Will the "sequel" curse return to Eddie Murphy as he churns out one of two sequels in a row?

"Nutty 2" brings us back into the life of insecure professor Sherman Klump who is still dealing with the after effects of the first film. Sherman seems to be having a personality conflict as the vicious "Buddy Love" persona is struggling to take over Sherman for all time. This all comes at a time when the poor Professor is engaged to a fellow colleague, played by Janet Jackson and on the verge of discovering the fountain of youth. But as the film progresses we steer away from Sherman and into the lives of his family where we find all sorts of problems. There are a lot of tiny stories but never a real concrete message.

"Nutty 2" is not clever, not funny and so full of so many little stories it's hard to really care about any of the characters. In the first film we only saw one or two scenes of Sherman's family. This for me was enough. If the filmmakers wanted Eddie to don all these personalities why not send the family on a vacation so that we can flesh them all out. I mean you have just so many story lines that I had to remind myself which Klump it was and what their particular problem is. Just as soon as I was getting that down the whole "science" side of the film explodes with a goop evolving "Buddy Love" and a giant hamster who thinks he's a cannon.

This film is more over the top than the previous effort and at times very confusing. Confusing in the respect that the Klumps mumble a lot and at times they all sound like Eddie Murphy if someone kicked him in the throat. Another over the top sequence was "Sherman on the moon" why was this expensive Armageddon/Star Wars type scene necessary?

From all my belly-aching above I guess you know my final verdict but there were a couple parts I liked. I liked Janet Jackson who I do believe could have a future in acting if she stuck with it. I loved her debut in "Poetic Justice" all those years ago. Another aspect I liked was the seamless special effects which were flawless as the many Klumps interacted with each other.

And finally a message for Eddie Murphy. Please Eddie, don't do any more sequels. The thrill of a sequel is the payroll but for fans most of the time it's a downer. I am still praying for the return of the old Eddie.

(1 of 5) So Says the Soothsayer.