Nutty Professor II: The Klumps (2000) User Reviews

Not very funny, and even less plot

[Denver53 · 4/10 · 1 August 2000]

I expected to see lots of variations of the humor that The Nutty Professor (the Murphy version) used in the classic scene of the Klumps at the dinner table. Instead, what little humor this sequel had split time with disgust as the movie went mostly for sexy granny jokes.

The sad thing is, more fart humor would have been an *improvement.* This movie was boring. It was uninteresting. It missed numerous opportunities to have some fun. And it spent too much time showing off make-up and not enough time being entertaining.

Perhaps most painful to watch was Eddie Murphy just being Eddie Murphy (as Buddy Love). I never understand why some actors/directors think that if a character screams real loud and makes a face, it's funny. It is especially not funny when it happens 2-3 times. In the first movie, Buddy Love was funny (if cruel), and his observations were right on target. In The Klumps, Love is like a grown version of that Home Alone kid, when he grabs his face and just yells at the camera. Uh, if you are done shouting now, can we move on?

Janet Jackson was fluff. And I don't know what she has done with her chest, but it seems unusually huge here.

I suppose it would be appropriate to say how well done the make up is as Murphy plays his half-dozen or so characters. Yes, he makes them seem like different people, at least superficially. But none of the characters are really there, you know? They each have little tag lines, and maybe a quirk, and those lines and that quirk are used to death. Take the granny. Yep, she likes sex. She is a sex machine. She wants every man. OK, uh, so? We've seen that 20 times. Can we get to something new?

Overall, I feel sad to see the level Murphy's wit has been reduced to. He used to be more biting, more insightful and more, well, funny. Now he is a human cartoon. I gave this movie a 4.

Murphy gives it his best but there's only so much he can do with such dire writing

[Ruskington · 3/10 · 13 April 2020]

I could probably count on one hand how many movie sequels are anything other than a complete waste of everybody's time. The Nutty Professor II is no exception, and I would go as far as to say that the 2 minutes of outtakes are probably funnier than the rest of the film combined.

The original was a definite success and featured one of Eddie Murphy's career-best performances. Unfortunately, the follow-up is little more than a lazy cash-grab that sucks the life out of the previously hilarious Klumps with a barrage of crass toilet humour. The storyline is absolutely atrocious and it culminates in a completely nonsensical ending. Murphy does just enough to make this film watchable but even he can't make up for such a bad script.

If you enjoyed the first movie, you'd be better off re-watching it than putting yourself through this. Really lame stuff and a massive insult to its excellent predecessor.

Stretches the Limits of PG-13 Rating!

[sanzar · 4/10 · 14 August 2001]

This picture is a crass and obnoxious misfire from Murphy, primarily due to it's unbelievably undeserved PG-13 rating. Laced with profanity, sexual innuendo and bathroom humor, you have to wonder if anyone from the ratings board was awake when this film was screened. If they think this type of fare is appropriate for young teenagers, they must live on another planet. Of course, if it had been rated "R", perhaps my opinion would be different: Murphy is often at his funniest when he's profane & irreverant, but that's for my adult sensibilities, not for those of pre-pubescent or (just barely) post-pubescent sensibilities. Murphy should know better (and has shown better judgement with the "Dr. DoLittle" pics) than to pander this kind of junk to kids.

All that notwithstanding, Murphy again essays multiple roles (under tons of Makeup) as nearly every member of the Klump family. Murphy has already worn more makeup than Boris Karloff ever did in his whole lifetime, so he must enjoy it. Tech credits are good as Murphy appears with Murphy, Murphy and Murphy in umpteen scenes, proving that split screen has been adequately exceeded with digital replacement.

Half-witted plot has professor Klump developing a youth serum, while dealing with the personal inner demons of his "Buddy Love" personna (see first movie for more details). Klump, constantly embarrased by subliminal impulses from his "Buddy" personna, isolates & extracts the Buddy Love DNA, which later spills onto the laboratory pet dog, resulting in an incomprehensible reincarnation of Buddy in human form (but with latent doggy traits). Buddy is intent on stealing the youth formula. and a race ensues to see who can complete the deal, with several dilemmas thrown in along the way. Looks like the sreenwriters swiped a few ideas from early Star Trek episodes (see "The Enemy Within").

Never mind what happens next. Change the channel. And definitely avoid the "Uncensored Director's Cut"; it just makes a bad movie worse.

Basically I thought this film had some funny moments, Eddie Murphy is amazing, Janet looked great, but the story was weak, and overall it wasn't nearly as funny as the first.

