The Gods Must Be Crazy II (1989) Columbia/Comedy RT: 98 minutes Rated PG (language, comic violence, tribal nudity) Director: Jamie Uys Screenplay: Jamie Uys Music: Charles Fox Cinematography: Buster Reynolds Release date: April 13, 1990 (US) Cast: N!xau, Lena Farugia, Hans Strydom, Eiros, Nadies, Erick Bowen, Treasure Tshabalala, Lourens Swanepoel, Pierre van Pletzen, Richard Loring, Simon Sabela, Shimane Mpepela. Box Office: $6.2M (US)
Rating: ** ½
In 1984, a little comedy from South Africa called The Gods Must Be Crazy became a box office success here in the States. At the time, it was the most successful foreign film in the US. It’s about a bushman named Xi (N!xau) and his journey to the edge of the world to dispose of a gift (a Coke bottle) from the gods that caused dissention among the peaceful tribe. It’s like National Geographic meets the Three Stooges. It’s also a brilliant and hilarious examination of the dichotomy between modern civilization and nature. A lot of people loved it. As such, a sequel was inevitable…. and unnecessary.
Sure enough, The Gods Must Be Crazy II came along five years later. Writer-director Jamie Uys takes us back to the Kalahari Desert where we follow Xi on his latest adventure in which he once again encounters a bunch of not-too-bright civilized people caught up in foolishness mostly of their own making. After a brief re-intro to Xi and his tribe via voiceover narration, we get right into the plot which involves two of Xi’s children (daughter Nadies and young son Eiros) falling into a water tank on a truck being driven by two elephant poachers, Big Ben (Swanepoel) and George (van Pletzen). They drive off completely unaware of their young passengers. Xi chases the truck on foot. At the same time, a lawyer from New York City (Farugia) and a zoologist (Strydom) find themselves stranded after their two-seat, twin-engine plane crash lands in a tree. Also, a Cuban soldier (Bowen) and Angolan soldier (Tshabalala) keep trying to take each other prisoner. At various points, they each encounter Xi. All of their paths cross in the final act.
The Gods Must Be Crazy II suffers from a mild case of sequelitis. It’s amusing, but Uys tries too hard to repeat the success of the original with mixed results. Some of it is indeed funny, but most of it is recycled material from the first movie. Take the plane in the tree. Maybe it’s just me but the sight of a jeep hanging from a tree is funnier than a plane sitting on top of one. Also, the lawyer and zoologist are nowhere near as charming a couple as the biologist and teacher from the first movie. They had a series of misunderstandings that fit perfectly into the narrative. They had a natural rapport. In The Gods Must Be Crazy II, it feels forced. The idea of a New Yorker stranded in the wild with a macho type worked a lot better in Crocodile Dundee. The only real laughs come from the two soldiers and even that feels a bit stale.
The Gods Must Be Crazy II is better when it focuses on Xi and his efforts to retrieve his children. N!xau still has a natural presence although it seems like he understands what’s going on this time around. He seems more aware of the camera and crew. It doesn’t hamper his performance too much; it just adds a bit of self-awareness that wasn’t there before. The kids playing his children do a good job. They’re not helpless kids. The older sister looks out for her brother and seems genuinely upset when they get separated. When the little one finds himself on his own, he uses his intelligence to outwit a hyena that’s following him. His father taught him that a hyena will not attack anyone bigger than itself. What he does to make himself appear bigger is simple yet brilliant. The true heart of The Gods Must Be Crazy II lies in the scenes with Xi and/or his children.
Like its predecessor, The Gods Must Be Crazy II is crudely made on a slightly larger budget. This one has stunts like the kids climbing around on the moving truck that look fake. We still get voiceover in Xi’s scenes. For the most part, it works. In fact, that last statement pretty much sums up The Gods Must Be Crazy II as a whole. It works better than it should, but it’s still a rehash. It lacks the depth of the original. It’s fairly superficial when it comes to showing the chasm between modern society and timeless nature. Come to think of it, it doesn’t really show it at all. But it’s okay. It gets by just fine on Xi and his kids. The rest of it, as amusing as it is, is just filler. It’s a reasonably entertaining movie.
