The Blues Brothers "Me and the lord, we have an understanding!"

 

 

 

 

 

So, just for a change, I thought I would yet another review revisit (shock surprise lol!) and this one will be on a film I reviewed a good few years back and watched again recently, which is the musical comedy, The Blues Brothers. 

So, let's see how this film fairs some 46 years later after its original release. 

So before I begin, there is the usual warning coming up...

PLOT SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!!

STORY

So the film begins with "Joliet" Jakes Blues (John Belushi) being released from prison having served a three year sentence for armed robbery.  Jake is picked up outside the prison by his brother, Elwood Blues (Dan Aykroyd) in a battered police car, which is their Blues mobile.  Shortly after they stop off and visit their former childhood home, an orphanage where they meet with Sister Mary Stigmata (Kathleen Freeman) who tells them that the orphanage is due to close down unless they pay a property tax of $5,000.  Jake says they can get they money quickly, however the Sister refuses to accept any money they would rip off from anyone, and she chastises them when they start cursing and tells them to get out and not come back until they redeem themselves.

Jake and Elwood then meet with Curtis (Cab Calloway) who also helps out at the home and has known the brothers since their childhood, and he tells them to go to church.  And they both reluctantly go to an evangelical church where they listen to a music sermon lead by Rev Cleophus James (James Brown).  During the sermon, Jake has a revelation that they can get the money they need by getting their band back together.

Elwood afterward that night is pulled over by the police for failing to stop at a red signal, and the two police troopers check his licence and see that it is currently suspended and when they officers ask him to step out the car, he speeds off.  Elwood then in an effort to escape the police crashes through a shopping mall and eventually shakes them off and arrives at his temporary abode, which is a broken down motel, when all of a sudden a mysterious woman (Carrie Fisher) fires a rocket launcher at them both and drives off, they both survive unscathed and enter the hotel.  The next morning the woman comes back and sets off explosives which destroy the building but again the brothers are left not injured they simply leave to locate their band members.

And en route they stop off at different places to recruit the band, which includes Trombonist, Tom "Bones" Malone, the drummer Willie "Too Big" Hall, rythyhm guitarist Steve "The Colonel" Cropper, bass player Donald "Duck" Dunn, trumpeter Alan Rubin, "Blue Lou" Marina the saxophonist, and lastly Matt "Murph" Murphy the lead guitarist.

However as they progress they begin to make more enemies, not just the police, but also a group of Illinois Nazis.  The Brothers and the band then play in a country bar, posing as the country and western group "The Good Ole Boys" only to be later confronted by the real band when they leave, lead by Tucker McElroy (Charles Napier).  Jake and Elwood hightail it and drive off leaving the owner, Bob (Jeff Morris) without paying the beer tab, who with Tucker go after Jake and Elwood only to collide with the two police officers that pulled over Elwood earlier on.   

Next up Jake and Elwood meet up with Maurie Sline (Steve Lawrence) their old booking agent and they manage to persuade him to book a gig for them at the Palace Hotel ballroom, near Chicago.  However as the brothers go around the city advertising the gig, they run out of gas and they eventually get there late and perform their set, after a slow start they win over the audience.

However the venue is also filled with police officers waiting to arrest Jake and Elwood and during their set the two of them dance off the stage, where a record producer waits for them and offers them a recording contract deal and $10,000 upfront, which they accept as it will be more than enough to pay the debt for the orphanage, and they both leave quietly, leaving the band to play on.

And from here Jake and Elwood have a massive challenge ahead of them in trying to get to the Cook county assessor's office to hand in the money as they chased by the Illinois Nazis, the Good Ole Boys, and dozens of police cars in an effort to apprehend them.....

THOUGHTS 

The Blues Brothers still to this day is a highly entertaining comedy and for me is one of the very few musical comedies that works really well and the tracks don't annoy or interfere with the pacing of the film, but its also helped by the fact the choice of blues song are excellent (basically I'm not a fan of musicals!).  The characters themselves originally appeared in the Saturday night live show as a musical sketch.  The film itself was a moderate commercial success on its release although it was critically well received and later gained a cult following, especially when it was released on VHS video.

