tek's rating: ¾

Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (PG)
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This is the sequel to Sister Act. It came out in 1993, and I might have seen it at some point in my youth, or I might not. I don't really remember it now, and after watching it in 2024, nothing about it rang any bells. It wasn't nearly as good as the first movie, but it was okay.

It starts with Doloris headlining a musical act in Las Vegas, when she's visited by Sisters Mary Robert, Mary Patrick, and Mary Lazarus. The Reverend Mother has sent them to bring Doloris to see her, in San Francisco. The sisters have become teachers at St. Francis High School, and they're having a ton of trouble with the students. Reverent Mother wants Doloris to once again become "Sister Mary Clarence", so she can teach music at the school. Doloris is reluctant, but finally agrees. And indeed, she has trouble with the students in her class. But of course she eventually gets through to them, and turns them into a choir. There's a girl named Rita (Lauryn Hill) who wants to be a singer, but her mother basically forbids it. Eventually, Rita joins the choir anyway. (And of course in real life, Hill would go on to be a very successful singer.)

There are a few other kids worth noting, like a guy who's called "Sketch" because he likes to sketch (a personality trait that goes nowhere after it's first introduced); and a guy who has taken on the name "Ahmal" rather than use his given name, because he's very into his African roots (which seems to annoy all his classmates); and maybe a few others, like Frankie, Tyler, and Tanya. Most of the kids, even the notable ones, were played by unfamiliar actors, though there were a couple of girls I wouldn't even consider worth mentioning if they weren't played by familiar actors: Jennifer "Love" Hewitt (yes, "Love" was in quotes in the opening credits), and Alanna Ubach. There are also some familiar faces among the priests at St. Francis. The head priest and principal is Father Maurice (Barnard Hughes). Then there's Father Ignatius (Michael Jeter, whom I mainly know from Evening Shade), and I must have seen Father Thomas (Brad Sullivan) in something, though I'm not sure what.

There's a secular school administrator named Mr. Crisp (James Coburn), who wants to close the school. So of course Mary Clarence becomes determined to keep it open by having the kids perform in an all-state choir competition. (It seems to me that it's the kind of thing a choir would have to win several lesser competitions before getting to take part in, but all they had to do here was sign up for it.) Anyway... I really liked the St. Francis choir's singing/rapping. That's probably the best thing about the movie. Other than that, I don't know what else to say, except that I'm glad to have seen the movie. The ending was very "feel good", though I'm not sure the feeling was entirely earned. But hey, feeling good is feeling good.


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