Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2

Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Bob Clark
Produced by Steven Paul
Screenplay by Gregory Poppen
Story by Steven Paul
Starring
Music by
Cinematography Maher Maleh
Edited by Stan Cole
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release dates
  • August 27, 2004 (2004-08-27)
Running time
 88 minutes
Country
  • Germany
  • United Kingdom
  • United States
Language English
Budget $20 million
Box office $9.4 million[1]

Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2 (also known as Baby Geniuses 2: Superbabies or simply as Baby Geniuses 2) is a 2004 science fiction comedy film directed by Bob Clark and written by Gregory Poppen based on a story by Steven Paul. The sequel to the 1999 film Baby Geniuses, the film stars Jon Voight, Scott Baio, and Vanessa Angel. It is an international co-production between companies in Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Like its predecessor, Superbabies received universally negative reviews and is often regarded as one of the worst films of all time. It was also a box office bomb, earning less than half its budget back.

Plot

Following the events of the first film, four babies can communicate with each other using 'baby talk', and have knowledge of many secrets. The baby geniuses become involved in a scheme by media mogul Bill Biscane, later revealed to be known as Kane, who kidnaps children everywhere. Helping the geniuses is a legendary super-baby named Kahuna who stops Biscane's plots and saves children from being kidnapped by Biscane and his minions. He joins up with several other babies in an attempt to stop Biscane, who intends to use a state-of-the-art satellite system to control the world's population by brainwashing them and forcing people to not be active and watch TV the rest of their lives.

The film starts with a group of babies in a day care centre. Archie tells the others (Finkelman, Alex, and Rosita) a story about a super baby called Kahuna. Kahuna rescues kids all around the world. According to Archie, Kahuna rescued a group of children from an orphanage run by the evil Kane. Kahuna and Kane are nemeses and hate each other, but Kahuna always wins their battles.

Archie's father Stan, who seems to own the day care centre, is letting it be used as a television set by the evil Biscane (yes, in other words, Kane) who is starting up his own TV channel. Archie notices someone spying on the goings-on at the television set in the bushes, but he isn't sure who it is. However, he begins to believe Biscane is evil. He and the other babies sneak into Stan's office and decide to check out Biscane, but are spammed. When they hear some of Biscane's cronies approaching, Rosita, Alex and Finkelman run away, leaving Archie by himself. Archie overhears the cronies talking about Biscane's plan, but he doesn't really understand it. However, he accidentally attracts their attention, but before they can get him, he is rescued by, you've guessed it, Kahuna, who is in fact real. But then Kahuna leaves and the other babies don't believe Archie. Kylie, Archie's older cousin and Stan's niece, takes them all out to the children's museum, but not before bumping into a friend and a disc falls into the pushchair. On the way to the museum they are stopped by loads of Biscane's other cronies. But Kahuna rescues them all, and the babies realise that Archie was telling the truth. Kahuna takes them all to his base in Hollywood, where they meet Zack, whom Kahuna took in years ago. Kahuna's base is in fact a huge playground, and Kylie finds it weird. Kahuna transforms the babies into superbabies: Archie is Brain Boy, Alex is Bouncing Boy, Rosita is Cupid Girl, and Finkelman is Baby Courageous. But they don't think these super alter-egos fit their personalities, and they tell Kahuna to change them back to normal. Which he does. After convincing Stan and Archie's mother that they are okay, Archie asks Kahuna to tell him where he got his powers from. But he refuses...so Archie eavesdrops on Zack and Kylie. Zack tells Kylie that Kahuna's father was a scientist and developed a formula of some sort, which Kahuna drank, and he was transformed into a super baby, but he is stuck as a child forever. Kahuna's brother didn't like it that everyone thought he and his family were freaks. When the father died, despite Kahuna being 18, he was put into an orphanage, but he escaped, and set out to rescue babies and children everywhere, and in the words of Zack, "a legend was born."

