Big Bad Mama II

The first Big Bad Mama was a quickie Bonnie and Clyde wannabe on a much lower budget and a much shorter shooting schedule. Angie looked good and seemed to be enjoying herself in a rare bad girl role, and there were enough car chases and shoot-outs to keep the viewer from falling asleep.

Big Bad Mama II is more (and less) of the same. Mostly less, since writer- director Jim Wynorski aims for camp, but can't manage to get laughs with anything. (This was a career-long failing for him.) Angie is back, but she's now over 50, and the Depression gangster genre has put on a few years too. With nothing new in the way of story ideas or screen visuals, there seems to be no point too having made a sequel beyond cashing in on the original for its video notoriety. More car chases, more guns, but little point. The sequel is only for die hard Angie fans. Collectors of celebrity nude will be disappointed that Angie's nude scenes were doubled (by former Penthouse model Monique Gabrielle).

Roger Corman does it again! I had a wonderful time watching Big Bad Mama II. It's not exactly a work of art, but it is a fun flick! It's great to see Angie back as Big Bad Mama. She's a hell of a lot of fun! Robert Culp brings plenty of panache to his role too. Danielle Brisebois and Julie McCullough are both charming, funny, and sexy. Bruce Glover makes a terrific despicable villain who is fun to hate. Both Big Bad Mama movies are great cheesy flicks to enjoy when you just need some fun escapism. Don't expect an artistic masterpiece. Just pop plenty of corn, settle back in your favorite comfy chair, and enjoy 'em with your favorite beverage.

When their home is repossessed, Wilma McClatchie's husband is killed and she and her two nubile young daughters set out to rob anything belonging to the owner of the bank concerned.

First of all, being a Jim Wynorski movie, you have to have low expectations. But even for him, this is rather a dud. Not his worst, but far from his best. Second, you have to wonder why Angie Dickinson would agree to this. Being in the first one was "slumming it", so this is practically an insult. Though surprisingly for a Wynorski film, this may have less nudity than the original.

And then there is the strange overt political message. Maybe I missed it, but I don't recall the talk about Hoover shanties and the rich against the poor in the first film. This time it is really blunt, not even cleverly worked in. What exactly is the point?

You watch this film because of the attractive women, not because you expect The Godfather', 'Bonnie and Clyde', or even 'Scarface.' Angie looks great (although she may be body doubled during her sex scene with Culp), and McCullough and Brisbois are barely clothed throughout, thank you very much. Otherwise, this is a clumsily written, directed and acted pile of junk. The action scenes are some of the worst staged for the screen, with Glover, Culp and others standing around, unconcerned, as explosions go off and bullets fly around them. Cops fire endless rounds at Angie and her girls in their jalopy and neither the car or the girls are ever scratched. Plotwise, we've got Dickinson and her girls shooting up cops and blasting their way out of banks then racing off... but the cops never follow. In fact, nobody seems to be after these brazen criminals except Culp, the reporter. The cops are apparently stumped, but Culp finds them without any effort, time and time again. It's all so obviously stupid, and the leads know it. Culp and Dickinson treat the film like a 'Smokey & The Bandit' lark with barely suppressed laughter in many of their scenes. But, once again, you're here for the feminine pulchritude.

BIG BAD MAMA, the original, was essentially a remake of BLOODY MAMA, without Shelley Winters. Angie Dickenson played a mama out for money and revenge, and there was plenty of violence and nudity to satisfy the fans of BLOODY MAMA. However, since BLOODY MAMA is basically a rip-off of BONNIE AND CLYDE, BIG BAD MAMA can't help but to seem familiar.

BIG BAD MAMA II(which is more of an afterthought) is a very watered-down retread. The source material was over ten years old when they made this one, and the story lacks any surprises. In fact, besides the fairly solid cast(Dickenson, Robert Culp), the main attraction of BB MAMA II is in seeing TV star Danielle Brisebois in the buff. BIG BAD MAMA II recalls some past successes, but as it stands, it's no big bad deal. The Depression-era cars, sets, and costumes are all in place, but not much else.