
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, December 11, 1993                   TAG: 9312110136
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: C-12   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By MIKE MAYO CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

`SISTER ACT' SEQUEL IS A BAD HABIT

The only good thing about "Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit" is the scene from Disney's upcoming animated feature "The Lion King" that's included as a promotional introduction to the film.

As for the movie itself, it's a shabby, slap-dash sequel that embarrasses all concerned. It appears to have been made purely for a quick buck, not because anyone involved really thought there was more to tell about the story or characters. Though a few of the musical numbers are lively and well-produced, the rest of the film is second-rate.

The formula plot is so flimsy that it's impossible for audiences to become very involved or interested in what's going on. The contrived conflict has to do with a San Francisco Catholic high school. That's where Sisters Mary Patrick (Kathy Najimy), Mary Lazarus (Mary Wickes) and Mary Robert (Wendy Makkena), and Mother Superior (Maggie Smith) are teaching.

The school is so poor and the students are so undisciplined that the only thing they can do is go to Las Vegas and persuade Deloris Van Cartier (Whoopi Goldberg) to give up her successful act and help them. She agrees, again becoming Sister Mary Clarence, and soon discovers that Mr. Crisp (James Coburn), the evil administrator, wants to close the school and turn it into a parking lot.

Will Mary Clarence transform her rambunctious but cute students into a choir? Will they go to the state choir competition? Will they win and save the school? You don't need a degree in film studies to figure out the script by James Orr, Jim Cruickshank and Judi Ann Mason. Joseph Howard, who wrote the original "Sister Act," had nothing to do with this one.

Given the material he had to work with, director Bill Duke ("A Rage in Harlem") does as well as anyone could. Of the musical numbers, the Las Vegas routine, "The Mother of All Medleys" is a rousing introduction. When Goldberg performs with The Nuns on "Ball of Confusion" and "Dancing in the Street," the film comes to life. But those scenes take up no more than 10 minutes. For the rest of its running time, "Sister Act 2" just goes through the motions, pretending that it's a real movie.

Sister Act 2: *

A Touchstone Pictures release playing at the Valley View Mall 6. 108 min. Rated PG for a little rough language.

by CNB