It was also up to that point in time one of the most expensive films ever made as well as the budget was in excess of 30 million dollars, which is certainly shown in the film's hectic car chase scenes where Elwood wrecks a shopping mall and where an army of police and military hunt down the brothers toward the end of the film.  However part of this cost was also attributed to Belushi's partying and drug abuse, which caused significant delays in filming when the actor would spend hours partying and on cocaine, resulting in many hours and days wasted in the schedule.

PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES (Warning: this section contains spoilers and strong language!)

Performance wise The Blues Brothers is very good overall with a strong cast all in fine form.

Starting with the late John Belushi providing his career defining role as "Joliet" Jake Blues, the charismatic conman, who get's his band back together to help raise the money to save the orphanage. Belushi would later die in 1982, aged only 33 from a drug overdose of cocaine and heroin.

Belushi has plenty of good scenes in the film, such as the first scene where Elwood picks up Jake from prison and the two of them drive off in Elwood's Dodge Sedan police car. So, in the scene, Jake irritably asks Elwood "What the hell is this?!" and Elwood asks "What?" and Jake angrily says "This car!  This stupid car!".  So, Jake then asks "Where's the Cadillac?!  The Caddy?  Where's the Caddy?!" and Elwood says "I traded it" and Jake asks "You traded the Blues mobile for this?!" and Elwood says "No, for a microphone" and Jake takes a moment and sarcastically says "OK. I can see that!".  Jake then asks re: the car "What the hell is this?" and Elwood says "This was a bargain. I picked it up at the Mount Prospect city police auction last spring. It's an old Mount Prospect police car. They were practically giving 'em away!".  Jake then angrily says "Well, thank you, pal! The day I get out of prison, my own brother picks me up in a POLICE car!". 

Then there is the scene where Jake and Elwood arrive at the orphanage and Jake asks "What are we doing here??" Elwood says to him "You told the Penguin you'd visit her, the day you got out" and Jake says "Yeah, so I lied to her" and Elwood says "You can't lie to a nun.  We gotta go in there and visit the Penguin." and Jake defiantly says "No fucking way!".  However, Elwood decisively gets out of the car to go in, leaving Jake little choice but to follow him.

Another good scene is when Jake is at the gospel church and Rev Cleophus asks him "Do you see the light?!" as a holy light bathes the church and covers Jake and he remembers the band and he says to himself "The band!".  And as the Rev repeats the question "Do you see the light?!" Jake yells "YES! YES! JESUS H. TAPDANCING CHRIST I HAVE SEEN THE LIGHT!!!" and he proceeds to somersault his way to the front of the church and dances with the choir members and somersaults back to Elwood shouts "The band, Elwood!  The band!!!".  And Elwood looks at Jake for a moment and he too has the same revelation and he shouts "The band!" and the Rev shouts "Praise the Lord!" and Elwood shouts out "And God bless the United States of America!".  

And then we have the scene where Jake and Elwood track down the rythym section of their band, who have now formed their own band, Murph and Magic Tones, which J and E find in a club playing some cheesy Spanish music. So, afterward, they meet with Jake and Elwood and Jake tells them "You were the backbone of a great rythym and blues band.  You can make that band live, breathe and jump again!".  Jake then mockingly says "Murph and the Magic Tones?!  Look at you in those candy-ass uniforms!".  And as the drummer, Willie "Too Big" Hall says to Jake and Elwood that they will never get a hold of Matt "Guitar" Murphy and Mr Big, the trumpeter, Jake says "Oh yeah?  Well, me and the Lord, we have an understanding!". 

