For the most part, it seems that sequels to popular films are nothing but money grabs, attempts to cash in yet again on the popularity of the first film. It this regard, they show little in the way of originality and feature the same cast and essentially the same story line as the prior film, albeit often times taking place a few years later. Same cast, same story and essentially the same film. I am not saying that sequels are bad… far from it, as they have been several tremendous sequels, especially recent ones, with The Bourne films and The Dark Knight coming to mind. It is just that I look at sequels with a bit of a jaded eye, especially comedies. Which brings us to the subject of this review, Cheaper By The Dozen 2.
Film
Unfortunately, Cheaper by the Dozen 2 is one of those sequels which is content to be a rehash of its successor. Not even an excellent cast, featuring Steve Martin, Bonnie Hunt and Eugene Levy can raise this film up to be nothing more than a mediocre and mundane family comedy.
The film picks up several years after the first film, Cheaper By The Dozen. The kids are older but the basic cast remains the same, with the notable edition of Carmen Elecktra as Jimmy Murtaugh’s new wife, Sarina. As in the first film, the entire Baker clan heads off to the lake over the Labor Day holiday where the father Tom Baker (Steve Martin) clashes once again with his nemesis Jimmy Murtaugh (Eugene Levy) who seems to now own the entire lake front property and has built a large vacation home across the lake from the old run down home that the Bakers are renting for the holiday.
As was the case with the first film, Cheaper By The Dozen 2 essentially boils down to the conflict between Tom and Jimmy, who are both jealous of each other and who choose to raise their families entirely differently. As was the case with the first film, this conflict comes to a head when Jimmy challenges the Bakers to enter the annual Labor Day competition for the Cup, which Jimmy always pursues with ruthless zeal. If you hadn’t seen the original, I am sure that you would enjoy this film as it does have its comedic moments. However, if you have seen the original, it is simply more of the same and totally predictable.
Is this a bad film? Not exactly but is not one that I could recommend for a purchase. If you are in the mood for a light simple comedy that the whole family can enjoy, feel free to give this release a look. But as a rental only.
Video
All in all, Cheaper By The Dozen 2 is a decent enough looking film. Over the holiday, I had the opportunity to see the film on cable in HD. The Blu-ray looks much sharper and detailed than did the cable presentation I saw with much less video noise and Mpeg 2 artifacts that were evident on the cable version. The film features a nice natural color palette with excellent skin tone rendition. Blacks are fairly deep and stable but not quite the inky blacks that are the hallmarks of the very best looking films, at least to me.
Where the look of the film falls a bit short for me is in the level of clarity and detail. The film is a bit soft throughout. The rendition of facial and background details is mediocre at best. I didn’t notice any evidence of excessive digital noise reduction on this transfer, so can only assume that this is how the film looked in the theater. However, if you are looking for a film with a razor sharp image, deep blacks, abundant detail and three dimensionality and depth, Cheaper By The Dozen 2 is not the film for you.
Audio
I must say that I was quite surprise by the quality of the audio on this release, which was evident by the excellent fidelity on the film’s opening song, Stevie Wonder’s “I Wish” which sounded superb. The same can be said for all of the music featured in the film. The overall fidelity of the entire film is excellent as well sounding smooth and rich without the hint of harshness, with a well recorded dialogue track which is well placed within the overall sound field. For a comedy, bass response and dynamics were excellent.
However, what really caught me a bit off guard was the rather aggressive use of the surrounds during the film, which results in a rather nice sense of immersion, especially considering the nature of the film. While not exactly as immersive as the best sounding action films, the audio here is more than respectable and way better than one would otherwise have suspected from a family comedy. I just wish that the overall content of the film was up to the level of the audio design.
Special Features
Frankly, there is really little in the way of extras presented on this release. All of the extras appear to have been ported over from the prior DVD release. None are presented in HD although they are presented in widescreen standard definition. The extras include two trailers for the film along with an audio commentary by director Adam Shankman. Also included are three brief featurettes, “Camp Chaos” which is a look behind the scenes at the making of the film, “A Comedic Trio” where members of the cast and crew discuss the comic genius of Steve Martin, Bonnie Hunt and Eugene Levy and a Casting Session presented by the Fox Movie Channel.
The release is not BD-Live enabled and does not include a digital copy. If you are so inclined, the only extra that you may want to check out is the featurette “A Comedic Trio” which has its humorous moment or two and is very brief. You aren’t really missing much if you skip the extras entirely.
Final Thoughts
Cheaper By The Dozen 2 is a rehash of its predecessor and features just OK video and a better than expected audio presentation and is rated as a rental at best.
