Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Nutty Professor II: The Klumps Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman September 14, 2018

Eddie Murphy is a talented man, even at any size or even tasked with playing a man or woman. In Nutty Professor II: The Klumps, the sequel to the popular fat-guy-shrinks-down-thanks-to-science Comedy The Nutty Professor (which was a re-imagining of the classic 1963 film of the same name), Murphy plays himself, a fatter version of himself, several obese characters of both genders, and even takes a shot at playing characters of varying ages, attitudes, and boisterousness. The movie invents a story that pits the obese Sherman against his svelte alter-ego Buddy Love, but the story proper is of little concern against the raucous character beats that flow freely anytime when one, or several, or even all of Murphy's characters appear and interact on the screen.

The brilliant Sherman Klump (Murphy), a prized university scientist and man of both prodigious body size and massive intellect, is still struggling with the idea that his alter ego, the svelte and boisterous Buddy Love, might one day make a return into his life and ruin everything he has built, including a healthy relationship and, now, courtship with the beautiful Denise (Janet Jackson). Klump’s most recent laboratory creation is a formula that is essentially the fountain of youth in a bottle, and a pharmaceutical company is going to pay top dollar for it. Everything is going well in his life, even if his family (most all of whom are played by Murphy) regularly embarrasses him in front of Denise. Unfortunately for Sherman, things spiral out of control when he attempts to flush Buddy from his system for good but only winds up creating a more dangerous monster who wants part of that very lucrative pharmaceutical deal.

To be perfectly frank, the movie is inherently stupid, but it’s also kind of hilarious. To be frank again, the core story -- the clash between Klump and Love over the fountain of youth formula -- is of little interest beyond the opportunities for Murphy to battle himself, mostly his skinnier self to fast-talk and try to outmaneuver his larger, more physically incapable and emotionally hesitant self. The movie earns some laughs in these scenes thanks to Murphy’s boundless energy and enthusiasm, even when playing the more sluggish Sherman Klump, but the plot is little more than a framework for the actor to do what he does best. The movie is nothing without Murphy but even he can carry it only so far even when it’s entirely reliant on his ability to fill extra-large shoes and perform at a high level in no less than eight credited roles.

The film is called The Klumps, though, and it's in, and through, Sherman's family that the movie earns its heartiest laughs. Though various scenes with the family largely amount to little more than one-off routines that usually only tangentially, if that, work into the story, the film thrives on various moments of interaction when Murphy, portraying a number of individuals, all of whom appear in deep, intense makeup and with their own unique personalities (though, making it a little easier on Murphy, all also sharing that unmistakable Klump crudeness that Sherman finds a turn-off) clashing in every scene they share, whether that's two of them in the bedroom or all of them around the table. Murphy never appears lost or at a loss for words or actions; his ability to give each character life beyond the fat suits, the various wigs, the mountains of makeup is really quite something else, and props to the editing department, too, for keeping it all straight and to the effects wizards who have seamlessly put the scenes together with Murphy often filling most every seat at a table. One cannot help but find the crudities and absurdities fun as the grossly overweight and grossly over-the-top family highlights an otherwise forgettable movie.

Nutty Professor II: The Klumps Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Nutty Professor II: The Klumps' 1080p presentation isn't half-bad. Image clarity is impressive and the picture is steadily sharp and revealing. Details never falter, never suffer from artificial smoothness or even excess flatness. Basic skin and clothing complexities more than satisfy, and even the 1080p resolution can't reveal the makeup seams on various characters. That's just another feather in the cap for the movie's talented makeup artists. Grain is retained and fairly organic, yielding a pleasantly impressive filmic image. Sharp details and clarity extend well into backgrounds across various locations, whether restaurants or science laboratories. Colors appear rich and well saturated across a variety of clothing shades and environmental supports, including a variety of foods seen during the restaurant scene in chapter two. Black levels aren't disruptive and skin tones appear true, whether natural or applied on prosthetics. The image does suffer from the occasional speckle but print wear only truly spikes in a handful of shots.

Nutty Professor II: The Klumps Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The film's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack is typical of the era from which it hails: it's large and intense, a bit over-engineered and over-exaggerated, but a good bit of listening fun all the same. Surrounds engage with plenty of fun effects, such as a piece of silverware that whirls through the stage into the rear right channel in chapter two in the film's buffet sequence. A large fireball bursts a few minutes later with equal intensity, followed by some heightened patron background chatter in the restaurant. Thunder rolls prominently through the rears in chapter three, and minutes later the effect becomes more intense and spacious in a Frankenstein-esque sort of moment, complete with potent, surround-heavy music. Lighter atmospherics are no less impressively enveloping, such as swampy ambience in chapter four. These are just some early film examples of the movie's sonic credentials. The track is large and in-charge and relentless when the opportunities for intensive sounds present themselves. Dialogue is loud but nicely defined and grounded in the front-center. This one's just a load of listening fun, slightly crude it may sometimes be.

Nutty Professor II: The Klumps Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Nutty Professor II: The Klumps contains a large assortment of vintage content. No top menu is included. All extras must be accessed in-film via the popup menu. With this much content, the crude setup is just too unwieldy. No DVD or digital versions are included. The release does not ship with a slipcover.

• Spotlight on Location (1080i upscaled, 24:16): A detailed exploration of the Klump family's depiction in the series, rounding the characters into form for this film, Murphy's multiple performances, makeup complexities, Buddy Love's role in this film, crafting various scenes, and much more.
• Featurette (1080i upscaled, 3:54): Essentially the last piece whittled down to four minutes.
• Deleted Scene: The House Fantasy (1080i upscaled 1:25): Sherman dreams of life in a new home with Denise.
• Extended Scene: The Restaurant (1080i upscaled, 10:12): A longer version of a complex dining scene featuring carefully edited interactions between Murphy's characters.
• Outtakes (1080i upscaled, 3:51): Choice moments that didn't make the final cut.
• Make-Up Application (1080i upscaled, 3:35): A time-lapse video featuring Murphy transforming into the "Papa" and "Ernie" characters.
• Original Sherman Klump Make-Up Test (1080i upscaled, 1:58): An early screen test for the makeup first seen in the original film.
• Janet Jackson Wardrobe Test (1080i upscaled, 0:45): A screen test juxtaposed against a final clip from the film.
• Music Video (1080i upscaled 4:47): "Doesn't Really Matter" by Janet Jackson.
• Audio Commentary: Director Peter Segal delivers a fairly insightful, but at the same time somewhat dry, commentary. He hits most of the essential elements: cast and character insights, story elements, anecdotal storytelling, and more.

Nutty Professor II: The Klumps Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Nutty Professor II: The Klumps patches together a story that allows Murphy to work his magic. The film rightly, and largely, uses it as a comedic propellant and isn't above filling time with screen-filling Klumps in scenes that are tangentially, or not at all, related to the primary story. Murphy shines in extreme duty and, while there are a couple of common threads that keep the characters closely-knit, does very well to maintain each personality throughout. The movie, then, isn't forgettable, but audiences should go in with the idea that Murphy and the Klumps come first and the ragtag story comes a distant second (maybe even third since Janet Jackson also graces the screen). Universal's Blu-ray brings over a bunch of vintage extras and delivers surprisingly solid video and audio. Recommended.