[chrisbrown6453 · 5/10 · 20 June 2002]

Eddie Murphy once again slaps on the fat suit to play Sherman Klump. And Mama Klump, and Big Daddy Klump, and Grandma Klump, and Brother Klump, and Buddy Love (although without the fat suit on that one). Since the Klump dinner scene was easily the best scene in the original film, they decided to focus on the entire family in the sequel. And somehow got Janet Jackson to fall in love with Sherman. I wish I knew how that happened. Anyway, while the movie still focuses on Sherman and his quest for love and scientific goals (this time making people younger), the rest of the family gets involved in the story lines. And I thought that took away from the heart of the film. While it was fun to see all the Murphy characters, there needed to be a better story line for them, rather than a bad marriage. Although I will admit the horny Grandmother Klump story line was very funny. They should make a movie just about her next time. But I regress. The story line with Sherman and Buddy, about how Buddy was still inside Sherman, and Sherman managed to get him out, only to have Buddy come to life, and then Sherman is becoming more stupid by the minute and will go into a vegetable state unless he eats Buddy. It's all very cheesy. I mean come on, one tear from Janet near the end manages to bring Sherman back to life? It was all very corny.

This is not to say that there aren't funny scenes in the movie. Again, I thought the best scene was the entire Klump family going out to dinner and all the hi-jinks that ensue. And there were other funny moments scattered throughout the film, but not enough for me to really get into the movie and enjoy it. Basically it was a moment to moment film, not an overall enjoyment film. Eddie Murphy is amazing, and Martin Lawrence has got nothing on dressing up as a fat woman, but it's just not enough. The Klumps is something you can rent for a quiet evening at home.

could be much better

[Special-K88 · 25 April 2002]

Frustrated by erratic and uncontrollable behavior at the hands of his troublesome alter ego, fed up Professor Sherman Klump undergoes a radical experiment that separates his personalities and allows scoundrel Buddy Love to become his own person. This time around they're battling each other for possession of invaluable scientific research which only further complicates matters in Sherman's personal life with colleague Jackson. Murphy, who's clearly having fun in his pull-out-all-the-stops portrayal of a horny grandmother, is as likable and energetic as he's ever been, but the script is awfully slim and throws out only a few genuinely funny ideas, which is a disappointment considering the impact of its predecessor. **

Unfunny, vulgar excuse for comedy

[Flyer-6 · 1/10 · 6 March 2001]

If you think a fart is the appropriate punchline for most jokes, this movie might be for you. It makes Animal House look like upscale, sophisticated comedy. But the worst thing about this movie is not its non-stop, juvenile, toilet-oriented attempts at humor, but that fact that it is NOT FUNNY. It is just long and dumb. I finally got so bored that 3/4 of the way through it I rewound it and took it back to Blockbuster. This movie is not fit for adults or kids.

Doesn't Measure Up

[ccthemovieman-1 · 4/10 · 7 November 2006]

This cannot measure up to the first film - the first with Eddie Murphy, that is, not the Jerry Lewis film from 1963. (Actually, this doesn't measure up to the Lewis film, either.)

For me, the biggest disappointment was the "family" scenes in which Murphy plays almost all the roles including old ladies. In the first film, some of that was absolutely hilarious, the highlight of the movie. Here, that isn't the case. Also, some of the dialog is almost impossible to decipher. It's also too raunchy and this film should have been rated "R." A PG-13 rating is ridiculous with all the emphasis on sex. I hate to see kids watch movies like this.

Still, this had a decent share of funny moments. Also, to its credit, it is not as mean-spirited as the first film turned out to be. Still, the bad outweighs the good. It needed to be funnier, and less raunchy.

LAUGHABLY MADE!

[MrJoeBlow · 1/10 · 1 August 2000]

This film has to be the worst, if not one of, films ever made! Not once did I laugh at this attempt to be trash. Sure, critics say that "Eddie Murphy gives a rousing performance", but what about the film as a whole? Do they ever actually get into its core and speak on it? Peter Segal hasn't yet grasped the gist of comedic timing. After 'Tommy Boy', which I laughed my butt off on, this is a dissapointment to say the least. Quoting from the intelligent character that Bruce Willis played in 'The Kid', Russ Duritz, if you like this movie, you're STOOOPID.

You basically saw the funny stuff in the commercials.