The next day, Zack and Kylie find the disc that magically managed to travel from the pushchair into Kylie's bag. Zack gives it to Kahuna. Then Zack and Kylie go for a picnic on the hills and they kiss, when Zack gets a message from Kahuna. On the disc is a clip of the programme that is to be aired on Biscane's TV channel, followed by lots of seemingly random code. They FINALLY realise that Biscane is up to no good, and set out to see what is going on. Zack, posing as a policeman, and the babies, watch as Biscane counts down til his channel is to be aired on TV. But Kahuna, who has worked out his plan to control the world stops him and destroys the satellites- before disappearing. Archie and the other three don't know what to do- they think they can't go on without Kahuna. But in fact, all they need to do is believe in themselves. They all decide to go and become their super alter-egos-for Kahuna. With Stan, Archie's mum, Kylie and Zack with them, they return to Kahuna's hideout and become Bounce Boy, Cupid Girl, Brain Boy and Courageous Boy. Then Kahuna arrives, followed by Biscane and his cronies. But after defeating all the cronies, Biscane still gets the disc he needs and begins to air the TV clip on TV. It's also revealed that he is Kahuna's older brother and he hates Kahuna for being their dad's favourite. Now Kahuna and Biscane have always been fighting, ever since Kahuna escaped from the orphanage- Biscane always wanted to be young forever, that's why he hates children, and Kahuna needed to save all the children from his evil brother. Anyway, the babies kick Biscane into the...thing resembling a carousel that transformed them into their super selves and he, wanting to become everything he's ever wanted, presses a button that wasn't there before and becomes a baby, much to his despair. But thankfully his cronies promise to look after him. Kahuna reverses the transmission posing as the TV clip Biscane is airing and all the children decide to run outside and play tag. Yes, apparently every child in the world starts playing tag. Now that their work is done, Kahuna tells Archie that he must go and though they'll always be friends, Archie must stay with his family and Kahuna must go and save kids.

In the end, Zack meets his mother Zack and Kylie are dating, apparently, and Archie, running outside, sees Kahuna in the flying vehicle who waves at him and yells that he'll always be a hero.

Cast

Release

Box office

Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2 opened theatrically on August 27, 2004 in 1,276 venues, earning $3,251,856 in its opening weekend, ranking number eleven in the domestic box office.[2] At the end of its run, on October 3, the film grossed $9,219,388 domestically and $229,256 overseas for a worldwide total of $9,448,644.[1] Having an estimated $20 million budget, the film was a box office bomb.

Critical response

The film was universally panned by critics. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 0% rating, based on 45 reviews, with an average rating of 2.2/10. The site's consensus states: "A startling lack of taste pervades Superbabies, a sequel offering further proof that bad jokes still aren't funny when coming from the mouths of babes."[3] Metacritic reports a 9 out of 100 rating, based on 19 critics, indicating "overwhelming dislike".[4]

Dave Kehr, in his New York Times review, said that the film was "not so much Look Who's Talking as Look Who's Walloping," while also noting that the problem with the villain's "plan is that it is already in effect and endorsed by the FCC. It is called commercials."[5] Writing for the Washington Post, Michael O'Sullivan stated, "The action sequences are phony-looking; the dialogue sounds largely improvised on the fly; the laughs are few and far between; and the acting ... is, to put it kindly, wooden."[6]

Accolades

Award Category Subject Result
Golden Raspberry Award Worst Supporting Actor Jon Voight Nominated
Worst Screenplay Gregory Poppen Nominated
Worst Picture Steven Paul Nominated
Worst Director Bob Clark Nominated
Stinkers Bad Movie Awards[7] Worst Picture Steven Paul Nominated
Most Painfully Unfunny Comedy Nominated
Worst Sequel Nominated
Worst Director Bob Clark Nominated
Worst Screenplay Gregory Poppen Nominated
Worst Supporting Actor Jon Voight Nominated
Worst Fake Accent – Male Nominated
Least "Special" Special Effects Nominated

Home media

The film was released on DVD and VHS on January 4, 2005.

References

  1. 1 2 "Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2 (2004)". Box Office Mojo. Internet Movie Database. October 4, 2004. Retrieved December 4, 2015.
  2. ↑ "Weekend Box Office Results for August 27-29, 2004". Box Office Mojo. Internet Movie Database. August 30, 2004. Retrieved December 4, 2015.
  3. ↑ "Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2 (2004)". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved July 5, 2014.
  4. ↑ "Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2 reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved July 5, 2014.
  5. ↑ Kehr, Dave (August 27, 2004). "'Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2': With Kung Fu Babies, Who Needs to Call the Marines?". The New York Times. Retrieved July 5, 2013.
  6. ↑ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35771-2004Aug26.html
  7. ↑ "2004 27th Hastings Bad Cinema Society Stinker Awards". Los Angeles Times. Stinkers Bad Movie Awards. Archived from the original on October 17, 2006. Retrieved May 10, 2013.
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