THE GODS MUST BE CRAZY II
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Copyright 1990 Mark R. Leeper
Capsule review: "Pleasant" is the word for this lightweight African adventure starring N!xau again as the benevolent if not always well-understood Xixo, the Kalihari Bushman. Again slapstick and political farce mix in this cultural-misunderstanding comedy. Rating: +2.
When THE BEAR was released, I said that it was one film that I would not mind see being turned into a series because the character is interesting enough that I would not mind every year or so looking in to see what he was up to. Now that I have seen two "The Gods Must be Crazy" films, I think I would enjoy seeing as many of them as Jamie Uys wants to make. I thought the 1981 THE GODS MUST BE CRAZY depended a little too much on political farce and on a brand of comedy that goes back to the silent film days. But then perhaps the film industry in Botswana is as young today as the American film industry was when those gags were popular here. What really was excellent about the first film was its view of modern society through the eyes of a Kalihari Bushman, Xixo (played by N!xau). In the newer film, Xixo is back, once again played by N!xau, who is by now running the risk of being typecast as a Kalihari Bushman and who may never get to play the classic roles such as the one uncorrupt cop in a big-city police force or the odd new partner of two policeman chasing down a killer.
The new plot has nine people running around the Kalihari in small groups that invariably got split up and united in various combinations. You have one adult Bushman, two Bushman children, two soldiers fighting, two poachers fleeing, one woman lawyer, one lost game warden, and a micro-plane high up in a tree. The chaos starts when Xixo's two children find a poachers' truck and climb on, only to have it start up so that they cannot get off. Xixo reads the tracks in the sand, understands what happened, and sets off to find his children. Meanwhile, Ann Taylor, a New York Lawyer (played by Lena Farugia), goes up for a half-hour plane ride with one game warden and finds herself stranded with another warden and an ultra-light airplane that is out of fuel. Also on the loose are two enemy mercenaries: one African, one Cuban.
As with the previous film, there is humorous animal footage, though this time obvious mock-ups of animals are often used and in one scene there appears to be two men in a rhinoceros suit. There is also a bit too much slapstick and fast-motion photography for intended humorous effect. There is, alas, less of the Bushman's view of our culture, but the story is affectionately told and charming if not always convincing. THE GODS MUST BE CRAZY II is a likable if lightweight film. I rate it a +2 on the -4 to +4 scale.
Mark R. Leeper
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