The Gods Must Be Crazy II

Despite a few dull spots and a certain amount of predictability, The Gods Must Be Crazy II delivers enough laughs and does it with enough charm to be worthwhile viewing, especially for fans of the first film. Read full review

There's, say, a 20-minute stretch where this slapstick works; there's also a subplot about N!Xau's lost children (cute, but shruggable), and a real pace-killer involving two rival soldiers. Uys' shots often fail to match, and the monotonic narration really grates; it drones on like a junior high science film on plant blight. [16 Apr 1990, p.9D]

No less than the first film, this new effort is both disarmingly sweet and politically appalling. [13 Apr 1990, p.48p]

Whereas the original film had a grain of originality and social commentary in its story of what happens because of the surprise appearance of a Coca-Cola bottle, the new picture offers only tired jokes. [13 Apr 1990, p.C]

What were charming once -- the clumsiness of Uys' style and the crudeness of his effects -- now seem quite tired: After all, he had the budget this time, and he has had six years to learn how to do things. It's as if Uys never quite understood what made The Gods Must Be Crazy so enchanting. [13 Apr 1990, p.G5]

Occasionally, the scenes of the bush people are just enough like the best parts of the original Gods to remind us what we're missing in the new one. But most of the time, Gods II is unamusingly antic. [13 Apr 1990, p.4]

The wonder is that anything in a country this exotic, full of such potential wonder, could be made this enervating. Read full review