Then we have the scene where Jake and Elwood turn up at a fancy restaurant where Mr Big, their former band trumpeter, is now the maitre'd who they try and get back.  And Jake turns to the table next to theirs as he spies a wealthy family and he teases the snobbish father by saying "How much for the little girl? How much for your children! Sell me you're daughters!". Mr Big then comes in pushes Jake away from them and Jake tries to persuade Mr Big to join the band again but he refuses. So, Jake says to him "If you say no, Elwood and I will come here for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day of the week!". Elwood then takes a large piece of doughy bread and thrusts it into his mouth and Mr Big finally gives in and says "OK!  OK!  I'll play!  You got me!" so Jake and Elwood, satisfied, then leave. 

And then we ge to the scene where Jake finally faces Carrie Fisher's character, the un-named Mystery Woman, who was a bride he jilted at the altar in the muddy tunnel after they leave the Palace Hotel ballroom gig.  So, as the woman has Jake in her sights with her M16, Jake get's down on his knees and begs "OH PLEASE DON'T KILL US!!!  PLEASE, PLEASE DON'T KILL US!! It wasn't my fault! I had a flat tyre, my car ran out of gas, there was an earthquake!  A terrible flood!  Locusts! Look it wasn't my fault I swear to GOD!!!".  And he takes off his shades for the first time in the film and woos the woman into kissing him but after they kiss, Jake casually drops her into the mud and says to Elwood "Let's go!" and they scarper! 

Dan Aykroyd is also excellent as Elwood Blues, Jake's cool headed brother who get's Jake into a heap load of trouble by getting the entire Chicago police force on their asses, after failing to stop at a red light and also for trashing a shopping mall.

Aykroyd shares the limelight with Belushi and he too has his share of highlights such as the scene where Elwood picks up Jake from prison and Jake clealy doesn't like the new car. So, Elwood asks "You don't like it?" and Jake looks at him and says "No, I don't like it".  So, Elwood then revs the car and drives it over an open drawbridge and it lands safely on the other side. Jake then changes his mind and says "Car's got a lot of pick up".  Elwood then tells Jake "It's got a cop motor, a 440 cubic inch plant, it's got cop tires, cop suspensions, cop shocks. It's a model made before catalytic converters so it'll run good on regular gas. What do you say, is it the new Bluesmobile or what?". Jake then lights a cigarette with his lighter and says "Fix the cigarette lighter" (which Jake had thrown away) and they both smile. 

Then there is of course that scene where Elwood goes through a red light (or rather a yellow light going red) and is spotted by two police troopers, who tail them.  And as Elwood notices the troopers in his rear view, he and Jake share a brief but classic exchange:

Elwood: Shit!
Jake: What?
Elwood: Rollers!
Jake: No!
Elwood: Yeah!
Jake: Shit!

This is then followed by the moment where the cops, pull over Elwood and he asks one of them, Trooper Daniel who comes over "What did I do?" and Daniel says "You failed to stop at a red signal" and Elwood says "The light was yellow, sir".  So, the trooper takes Elwood's licence and registration away to run a check on it, and afterward, Jake exclaims "Goddamn it!!" and Elwood tells him "Man, I haven't been pulled over for six months".  Elwood then says "I bet those cops have got SCMODS" and Jake, puzzled, asks "SCMODS?" and Elwood explains the abbreviation "State County Municipal Offender Data System".  And as the troopers sees that Elwood has a whole load of traffic tickets and parking violations on him, the trooper goes back to his car and says "Elwood, we see you license is your currently on suspension. Step out of the car please" but Elwood instead drives away, which begins their chase with the cops.

And as Jake says to Elwood "First, you trade the Cadillac for a microphone, the you lie to me about the band...now you're gonna put me right back in the joint!". However, Elwood then says his often repeated line in the film "They're not gonna catch us!  We're on a mission from God!" but Jake looks angrily at him and says "Elwood!".   

Another good scene is when Jake and Elwood evade the cops and make it back to the motel where Elwood stays and they narrowly avoid being blown up by the mystery woman outside the front entrance! So, they go upstairs to Elwood's room and Jake sits on Elwood's bed and he asks Elwood "How are you gonna get the band back together, Mr Hotrodder?!  Those cops have got your name, your address...".  Elwood however corrects him and says "No, they haven't got my address.  I falsified my renewal!  I put 1060, West Addison" and Jake asks "1060, West Addison? That's Wrigley Field!" and Elwood smiles and nods.  Elwood then says "I gotta hit the sack..." however he sees that Jake has already fallen asleep on his bed and Elwood shouts at him "Hey, you sleaze!  That's my bed!" but he relents and covers over Jake and he sleeps in his chair instead.