[Aaron1375 · 3/10 · 14 March 2003]

Usually, you will have one are two funny scenes that are totally unexpected in a comedy that you don't even see a hint of in the commercial. For this movie if you seen the barrage of previews for this commercial, then you have seen all the funniest scenes period. By the time I saw this at the theater the scenes were very stale as they repeated the commercials so much it was pathetic. This one has a bit more of the family in it, which was the highlight of the first one. To bad they are not as funny in larger doses. The plot has Sherman somehow extracting the part of him that is Buddy Love. This form somehow comes to life on its own and starts wrecking havoc. This was such an awful plot device you wonder why it is even there. Why have Buddy Love return, is it just to show the audience that Eddie Murphy is actually in shape or what? This movie also has to many scenes where it takes itself to seriously and gets to sappy. What is the matter with just having a comedy without the tender moments? Tender moments are not what I go to a comedy to see most of the time and this is a movie I was expecting none. If you saw the many advertisements of this one, don't bother...you have seen all the funniest parts. If you haven't seen much on it, you may want to give it a go.

How much Eddie Murphy can you take?

[FlickJunkie-2 · 6/10 · 7 January 2001]

How much one likes `The Nutty Professor II: The Klumps' depends on how much Eddie Murphy you can stand. After grossing more than $125 million at the box office, I would have to conclude that moviegoers couldn't get enough. This sequel is a one-man show built around a character skit from the first movie. Murphy plays eight different roles and gives a tour de force performance without the benefit of any story whatever. I got the impression that the writers were superfluous anyway, since Murphy was obviously ad libbing about 90% of the time.

The humor is lowbrow and delivers a good deal of physical comedy laced with sexual innuendo. Though Murphy's caricatures are consistently droll, they rely too much on unflattering stereotypes of blacks. The first dinner scene is a rehash of the dinner scene from the first film. After that scene, most of the film is a repetition of the same tired sight gags. Though Murphy's amusing electricity runs through every character, once the novelty wears off the film's appeal wears thin.

Kudos to the makeup department for an outstanding job on Murphy's various alter egos. Otherwise, the production of this film was nothing out of the ordinary. Larry Miller also gets a very honorable mention as the obnoxious Dean Richmond, getting his just deserts at the hands of a giant hamster.

This film has some laughs but not enough substance for a feature length movie. I rated it a 6/10. Add two or three points if you are an Eddie Murphy fan.

Completely laughable...

[jennifer-99 · 1/10 · 11 December 2000]

...but not in the way that the writers and directors had intended. The largest, and funniest joke of all is that this movie ever got made in the first place, not to mention the fact that it grossed over 124 million at the box office without a single laugh-worthy scene.

From the first 10 minutes of the movie I could tell that this was going to be the type of movie that left me scratching my head saying "I wasted $5 to rent this???"

I never even made it past the first hour of the film so it is possible that the movie got better, but I highly doubt it.

There is always something good to say about every movie, and here, it had to be the make up crew which transformed Eddie Murphy into 7 or 8 different characters. This did nothing to redeem the fact that each of his characters was completely annoying and totally "un-funny" - I found myself straining to understand the unintelligible dialogue.

The plot line(and I use that term loosely) was so thin it was virtually invisible, the acting was embarrassing and the jokes were completely absent from the poorly written script.

All in all....save your money. I'm not sure what has happened to the movie industry's idea of "funny", but if this is the kind of comedy that can achieve box office success, us comedy lovers will spend less money at the box office and more time renting the old favourites from a video store near you.

Funny and great movie!!!

[dockerykelli · 9/10 · 23 June 2019]

The Klumps gives the viewers a more in-depth look into their lives!!! Especially Sherman (The Nutty Professor) and his romance and struggles with keeping Buddy Love definitely gets in the way. GREAT, LAUGH OUT LOUD funny movie.

Not as good as the first film, but a fairly amusing sequel nonetheless

[TheLittleSongbird · 6/10 · 22 April 2010]

I loved the first film, it was funny and touching, and I feel it is underrated. This sequel is inferior, but I have honestly seen much worse sequels than this. There are some things wrong, such as the weak plot, uneven script, a slow beginning and uneven direction, but it is very amusing regardless. Thanks to some great sight gags such as the Fountain of Youth and the giant sex-mad hamster, another brilliant performance from Eddie Murphy and Janet Jackson very effective at playing it straight as the long suffering girlfriend. I also liked how it was filmed, and the score was lovely.

Overall, this is not a bad movie, not great, but not at all terrible.

6/10 Bethany Cox

You have to be hating the world so much to love this movie !

[elshikh4 · 1/10 · 16 August 2011]

This is hard to watch, hard to finish, and hard to remember.

Too far is a word that this movie capably embodies. Review the number of characters Eddie Murphy plays: Sherman Klump, Buddy Love, Granny Klump, Mama Klump, Papa Klump, Young Papa Klump, Ernie Klump, and Lance Perkinscan. WAW, however needless to worn you that too far can be too wrong sometimes. In this manner, they went so far with the filthy material to an extent that turns the movie into a docudrama about the human body's middle, and its various secretions, or simply one of the most emetic movies ever made!

