John Landis` long-delayed sequel to his 1980 cult success The Blues Brothers opens with a man leaving prison. Elwood Blues, Dan Aykroyd, is informed of the death of his brother, Jake, and his friend, Curtis, by the prison governor, Frank Oz. But before long he`s forming a new Blues Brothers band. Fresh recruits include Mighty Mack, John Goodman, an ebullient barman, and nifty 10-year-old Buster, J. Evan Bonifant. Before long, the band is heading for a gig in Louisiana, pursued by the cops, the Russian mafia and a bunch of rightwing rednecks - it`s the mixture as before.....There`s nothing original about Blues Brothers Twenty Hundred, but I thoroughly enjoyed it nevertheless - and that`s mainly because of the music and the exuberance with which John Landis, making his best film in a long time, stages the musical numbers. With a cast that includes Aretha Franklin, James Brown, B.B. King, Steve Winwood and Bo Diddley, as well as Dr John, Isaac Hayes and Eric Clapton, you can`t really go wrong - and Aykroyd, Goodman and young Bonifant are great company, too. The plot is negligible and derivative and, yes, there`s another multiple pile-up of police vehicles, though it`s not as funny - or as original - as it was the first time around. I know I shouldn`t respond so positively to this film, but I really did enjoy it - chalk it down as a guilty pleasure.
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