Also during the sequence where they advertised the Palace Hotel ballroom gig whilst driving out in their car and he says over a megaphone, which is strapped to the hood of their car "You on the motorcycle!  You two girls!  Tell your friends!".  And of course Elwood drives the car down by the beach and they are surrounded by girls in skimpy bikinis and Elwood speaking through the megaphone announces "And of course its ladies night tonight at the Palace Hotel ballroom!".  

Then there is of course the scene where Jake and Elwood finally take to the stage at the ballroom infront of a large crowd, they leap onto the stage but the crowd look unimpressed and silent, so Jake nervously tells the band to start anyway.

So, as the band begin to play Wilson Picket's version of "Everybody needs somebody to love" Elwood addresses the crowd on the mic "We're so glad to see so many of you lovely people here tonight. And we would especially like to welcome all the representatives of Illinois's law enforcement community that have chosen to join us here in the Palace Hotel Ballroom at this time. We certainly hope you all enjoy the show. And remember, people, that no matter who you are and what you do to live, thrive and survive, there still some things that makes us all the same. You. Me. Them. Everybody. Everybody!".  

Dan also has a funny line after so many attempts on their life by the mystery woman, where she confronts them in the muddy tunnel he finally asks Jake "Who IS that girl???".  And after Jake manages to prevent the mystery woman from killing himself and Elwood, Jake kisses her and then drops her in the mud and says to Elwood "Let's go!" and Elwood walks past and says "Take it easy!" and he runs after Jake.   

And last of all is the scene where Jake and Elwood sneak out of the gig back to their car as they prepare for their trip to Chicago with the money for the orphanage.  So, Elwood says to Jake "Its 106 miles to Chicago, we've got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, its dark and we're wearing sun glasses" and Jake says "Hit it!" and Elwood drives off out of a tunnel, which knocks off the loud megaphone that was attached to the car. 

And in addition to the various musicians in the film, which I will get to I will also mention a few of the supporting performers such as John Candy, who is as good as ever in his role as Elwood's parole officer, Burton Mercer.

And John has a couple of good scenes I will mention such as the one where Mercer takes the two cops, Officer Mount and Trooper Daniel (who chased the brothers the night befre) to the motel where Elwood is actually staying with Jake.  So, Mercer tells them "This gentleman is the elegant abode of one Elwood Blues" and Office Mount says "Thank you for your help" and Mercer says to him "You know, I kinda like the Wrigley field bit!" and Mount angrily says "Yeah, real cute!". 

Then there is the scene where Mercer, who rides along with Mount and Daniel, who pursue Jake and Elwood on the road but they end up crashing the car into a passing truck.  So, we see that Mount has his police hat torn and Daniel is lying on the car floor.  So, Mercer asks for the mic, which Daniel passes him and Mercer speaks into the mic and says "This is um...what number are we?" and a deadpan Mount says "55!".  So Mercer smiles and says into the mic "This is car 55! Um...we're in a truck!!".

Carrie Fisher also puts in an amusing performance as Jake's crazed bride to be whom he left at the altar, and her repeated attempts to kill the brothers are hilarious, which include her using a flamethrower which sets fire to and ignites a fuel tank next to the call booth Jake and Elwood are in, which sends the booth sky high!

And in her last scene with Jake she explains the situation and says to Jake "I remained celibate for you. I stood at the back of a cathedral, waiting, in celibacy, for you, with three hundred friends and relatives in attendance! My uncle hired the best Romanian caterers in the state! To obtain the seven limousines for the wedding party, my father used up his last favor with Mad Pete Trullo! So for me, for my mother, my grandmother, my father, my uncle, and for the common good, I must now kill you, and your brother!".  But then as Jake makes his impassioned plea to save his life, he takes off his glasses in a list ditch attempt to woo her and it works as the woman smiles and says "Oh, Jake!  Jake, honey!".  So, Jake then takes her in his arms and kisses her only to drop her in the mud in a moment later and she angrily get's up after them and once they drive off, the woman opens fire with her M16 but misses the car completely.  

