Caffeinated Clint
Whatever the case, this “Dukes” still has a lot more horsepower behind it than the previous instalment – and considering that one had more money to play with, a bigger canvas to screen itself on, a who’s who of tinseltown starring in it, and a name director helming it… that’s not a bad feat for a direct-to-video sequel to garner.
Jonathan Bennett, Randy Wayne, April Scott, Willie Nelson, Joel Moore, Christopher McDonald, Harlan Williams, Sherilyn Fenn
The DVD player’s still warm from spinning the first “Dukes of Hazzard” movie on its turnstile… and here we have the quickie follow-up. As Divine Brown will attest to though, sucking is popular – and some will wanna do it again; even shortly after.
Thankfully, ‘Sucking’ isn’t a word to fully describe Warner Premiere’s direct-to-DVD “Hazzard” prequel. Whereas the first film – the theatrically released blunder starring Johnny Knoxville, Sean William Scott, Jessica Simpson and Burt Reynolds – was about as loyal to the original TV series as Bush is to the people… this new instalment, with its better-suited cast and reasonably charged script, nearly gets it right. Sure, it’s still not the same old ‘Dukes’ we grew up watching – it’s smuttier and the characters are all loons – but its much closer in tone to what people were expecting first time around.
The film tells of how troublemaking Bo (Jonathan Bennett) and Luke (Randy Wayne) came to live at their Uncle Jesse’s (Willie Nelson, reprising his role from the previous film) farm, and help save his moonshine business.
When the over-sexed nuts learn that their Uncle Jesse’s trade is in dire trouble, they take over. With the help of local mechanic, Cooter (Joel Moore), the guys find a hot car – the General Lee was sitting at the bottom of a ravine – to do their deliveries in. Before they know it, they’re back in business.
Only problem is, local crooked politico Boss Hogg (Christopher McDonald) is determined to take Uncle Jesse down no matter what, so the boys – and their cousin, Daisy (April Scott) – are going to have to come up with a plan… and quick.
Gold star to the casting director for casting correctly this time. First time around, the actors looked nothing like their legendary TV counterparts – especially blonde (!) Jessica Simpson as Daisy! – but this time, they all look a little closer to how the original gang looked in the series. Best is April Scott, a spunky brunette, who fits snugly into Daisy’s shorts. She’s much more fitting in the part than bumpy-nosed Simpson ever was. Christopher McDonald (“Quiz Show”) is also much more fitting as Boss Hogg than Burt Reynolds ever was. He’s actually quite a bit funnier. Speaking of which, so is the character of Rosco P.Coltrane. M.C Gainey played the role ‘seriously’ in the previous film, in this one, Rosco’s back – with Harlan Williams playing him – as a bumbling dunce with a dog… the way he should be. In fact, all the classic ‘Dukes’ supporting characters – Enis, Cooter; and so on – are mostly played here as they should be.
The weakest part of the casting may be the Dukes boys. Sure, Jonathan Bennett and Randy Wayne look a little more ‘Bo’ and ‘Luke’ than Knoxville and Scott ever did… but they seem to be playing in a different movie than everyone else. For most of the film, the guys act plain “dumb”… as if playing the leads in a “Dude, Where’s My Car” spin-off, or, “Dumb and Dumberer 3”. They’re just plain annoying at times.. they really should’ve used some restraint here, but no doubt the decision to go ‘over the top’ wasn’t the actors but director Robert Berlinger’s. Whoever’s decision it was, near ruined the film.
The script too could’ve been a little less dumb. Considering how well pieced together a lot of it is – imaginatively explaining how the boys found the General Lee; how they decided on a number for the side of the car; where they found the sound for their horn; and how and why Daisy made the transformation from buttoned-up good girl to nymphette sexpot- the fact that twenty-percent of the film is just chicks running around with their tops off or other mind-numbingly retarded situations (the bit with the pig, at the top of the bar, is absolutely terrible – I’ve never seen worse effects in my life) lets it down. It had real potential to be something quite good.
Whatever the case, this “Dukes” still has a lot more horsepower behind it than the previous instalment – and considering that one had more money to play with, a bigger canvas to screen itself on, a who’s who of tinseltown starring in it, and a name director helming it… that’s not a bad feat for a direct-to-video sequel to garner.
Several featurettes on the making-of-the-movie [and the car] accompany the movie.
Rating : 
Reviewer : Clint Morris