Mainly the idea is good, "The Fountain of Youth", however the script just wanted to play dirty, with nothing but nauseating sex and endless farts in its mind. It is actually a milestone in the fart comedy (the Hollywood comedy once!). Among the many similar comedies nowadays, this one is a godfather and a record. Makes you think deeply; had decency become so old-fashioned? Or had Hollywood become really bankrupt and incredibly dirty in the same time?

Since the start of the 1970s, movies such as (John Waters)'s used to be described as transgressing, with historically awful scenes, frankly nasty elements, done in mostly independent production. Since the end of the 1990s, mainstream Hollywood comedies seem to be feeding on none other than (Waters)'s inspirations. For instance the sexual humor, that this movie savors excessively, is beyond horrible. Just remember an anal sex between a man and a huge hamster, and an oral sex between 80 year old granny and her grandson's alter ego. So the historically awful scenes, the frankly nasty elements,.. are now being done with big budgets, famous stars, and sold as lovable time, for the PG-13 audience. See how we live an age where the major studios transgress us!

Now I have to talk about the scene in which the hamster excretes, rather explodes with excrements, in the face of many dressy people at the press conference. While being one of the top nightmarish moments I have experienced with movies, not believing till now that it was verily made, I have to admit that it seduces a dark place in some of us, and even satisfies it. Sometimes you hate your world so much; hypocrisy, stupidity, corruption.. whatever the reason why, at that point, you want to do what the hamster did, everyone with their hated persons who deserve such a fate best (a machine gun full of.. you know what!). Therefore, the movie utilizes this desire, and realizes it. And instead of spreading values like indulgence or tolerance, it meets violence with violence.. smelly violence for that matter.

But despite being dirty dream and cool moment for some, it's not a solution inasmuch as a problem. Just ask yourself: why the dream has to be dirty?, why the compensation has to be twisted?, and why the cinematic imagination has to be that disturbing? At any rate, feeding ourselves on filth can't be healthy, and using hamster's excrements for punishing the world - in this movie's fantasy or yours - isn't a right prescription for normal.

Look how many family movies Murphy had to make right after this one: Shrek (2001), Dr. Dolittle 2 (2001), Daddy Day Care (2003), The Haunted Mansion (2003), Shrek 2 (2004), and Imagine That (2009). I can't precisely decide; was that a purgation? Or was it a way to woo his raising kids, trying to persuade them that he's a good movie star, or nice person? The thing that I know for sure is that - unfortunately - old habits die hard, because in no time he went, or went back, to make Norbit (2007)!

In brief, I detest (Nutty Professor II: The Klumps). It's poor, unfunny, and too smelly to stand. It has a talent only in bringing up a shockingly ugly thing every minute, to top it by yet another shockingly ugly thing in the next minute; which is not my thing at all. My theory is that you have to be hating the world so much to love this movie altogether. As for me, I'll make every effort to find any atom of indulgence or tolerance inside of me, so I won't hate it.. more!

PS: I loved Hollywood's sneering at this piece of work in Tropic Thunder (2008). Parodying it as "The Fatties: Fart Two" made me feel that lastly I'm not alone in this universe, and that Hollywood does have a conscience, well.. some sort of it anyway!

absolutely putrid, worst of the year

[mcfly-31 · 1/10 · 16 January 2001]

I'm usually not hard on bad movies. I either leave the theater or turn the channel, but here, I cannot just dismiss this. 4(!) screenwriters, 9(!!!) producers, and all they could turn out is this junk. OBVIOUSLY taking advantage of part 1's success, they churned out something I could see them saying "Ah, it'll be good enough to make an easy 100 mil before bad word of mouth kills it" about. A blatant rehashing of the first film, with endless farts, stupid sex talk, and a plot that actually takes itself seriously. It seems at times that they are really concerned with the story, as there are no jokes, just drama dealing with Murphy's (the Sherman version) discovery. It also bogs down the film with needless special effects, which really show where the money was spent, on f/x and not screenwriters. And it doesn't end there, they actually try to drum up sympathy for one of his characters that has erectile-dysfunction! The old man and his wife argue seriously about it! What is this? Trying to give a smarmy, raunch film an emotional dynamic? Comes off TERRIBLE here. And the Eddie that is identifiable, sans make-up, sadly reverts to his "Beverly Hills Cop II" act of SCREAMING his dialogue and laughing at the top of his lungs. That is what sunk "Cop II", him thinking that blasting his voice would get a laugh, it didn't there, and brought back annoying memories here. Maybe the worst element are the long, utterly humorless stretches where the family banter with each other. Nothing remotely funny to say, and others have wisely pointed out how inaudible the dialogue is sometimes. Murphy either slurs the words or adds some voice affectation this is totally indecipherable. Gets irritating real quick, as does seeing the same actor clutter the screen, scene after scene. Yeah, the make-up is great, but it's the same stuff we saw in part 1, and all the praise for a swiveling camera capturing one actor playing multiple characters was acheived 11 years ago in "Back to the Future Part II" (yes, I am partial to that series). As far as the other content, it SO points out how very, very much this is strictly aimed at kids, as they should enjoy countless farts, the word "titties" mentioned a bunch of times, and moronic moments such as a giant hamster shooting its fesces across a room. I didn't really enjoy the first film that much, but I'd take it any day over this. I haven't added to my worst of all time list in a while, but now, behind "Three Ninjas", "Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2", and "Fierce Creatures", comes the new number four: da, da, da, daaaa, "Nutty Professor II"! Ick, get it away from me.

