Big Momma's House 2 is a 2006 American crime comedy film, the sequel to 2000's Big Momma's House and the second installment of the Big Momma Trilogy. The film was directed by John Whitesell and stars Martin Lawrence reprising his role as FBI agent Malcolm Turner, along with Nia Long, Zachary Levi, Mark Moses, Emily Procter, Kat Dennings and Chloë Grace Moretz in supporting roles.
| Big Momma's House 2 | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | John Whitesell |
| Written by | Don Rhymer |
| Based on | Characters by Darryl Quarles |
| Produced by | David T. Friendly Michael Green |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Mark Irwin |
| Edited by | Priscilla Nedd-Friendly |
| Music by | George S. Clinton |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
Release date |
|
Running time | 99 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $40 million[1] |
| Box office | $141.5 million[1] |
Unlike the first film, Big Momma's House 2 takes on a family friendly tone compared to the original film's more mature target demographic. The film was released theatrically on January 27, 2006, by 20th Century Fox. Although it received mostly negative reviews from critics, it was a box office success, grossing $141.5 million against a budget of $40 million. A sequel, Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son, was released on February 18, 2011.
Plot
editSix years after meeting her during an investigation, FBI agent Malcolm Turner is now married to Sherry Pierce and the stepfather of her son Trent, and assumes a desk job to be close to her as they await the arrival of their first child.
However, news reaches Malcolm that his friend Doug Hudson was killed, while working undercover in Orange County, California. He learns that he was investigating former military intelligence specialist Tom Fuller, who now works for the National Agenda Software corporation, and had discovered he was creating a computer worm that could provide backdoor access to government databases.
Although Malcolm asks to assist, his boss refuses to let him interfere in the investigation being conducted by agents Liliana Morales and Kevin Keneally. Discovering Morales is sending an agent undercover to secure the job of nanny within Tom's family, Malcolm decides to take advantage of this, lying to Sherry that he must go out-of-state for a conference.
Malcolm retrieves the disguise he used while impersonating Sherry's grandmother - known affectionally as Big Momma - and secures the nanny job by exposing flaws in the other candidates. While he keeps his eyes on Tom, Malcolm learns that the Fuller family has problems: Tom's wife Leah is very strict on chores; eldest daughter Molly seeks to be someone she is not; youngest daughter Carrie strives to do well as a cheerleader; and toddler son Andrew has a strange habit of jumping off of tall objects.
Although Malcolm finds evidence that Tom is working alongside a notorious hacker, Sherry tracks him down after discovering he lied to her and is appalled to discover he is working on another case posing as her grandmother. The matter is then made worse when Morales discover him interfering in her case, and allows him to assist as long as he maintains his cover and retains Kevin as his partner. After Leah threatens to fire Big Momma for her handling of her chores, Malcolm spends the night doing all of the work and successfully wins back her favor.
After an attempt to capture the hacker fails, Malcolm and Kevin recruit assistance from child hacker Stewart to access Fuller's workstation at Agenda. While they secure the means, Malcolm receives a call from a frightened Molly at a nightclub, and goes to find her as Big Momma. Soon after, men working for Agenda's CEO Casal take both of them hostage in order to coerce Tom to assist in a business deal involving the computer worm. Malcolm soon frees the pair before going to rescue Tom, while Molly calls the FBI.
Discovering that Casal plans to kill Tom as part of the deal he made with his customer, Malcolm saves his life and ensures Casal cannot escape before the FBI arrives. Although shocked to discover Malcolm's real identity, Tom is thankful to him when he informs Morales that he was being coerced by his boss under the threat of having his family killed for refusing.
While the case is ended and he has made amends with Sherry, Malcolm decides to stay in California a while longer in order to assist Carrie, after helping her team improve themselves for an upcoming cheerleading championships. Helping them to successfully win, Malcolm departs, leaving behind a letter from Big Momma bidding farewell to the Fullers and hints that their paths will cross again someday. Meanwhile, he resumes his life at home with Sherry, Trent, and their newborn baby.
Cast
edit- Martin Lawrence as Malcolm Turner / Hattie Mae 'Big Momma' Pierce
- Nia Long as Sherry Pierce-Turner
- Zachary Levi as Agent Kevin Keneally
- Mark Moses as Tom Fuller
- Emily Procter as Leah Fuller
- Kat Dennings as Molly Fuller
- Chloë Grace Moretz as Carrie Fuller
- Preston Shores, Trevor Shores as Andrew Fuller
- Dennis Haysbert as Steve Buck Goodman
- Richard T. Jones as Bob Goodman
- Marla Gibbs as Greta Sterling Whitney
- Marisol Nichols as Agent Liliana Morales
- Jascha Washington as Trent Pierce
- Sarah Joy Brown as Agent Constance Stone
- Kevin Durand as Oshima
- Krysta Rodriguez as Allie Whitney
- Melissa Ordway as Sydnee Brown
- Cameron Daddo as Casal
- Christopher Jones as Anthony Bishop
- Josh Flitter as Stewart
- Max Van Ville as Chad
- Rhoda Griffis as Mrs. Gallagher
- Kirk B.R. Woller as Doug Hudson
- Ann Mahoney as Coach Lisa
- Shanna Moakler as Petra
- Andy Stahl as School's Principal
- Lisa Arrindell as Danielle
- Jessica White as Bra Model
- Paige Butcher as Background Model #1
Reception
editBox office
editBig Momma's House 2 grossed $27,736,056 in its opening weekend ranking number one.[2] It had the second-highest opening weekend for a Martin Lawrence film upon opening, behind Bad Boys II.[3] As of March 3, 2011, the film has grossed a total of $70,165,972 at the United States box office with a worldwide gross of $138,259,062.
Critical response
editOn Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 5% based on 74 reviews and an average rating of 3/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "Unfunny and unoriginal. In other words, a perfect piece of evidence for opponents of pointless movie sequels".[4] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 34 out of 100 based on 20 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[5] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.[6]
Brian Lowry of Variety called the film "episodic" and "flat" compared to the original film.[7]
Keith Uhlich of Slant Magazine gave the film 1⁄2 out of 4 stars.[8]
The film was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Awards in 2006 in the category "Worst Prequel or Sequel", but lost to Basic Instinct 2.[citation needed]
Sequel
editA third and final installment Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son was released on February 18, 2011. Brandon T. Jackson was cast in the role of Trent, who was originally played by Jascha Washington. Nia Long also did not reprise her role, which resulted in her character, Sherry, being written out. Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son fared worse critical reception than its predecessors, scoring a 5% on Rotten Tomatoes.
References
edit- ^ a b "Big Momma's House 2 Box Office". Box Office Mojo. Amazon.com. Archived from the original on 29 April 2010. Retrieved 12 April 2010.
- ^ "'Big Momma' Jams, 'Nanny McPhee' Floats, 'Bubble' Bursts". Box Office Mojo.
- ^ "Big Momma's House 2 Tops the Weekend Box Office".
- ^ "Big Momma's House 2 (2006)". Rotten Tomatoes.
- ^ "Big Momma's House 2 Reviews". Metacritic.
- ^ "CinemaScore". Archived from the original on 2018-12-20.
- ^ Lowry, Brian (27 January 2006). "Big Momma's House 2". Variety.
- ^ Uhlich, Keith (25 January 2006). "Review: Big Momma's House 2". Slant Magazine.
- ^ "Passengers Bravely Take Down Plane Showing Big Momma's House 2". The Onion. 24 May 2006. Retrieved 4 March 2011.