Sister Act 2 (Whoopi Goldberg)

(Amazon UK link)

We watched the original ‘Sister Act’ film with Whoopi Goldberg back in January, and liked it so much that I decided to acquire its sequel, unoriginally titled ‘Sister Act 2’, with the byline ‘Back in the Habit’. Back in the UK on another visit, I ordered it from Amazon Marketplace and it arrived promptly, in excellent condition.

Whoopi Goldberg is singing at a club as this movie opens, in her public role as Deloris, when she spots some of the nuns she befriended. They have come to ask her a huge favour: they want her to consider helping them as they try to teach unruly teenagers at a Catholic school that’s failing, and likely to close. Deloris is at first reluctant, but she’s always up for a challenge so eventually she agrees, expecting it to be for no more than a week or so…

Back in her role as Sister Mary Clarence, dressed as a nun, Deloris meets the music class - a group of teens who are able to rap, and organise themselves, but have no interest in learning anything about music. She nearly gives up after a couple of failed attempts to get their attention, but eventually, predictably, she succeeds and starts forming them into a choir.

The story is not a new one. It reminded me forcibly of both ‘Music of the Heart’ and - a tad bizarrely - ‘Nativity’, both movies that depict an inspiring teacher moulding unwilling children into musicians, ending with a prestigious or winning performance. The classic 'Sound of Music', of course, is another film along the same lines, including having a theme of nuns at the start. But just as those three films are done very differently, with quite distinct storylines, ‘Sister Act 2’ takes yet another route into the expected and encouraging ending.

There’s a side plot with a ‘villain’ in the form of Mr Crisp (James Coburn), a school administrator who apparently wants the school to be closed, and recommends it to the diocesan body in charge of education. However he’s not the rather scary and evil villain of the first ‘Sister Act’, and she’s never in any danger; so this might be seen as a rather tame story by comparison.

It was good to see some of the nuns from the previous film, including Maggie Smith as the Mother Superior, still keeping charge of the convent, but much more open and willing to adapt than she used to be. There are monks involved in the school too, as varied in style and appearance as the nuns.

pWe were impressed by the teenagers in the music class, including some with excellent singing voices. I didn’t understand everything they said - like typical teens, they talk at great speed, and some of their jargon went right over my head. It didn’t much matter. Most of them blended into similarity, although one or two stood out: in particular a rebel called Rita (Lauryn Hill) who, it turns out, is passionate about singing. But she has a very pushy mother who wants her to take a more academic route, so as to get a good job.

Whoopi Goldberg is excellent, as expected, and overall this made a good light evening’s viewing. Recommended, although best seen after the first ‘Sister Act’. 

The rating is PG, which I'd say is about right. Mild profanity, some slightly provocative dancing and a few innuendoes, but no violence, nothing explicit, and nothing to disturb even the most sensitive of children. Not that it's likely to be of interest to anyone under the age of about twelve. 

Review copyright 2023 Sue's DVD Reviews