Murphy has come further than he ever has before, but...

[eve6kicksass · 13 August 2000]

Title: Nutty Professor II, The: The Klumps

Rating: **1/2 (out of 4)

Review: I've never been a die-hard Eddie Murphy fan, but that's of course not to say that he isn't funny or endearing, either. TRADING PLACES has always been my favorite Murphy movie, with the original BEVERLY HILLS COP a close second. He's a funny guy, and he has come further than he ever has had before with NUTTY II. The original 1996 film was both funny and enjoyable, if having the distinction of having occasional unnecessary bathroom humor. NUTTY II, however, is taken to extremes with the bathroom humor, everywhere from Grandma Klump giving Buddy Love oral sex in a hot tub to a hamster growing to epic proportions giving anal sex to Klump's boss, this film revels in bad taste way too much. Is the film funny? Sure it is, and it would have been a lot funnier if not for all the sickenening humor that we've seen dozens of times before (I don't blame Murphy particularly for this, considering the script was co-written by the guys who wrote AMERICAN PIE, and directed by Peter Segal, who has had his fair share of films with the same type of humor). They don't make the sick humor at least clever, which is the problem. THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY and BASEKETBALL made their bathroom humor clever, but NUTTY II doesn't.

Murphy fans are sure to love this, though, because I was telling the truth before about him coming further than he ever has before. Playing no less than 8 roles (this might be some kind of record), his main character is Sherman Klump, a charmingly overweight professor who, in the original wanted to get rid of all the weight and became a stud in Buddy Love to make a beautiful co-ed (Jada Pinkett, whose missing prescence in the sequel is annoyingly unexplained) and eventually learns in the end that you should be yourself and that personality is way more important about looks. In the sequel, he can't shake off the DNA that Buddy has left inside of him, so he decides to attempt to get rid of it, but Buddy eventually (and predictably) regenerates himself with a new thing on his mind. Sherman, apparantly, has discovered the fountain of youth, and now Buddy is going to stop him and take the invention to his own credit. This film, apart from the original, focuses more on Sherman's family, right down to their gluttonous eating habits to their sexual fantasies. That's basically the whole plot in a nutshell. As I've said before, Murphy is terrific, and he's well worth watching in his eight roles, but this film will turn off a lot of viewers because all the sick humor, which I must say is more silly than funny, yet you find yourself for some reason still laughing to it (or rather, at it). Janet Jackson, as Eddie's love interest here, is OK, but she seems to be more important to the audience (any audience, not just the African-American audience) as a male fantasy figure than an actress. Overall, I'm looking at this film as another one to add to Murphy's list of commercial successes that is funny enough to make him a respectable comedian, but for once I want him to go more towards not grossing us out and finding a concept to appeal to anyone and everyone.

Terrible

[daveisit · 4/10 · 23 December 2000]

This was not a funny movie. Eddie Murphy who has starred in movies such as "Coming To America" and "Beverly Hills Cop" which were both hilarious, has struck out here in the poorest fashion possible.

"The Nutty Professor" (1996) was okay because of the use of the Klump family who appeared throughout the movie every so often breaking it up with some humorous scenes. In "The Klumps", the family were over used and relied on for all the laughs, but instead just became sickening and in turn extremely boring. I understand using the Klump family was the idea for the sequel, it's just that it doesn't come close to working.