Henry Gibson is also great in his part as the leader of the Neo-Nazi party and he has two scenes worth mentioning. Starting with the one where the Nazi leader addresses a large, angry crowd as they do their demonstration.  And the leader addresses the crowd using a megaphone "White men! White women! The swastika is calling you. The sacred and ancient symbol of your race, since the beginning of time. The Jew is using The Black as muscle against you. And you are left there helpless. Well, what are you going to do about it, Whitey? Just sit there? Of course not! You are going to join with us. The members of the American Socialist White Peoples' Party. An organization of decent, law abiding white folk. Just like you!".

However, as Jake and Elwood as a policeman what is going on, the cop tells them "Those bums won their court case today, so they're marching" and Jake asks "Who are marching?" and the cop says "The fucking Nazi party!". Elwood shakes his head and says "Illinois Nazis!" and Jake says "I hate Illinois Nazis!" and Elwood starts up the car and drives over the bridge where the Nazis are, forcing them to jump over the bridge into the water.  So, after that, the soaked leader shouts to his subordinate "Gruppenfuhrer!  Get that car's license plate number!  We're gonna kill that son of a bitch!".

And then there is the scene where the Nazis turn up outside Wrigley field (which is a baseball stadium and also the address Elwood gave on his renewal). So, the Nazi leader addresses his men "Anybody with that kind of record is gonna make a mistake. I want all party members in the tri-state district to monitor the city, county and state police on their CBs. Mr. Blues is gonna fuck up, and when he does... he better pray the police get to him before we do!".

Charles Napier is also funny in his brief role as the leader of the Good Ole Boys, Tucker McElroy and I will quickly mention two of his scenes, starting with the one where Jake pretends to be music rep to distract Tucker and the band.

So, Jake says to Tucker "My name is Jacob Stein. I'm from the American Federation of Music. I've been sent to see if you gentlemen are carrying your permits" and Tucker asks "Our what?" and Jake says "Your union cards. May I see your cards pleases?".  So, Tucker smiles in disbelief and says "Well, suppose we ain't got no union cards and go in there and start playin' anyway? Whatcha gonna do about that? You gonna stop us, Stein? Ha. You're gonna look pretty funny tryin' to eat corn on the cob with no fuckin' teeth!".

And lastly there is the scene where after Jake and Elwood flee the concert at the Palace hotel ballroom, they are pursued by the cops, the Nazis and also of course, Tucker and the country club owner, Bob.  However, Tucker ends up accidentally driving his truck into a lake and the men are all soaking wet and Bob looks at a furious Tucker, who warns him "Don't you say a fuckin' word!".

And lastly Twiggy, the model and singer who rose to fame in the 1980s also provides a brief but noteworthy role as a girl who stops off at the garage where Elwood and Jake are waiting for fuel to be delivered, and he chats her up, and even offers her to meet up at a nearby motel, when she considers and later on waits for Elwood at the motel, as he sighs impatiently.

So, in the scene Elwood fills up Twiggy's car with gas (or petrol in the UK!) and he tells her "OK, you're all set, that will be $94" so Twiggy gives her the cash and says "OK, here's 95, thank you, Elwood" and Elwood hands her a dollar and says "And here's your change" and Twiggy says "No, keep it" and Elwood says "Oh thanks". Elwood then leans in and says to her "So, if there's any chance your date doesn't work out tonight, there's a small motel out on the interstate, say we could meet at around midnight?" and Twiggy smiles and says "I'll think about it, Elwood. OK?" and she drives off. Only later on for us to see Twiggy wait impatiently outside the motel just around the same time Elwood and Jake are fleeing the cops. 

