next scene. But, still it's enjoyable, harmless, fun and funny! Just for the family and kids. Watch it.
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9/10
Cuter than the first
Catherine_Grace_Zeh17 November 2005
BEETHOVEN'S 2ND, in my opinion, is even cuter than the first BEETHOVEN. I laughed really hard when George (Charles Grodin) first discovered the puppies in the basement of his house and said, "Oh, no!" Those puppies were absolutely adorable! In my opinion, Regina (Debi Mazar) and Floyd (Chris Penn) were like Cruella and her henchmen, Horace and Jasper! I was so glad when the puppies got them all dirty. I mean, what human being would want to drown five sweet, cute, innocent puppies? When Beethoven caused the deck of Taylor's (Ashley Hamilton) lake house to collapse, I was relieved. This was because he saved Ryce (Nicholle Tom) from being raped. In conclusion, I highly recommend this cute movie to all you dog lovers or Charles Grodin fans who have not seen it.
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Drown them all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
chris-39712 February 1999
So what if I hate dogs, children and Americans? I can still enjoy this film can't I?? Now let's see... No!! No More!! If they bring out a third they'll regret it! Bwahahahaha!!! What exactly is the plot?? Is it possible that I fell asleep and missed half of it? No, because there's boredom, and just plain sickness. Well, they should have drowned the puppies, cos I hate them. If any animal rights people complain at me, I'll have them drowned as well. In fact, I might just go and flood the entire American continent. Millennium hand and shrimp. That's what you think. Hats.
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6/10
Best dog movie
arshambehrouz2 September 2019
Fresh clean air WATER...while mammals roam FREE in the other dimension
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6/10
Fun sequel
Calicodreamin3 August 2021
A worthy sequel to the first Beethoven and one of my personal childhood favorites. The storyline is basic, but has a great villain in Debi Mazar, she's perfect. The cast have good chemistry and there are some fun moments and a whole lot more adorable puppies.
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10/10
A Great Sequel!!!
dockerykelli27 June 2019
Beethoven's 2nd is such a wonderful, feel good movie!!! It has TONS OF LAUGHTER, love, heartache and a GREAT outcome for the end of the film. Beautifully shot and the original cast members reprise their roles in the sequel along with new characters. A++ Film
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10/10
Beethoven's 2nd is SWEET
sbulone31 May 2005
Beethoven's 2nd is so cute, the puppies are adorable and the movie is funny. I think the first 2 are way better than the other sequels. It starts when Beethoven goes to the park and he finds a another Saint Bernard and her name is Missy. They soon have puppies and the kids follow Beethoven to see what he's up to and they find little Beethoven's, there all so sweet and they take them home and don't say nothing about it, for a while and the parents find out and the father says they can keep them until they can find homes for them, well I don't want to tell you the whole story so go out and see it, you will not be disappointed. If your a dog lover you'll love this movie.
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8/10
Grodin and Hunt! Need I say more?
jensen-4530 September 2008
It's got Charles Grodin and Bonnie Hunt! How could that possibly be bad?? They are always a pleasure to watch. Beethoven's 2nd is worth watching just for them. Beyond that, it's not high art and child actors and not entirely engaging, but it's cute and fun and and quite watchable -- and who could like something with five adorable St. Bernard puppies? Sure, it occasionally drags, but you can't expect Grodin and Hunt to be in every scene. And as a bonus we get Debi Mazur doing a great turn as a comic villain!

Lighten up and enjoy a cute film with a pair of exceptional comic actors.
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9/10
I love the movie
v-5628921 March 2021
I have seen the movie many, many times as a kid... ok there are some pitfalls.. but I find it really funny.. I remember so many scenes and quotes... I have no idea why is it rated so low here...
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