No redeeming feature

[val.m · 1/10 · 21 November 2000]

What a waste of time, talent and money! There is no redeeming feature to this film which wastes the once funny talent of Eddie Murphy by spreading it thin over a plethora of characters, the Klumpp family, some of whom are almost unintelligible. The plot line, what there is, is stretched so thin it almost vanishes in favour of the special effects. Basically, Professor Klumpp makes a special potion which has unforeseen side effects, allowing Eddie Murphy to do a Jekyll & Hyde as the Professor and his alter ego. Janet Jackson sleepwalks her way through the resulting mess.

Eddie Murphy - you suck!

[zoe_14 · 1/10 · 26 November 2000]

I can't really explain fully how bad this film is without using obscene profanity. the first one was bad enough but the sequel - I can only use the words of Janice from 'friends' OH MY GOD! i saw this film in German and I was horrified, it's probably a lot worse when you can actually hear that idiot Eddie Murphy's annoying voice. He can't seem to grasp the fact that there are other ways of making people laugh without showing a giant hamster butt screwing a random guy. Janet Jackson didn't help much by co-starring in this insult to the word film. The script was awful, the acting was terrible and by the end of the film, all I could hear in the cinema was moans and groans from the rest of the audience who obviously agreed with my judgment. Nice try Eddie but I think you peaked a long time ago. Go back to Brooklyn because you suck.

Vulgar sequel for a great family film

[stormhawk2021 · 1/10 · 14 May 2017]

I expected to see lots of variations of the humor that The Nutty Professor (the Murphy version) used in the classic scene of the Klumps at the dinner table. Instead, what little humor this sequel had split time with disgust as the movie went mostly for sexy granny jokes.

The sad thing is, more fart humor would have been an *improvement.* This movie was boring. It was uninteresting. It missed numerous opportunities to have some fun. And it spent too much time showing off make-up and not enough time being entertaining.

Perhaps most painful to watch was Eddie Murphy just being Eddie Murphy (as Buddy Love). I never understand why some actors/directors think that if a character screams real loud and makes a face, it's funny. It is especially not funny when it happens 2-3 times. In the first movie, Buddy Love was funny (if cruel), and his observations were right on target. In The Klumps, Love is like a grown version of that Home Alone kid, when he grabs his face and just yells at the camera. Uh, if you are done shouting now, can we move on?

Janet Jackson was fluff. She is a good singer, but her acting left much to be desired. And I don't know what she has done with her chest, but it seems unusually huge here. What happened to Carla from the first film? In truth, switching Jada Pinkett-Smith for Janet Jackson is like in 2000, we stopped using Pentium PC's (used in 1996, at time of the first film), and go back to use 486 PC's (used mostly in 1990, at Ms. Jackson's peak of her music career).

I suppose it would be appropriate to say how well done the make up is as Murphy plays his half-dozen or so characters. Yes, he makes them seem like different people, at least superficially. But none of the characters are really there, you know? They each have little tag lines, and maybe a quirk, and those lines and that quirk are used to death. Take the granny. Yep, she likes sex. She is a sex machine. She wants every man. OK, uh, so? We've seen that 20 times. Can we get to something new? Baby Buddy Love ripping off the blouse of a woman to reveal her bra.

Overall, I feel sad to see the level Murphy's wit has been reduced to. He used to be more biting, more insightful and more, well, funny. Now he is a human cartoon.

P.S.: I recommend this movie if you're a die hard Eddie Murphy or Janet Jackson fan.

A NICE SEQUEL & ALWAYS A JOY TO SPEND TIME WITH THE KLUMP FAMILY

[lukem-52760 · 7/10 · 27 March 2020]

I have always loved the First Nutty Professor film & it's one of my most watched films ever & one of my all time favourite movies & i do really like it's sweet & silly sequel.

It's always a joy to spend time with the funny & lovable KLUMP family & here in this slightly sillier sequel we get a movie based around the family this time!!! Eddie Murphy is again a comic genius as he creates each memorable performance into a proper character that you just love. Here lovable & brilliant Sherman Klump has found a new love in fellow teacher, Denise played by Janet Jackson who is not as good as Jada Pinkett Smith from the first film but she's ok & it's a completely different role, Sherman also has created a new youth serum that can turn people young again but he's also dealing with the trauma of his alter ego Buddy Love, who still haunts him & who will eventually return. That's the basic story but we get lots more hilarious scenes with the Klump family & lots of nice special effects & a nice feelgood & slapstick tone. It's nice that the very funny Larry Miller returns as Dean Richmond as i loved him in the first film & Buddy Love is just as crazy & manic as he was in the first film but this sequel is much more over-the-top in a way & very silly but still in a harmless fun way, it's not as great as the 90's Classic but it's still a great sequel & it's ALWAYS nice to see Sherman Klump back on screen. In this sequel Sherman's Dad nearly steals the show as he's hilarious here & does some great stuff here & really rocks his scenes!!!

