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The success of “Romancing the Stone” made Fox realize
they might have a franchise on their hands. They commissioned
producer/star Michael Douglas to come up with a sequel and
Douglas, in turn, was able to persuade stars Kathleen Turner
and Danny DeVito to resume their roles as well. “Jewel”
lacks the vitality and sense of adventure that drove the
first film and perhaps part of that could be the lack of
involvement of director Robert Zemeckis (writer Diane Thomas
died in a car crash less than a year after the first film
premiered). Director Lewis Teague (the TV mini-series “The
Triangle” and “Cujo”) does a workman-like job with the material
making it engaging enough to keep audiences entertained.
The charm of the cast also helps go a long way towards selling
this project to audiences. Although the film doesn’t quite
live up to its title “The Jewel of the Nile” is still a
witty and fun movie. If it fails to reach the inspired heights
of its predecessor that’s not a surprise; it’s a rare sequel
that can compare favorably to the original that inspired
it. ***
Part of the problem certainly can be laid at the feet
of writers Mark Rosenthal and Lawrence Konner ( both have
worked on the forthcoming “Eragon”, remake of “Planet of
the Apes” and “Mona Lisa Smile”) who man handle Thomas’
characters and can’t quite capture the charm of Thomas’
original script (although to be fair her script did go through
three uncredited rewrites by other writers). The other part
of the equation that fails to add up is the slack direction
by Lewis Teague. Teague’s a skilled director when it comes
to the comedic and dramatic sequences but he lacks Zemeckis
flair for putting together creative action sequences. ***
Joan Wilder (Kathleen Turner) and Jack Colton (Michael
Douglas) fell in love at the conclusion of “Romancing the
Stone”. We catch up with them less than a year after their
last adventure and some of the sheen has worn off the jewel
of their romance. They need adventure to help polish up
their relationship a bit and adventure comes calling in
the form an African prince who wants Joan to write his biography.
Jack sulks when she goes to Africa by heading off to Greece.
He quickly learns, howev er, that Joan is in danger and
gallops to the rescue along with an unexpected ally—Ralph
(Danny DeVito) the villain of the last film. ---
Image & Sound:
Compared to its previous release this version looks
like a jewel. The images are sharp with excellent color.
This anamorphic transfer glitters compared to the previous
version. Presented in Dolby 4.0 Surround the directional
effects are used well and the score sounds quite good without
any distortion. ---
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