Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous - It just about works (just)

‘Miss Congeniality.’ The surprise hit.  Actually, I don’t know whether it was a surprise hit to the studio behind it or not, but, judging on the way the sequel was trotted out, I get the impression that it was a surprise to someone – most likely the writers who had the task of getting lightning to strike twice.  It didn’t.  It sort of missed its mark, but at least the results weren’t catastrophic.

The original film was about Sandra Bullock, basically playing Sandra Bullock (or Gracie Hart to be precise), only as a ‘fish-out-of-water’ FBI agent who got roped into going undercover at the Miss United States Beauty Contest, in order to find a potential killer.  It was hardly ‘high art’ but Bullock’s truly loveable persona made the film bounce by and it was a great popcorn flick.

This time round, the film suffers from a lack of direction.  They start off trying to progress the story.  Since Agent Hart became famous, she’s finding it hard to go undercover any more without being recognised, therefore rendering her pretty useless as a field agent.  So, instead of hunting bad guys, she agrees to be the ‘face of the FBI’ – a task that soon starts to change her.  I quite liked how the story showed how fame, fortune and generally having a team of hair and make-up artists at your beck and call can change you (for the worst).  And, before long, the once lovable Hart is a spoilt, demanding diva.

However, that doesn’t stop her friend (and Miss America) Cheryl getting kidnapped, hence Hart must go back into the field (this time Las Vegas) in order to rescue her.

What follows is a sort of retread of the original and a sort of new story, although one that feels a lot like the first, only less funny.  It’s not terrible – largely down to Sandra Bullock.  Even when she’s a diva she’s still pretty hard to dislike, therefore if you’re a fan, you should find it easy to root for her.
The film also suffers from a lack of some of the key figures from the first film.  Her former on-screen love interest, played by Benjamin Bratt, is totally gone (a few comments here and there explain his absence) and Michael Caine’s hilarious character is replaced by a sort of watered-down version of him, only not as funny.

Basically, if you haven’t seen ‘Part II’ watch Part I first.  If you like it and think you can handle more of the same, just less then give it a go.  Fans of Sandra will be okay to sit through it, just don’t expect as much as the original.

6/10 Should probably keep you awake if Freddy Krueger was haunting your nights