I personally think that The Nutty Professor (1996) is Eddie Murphy's best film ever, it's a Comedy MASTERPIECE!!! "The Klumps" is still a very funny & very good, well made Sequel that's cheerful, colourful & Happy.

Major disappointment

[Erewhon · 3/10 · 26 July 2000]

No one was expecting much when Eddie Murphy remade the Jerry Lewis movie "The Nutty Professor," so the touching, funny result was a surprise. And it raised expectations for this sequel -- which is nearly a total disaster. All the wrong elements have been emphasized; we see ENTIRELY too much of the professor's family; the jokes are extremely crude and obvious throughout; instead of sympathizing with the characters, we're invited to regard them as grotesque and ludicrous. A running gag centers on the impotence of Sherman's father (also Eddie Murphy, of course) and the horniness of his toothless grandmother (also Eddie Murphy, of course). Sherman's mother (also Eddie Murphy, of course) does little other than clap her hands and moon over her brilliant son. Sherman's brother (also Eddie Murphy, of course) is given nothing to do. What's really surprising is that even Buddy Love (also Eddie Murphy, of course) appears so little, and has a different, less interesting personality; before he was a mean, dangerous egotist; now he's a silly, prankish egotist. (There's one element about Buddy, regarding a dog, that's actually quite funny, and semi-original).

As Sherman Klump, Murphy is occasionally quite moving, but this is rare here; instead, most of the time this sequel robs him of the most surprising and worthwhile aspect of the Nutty Professor the first Murphy time around: his dignity. Even when -- never mind why -- Sherman starts losing the major source of his pride, his intelligence, the movie laughs at him. This is a shamefully bad treatment of a good character.

A credit to Eddie Murphy's talent...

[ElMaruecan82 · 8/10 · 13 July 2018]

As I was rediscovering Eddie Murphy's "Nutty Professor" saga, the movies grew on me in a way I didn't expect. And realizing that the Klump family should be the first role for the actor to be remembered. I say 'should' because there's no way it will ever beat Axel Folley. But I'm not sure the 'Beverly Hills Cop' movies aged as well as the Klumps, even the first opus didn't leave me quite ecstatic, Murphy was good but in a rather thin plot. But you can count on the Klumps to fatten even the thinner plot, the family was the juiciest and certainly the best role for Eddie Murphy... because it's to be used in a plural form.

Eddie Murphy has always been a versatile actor within his comedic range and his talent to embody multiple characters seemed to have reached a pinnacle with "Coming to America", but it wasn't until 1996 that he could transcend it by playing gag-guys who were not just one or two-scene wonders but fully developed characters with different personalities. It seems crazy but the suspension of disbelief does work, you know it's Eddie Murphy all right but there comes a point where you identify each member of the family and take them as separate persons.

He can be a boorish father with a good heart, a loving Big Mama, a depraved grandma and a boorish big brother yet be believable in each of these disguises. But as Sherman Klump, Murphy exudes such likability and tenderness that you're almost sorry this guy doesn't exist while his alter-ego is the original version. Buddy Love embodies his primal role as a true villain (like the original with Jerry Lewis) and whenever he shows up, loudly and annoyingly, there's something infuriating about him and you just want Klump to punch him in the face. In a smart self-loathing way, Murphy makes his usual self the bad guy.

And once you're in Klump territory, you know you're in there for laughs and good spirit... not so good spirit, you know you'll have to deal with a few poop jokes here and there, but it's weird how the sweetness cancels everything out and make you forgive the most shameful parts or the bits where the plot loses its way or goes too "fart" in the gross department. Take the character of Denise, played by Janet Jackson, as the plot goes on, she's given every possible and vulgar excuse to dump Sherman yet she stays, she forgives him.

I love how patient she is with the man she loves, I like the way she's the one making the first movie, and I liked that she played a different character, it was a nice touch in regard of Jada Pinkett Smith who turned out to simply be a friend. And Sherman is the kind of man to make friends and to attract girls with his kindness, if only he knew the potential he had and how great he was. A lesser film would have made "conquering her heart" the big issue while it's more about getting back the "brain" and even more about conquering your self-esteem.

Take the way Sherman Klump feels overshadowed by the loud and extraverted personality of Buddy Love. "The Klumps" takes the concept to the extreme by separating the two men and confronting one to another, this extraction didn't go without side effects, one dramatic: Buddy taking Sherman's intelligence and making us witness the slow process of his dumbing down and losing his number three asset (gentleness and honesty being the first) and a funnier one: Buddy's DNA mixed with a dog with funny consequences.

