Amira Seyoum
Staff Writer
The sequel to the 2000 hit starring Sandra Bullock and Michael Caine introduced some new faces like Regina King to make quite a humorous movie.
Although there has been a five-year delay, “Miss Congeniality” fans can now watch “Miss Congeniality Two: Armed & Fabulous” and see the story unfold right where the first one left off.
FBI agent Gracie Hart, played by Bullock, experiences a new found fame after successfully disarming the threat against the Miss United States Pageant while she worked undercover as a contestant.
In “Armed & Fabulous,” Benjamin Bratt does not reprise his role as Agent Eric Matthews, Agent Hart’s love interest, so the writers quickly mentioned him in the beginning giving a reason why his character was no longer there.
Agent Hart’s new partner, Agent Sam Fuller played by King, is the complete opposite of Bratt. Agent Fuller is an angry woman who slowly softens up her rough exterior while working with Agent Hart.
During the movie, I sat there thinking that Bratt could have made some of the scenes much more interesting. King’s character didn’t appeal to me for most of the movie. She was just an angry character in what is supposed to be fun-filled comedy.
The story followed Agent Hart as she dealt with her new found celebrity. She spends more time looking beautiful and promoting her new book and doing press conferences then working as an agent. But when her friends from the pageant, winner Cheryl (Heather Burns) and host Stan (William Shatner), are kidnapped in Las Vegas, Agent Hart gives an all out effort to help save them.
The FBI, however, doesn’t want to put their new mascot in jeopardy and are afraid she may not be up to doing the job anymore.
Unlike the first movie, this one has a lot of dry humor, but at times gives you something really funny to laugh about. The first 20 minutes were okay, but it was unappealing and uninventive. At times, the movie seemed to rely on Bullock’s snorting for laughs.
It was little corny, but it gets somewhat better towards the end. Even with a new partner and glam squad, Bullock still struggles to make the movie as good as the first.
Amira Seyoum can be reached at aseyoum@ulv.edu.