There was something of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in the original idea, we all live with an idealized perception of ourselves. I've always had height issues and blame my shyness and low self-esteem on what I regarded as a tragic case of 'arrested development'. The subsequent thought was "if only I were tall", I imagined myself more confident, more talkative, more mature etc. Maybe it's true, maybe I'm only projecting an idealization, maybe if I were another person, I would have hated myself, but how would I know?

The first film's lesson was about appreciating who you are and learning to live with yourself. This still applies in "The Klumps" with the added notion that you have to try to improve a little bit, if you can, to trust yourself. The film explores marital insecurities between the parents as the father lost his job and suffers from impotence, and the mother feels abandoned and hides behind her shining smile an emotional vulnerability. Grandma Klump supplies the best and raunchiest jokes while the relationship between Dean Richmond (Larry Miller) and Klump provide some of the funniest bits of dialogues.

Now, as a sequel? The inevitable question is: is it better than the first? I would say, it's as good, it carries as much depth and heart and fun as the first and works as a nice little continuation of the first, even more genuine since there was no third opus. This is one of Murphy's finest hours and I wish the film would be more recognized for its quality in terms of comedic acting, make-up and special effects. It's not just that the characters behave differently but they also look differently in a credible way, even the unexpected young version of Papa Klump.

Apparently, the film is worth less than a five on IMDb, well, I think it deserves a second chance, it's better than that, it's funny, gentle and provide some touching emotional moments. And Murphy isn't just good when it comes to scream, dance, laugh or shout, the climactic moment in the train station almost had me choking, that's a credit to Eddie Murphy's talent.

Perverse

[rahwal · 1/10 · 8 July 2001]

Eddie Murphy had to ruin this movie with his warp ideas about the men's anatomy. I mean enough is enough already. Get a life. The concept of Eddie Murphy playing all these characters was really great, but the storyline was so stupid you just have to know not to run to see anymore Eddie Murphy's movie.

Murphy's tour de force: Rick Baker

[george.schmidt · 28 April 2004]

NUTTY PROFESSOR II : THE KLUMPS (2000) *** Eddie Murphy, Janet Jackson, Larry Miller, John Ales, Richard Gant, Anna Maria Horsford, Melinda McGraw, Jamal Mixon. (Dir: Peter Segal)

The sequel to the remake of the Jerry Lewis classic `The Nutty Professor', with Eddie Murphy multiplied to the power of 6 has tons of laughs and charm to spare.

Murphy reprises his overweight and friendly college chemistry professor Sherman Klump and his entire brood as well as his alter ego, the diabolical Buddy Love this time with the kindly obese prof falling in love with his research assistant Denise Gaines (the voluptuous Jackson) and the discovery of a youth serum all the while battling with sustaining the maniacal id inside, Buddy Love, who eventually breaks free from his chubby trappings to wreak havoc on Klump by trying to beat him to the punch in pitching the miracle solvent to a prestigious pharmaceutical conglomerate for a wealthy sum for exclusive rights.

But the real focus of attention is Sherman's calorically challenged brood, his perpetually bickering family including Mama, Papa, Ernie & Granny Klump, the latter being the scene stealer for the entire film's run. While Sherman wrestles with his other side in his attempt to ask Denise to marry him, Buddy tries in vein to locate the chemical and to Sherman' s discovery realizes that the side effect of having Love out of his body is slowly making his intelligence drop. It's a race to beat the clock to thwart his opposite from gaining any more leverage.

Murphy is marvelous as all six (well ok seven if you include Papa Klump's temporary younger self after guzzling down the potent potable) of the Klump brood, each unique in personality, that you gradually get over the fact he's in fat suits and under layers of brilliant make-up by the legendary Oscar-winning Rick Baker (including an Academy Award from the first `Nutty'). Murphy has set the high standard for interacting with himself on so many levels its daunting but this veteran comic makes the best of it in a decathlon of laughs, albeit vulgar and of the gas-inducing variety. But it is his Granny Klump who walks away with the picture exhibiting a no-holds bar for speaking her surprisingly agile mind (and scarily )her promiscuous sexuality still in gear, particularly her hilarious close encounter with Buddy (if you think of it, it's Murphy soul-kissing Murphy). Perhaps the only run for her money in laughs is the too-close for comfort interaction between the college's dean (Miller returning as well) and a genetically enhanced giant hamster (you have to see it to believe it).

The film obviously relishes in its bathroom humor but underneath it all the concept of family values doesn't ring hollow during the film's climax with the aid of Sherman's dad. Heart is in the right place as well as the funny bone.