Jeff Morris is also pretty good in his role as Bob, the country club owner, who has some good moments in the film.

And I will mention two of his scenes where after the gig, Bob impressed with the band says "Shit, I wanna tell you, that's some of the best goddam music we've had... at the Country Bunker in a long time!".  So, after Jake asks about the money for the gig "That's right. Two hundred dollars... and you boys drank $300 worth of beer". Elwood then says "Well, we just figured that beer was complimentary" but Bob shakes his head and says "No, uh-uh!".  So, Jake after a pause "Well, I'll take up a collection from the boys" and Bob says "Yeah, well I sure would appreciate it".

And then there is the scene just after where Jake and Elwood hightail it from Bob's bar and distract the real "Good ole boys" band. So, after they drive off, Tucker runs up to Bob and asks "Where they guys from?  The union?!" and Bob angrily says "What the hell, ''union''? Those boys skipped out of here owing me a lot of money for beer!".  Bob then looks at Tucker and his band in their country outfits "What the hell are you guys all dressed up for?!" and Tucker tells him "We're the Good ole boys!" and Bob looks at them in disbelief asks "YOU'RE the Good Ole Boys???!". 

Kathleen Freeman next is also good in her role as Sister Mary Stigmata, aka the Penguin, who tasks Jake and Elwood to get the money to save the orphanage where they were raised.

And Kathleen has some good moments in her main scene where she tells Jake and Elwood about her plight and she needs $5000 for the orphanage. And Jake tells her "Five grand? No problem! We'll get it for you by the morning! Let's go, Elwood!" however the Sister angrily stops him from going and shouts "No, no!! I will not take your filthy stolen money!". So, Jake says "Well then, I guess you're really up shit creek" and the Sister hits Jake with her stick and he cries out in pain.  The Sister than calmly asks Jake "I beg your pardon, what did you say?".  So, Jake says "I offered to help you..." and the Sister politely says "Mmm hmm" and Jake continues "...you refused to take our money..." and she says "Mmm hmm" again and Jake says "...and I said "I guess you're really up shit creek".

So, the Sister hits Jake again, who cries out and Elwood pitches in and says "Christ, Jake, take it easy!" but the Penguin then hits Elwood and he shouts "Oww shit!" and as she hits the two men as they keep swearing at her until Elwood suddenly shouts "Oww, you fat penguin!" and she breaks her stick on Elwood's head, who runs out.  The Sister, however keeps on hitting Jake with another stick as he tries to shuffle out the room, still in his seat, but he soon falls down the stairs and the seat breaks on impact and Jake and Elwood look up at the Sister, who looks disapprovingly at them from the top of the stairs.

And the Sister tells them both "You are such a disappointing pair. I prayed so hard for you. It saddens and hurts me that the two young men whom I raised to believe in the Ten Commandments have returned to me as two thieves, with filthy mouths and bad attitudes. Get out, and don't come back until you've redeemed yourselves!". The Sister then glides back into her office and the door magically slams shut behind her! 

And last of all on the "actor" cast front is Steve Lawrence as Maury Sline, a booking agent who arranges for Jake and Elwood to play their gig at the Palace Hotel ballroom to raise the money they need for the orphanage. 

So, in the scene, Jake and Elwood are in a sauna, chatting with Maury and Jake tells "Come on, Maury. We need 5000 bucks fast!" and Maury laughs and asks "5000?! Who do you think you are the Beatles?!".  And as Jake has a thought, he asks Maury "Say...how is Mrs Sline? I have some information she might like to know..." and Maury smiles and asks "Are you blackmailing me, Jake?" and Jake says "If you wanna put it that way..." and he says urgently "Maury, we NEED this gig! You get us this gig and we'll pack it for miles around, what do you say?".  So, Maury after a beat says to him "Okay. I'll get you the Palace Hotel. I'll print up show bills. I'll make the place look real pretty, okay? I don't think you guys are gonna gross dollar one. But if you do, I want a taste of the gate, okay?". Jake then says "Thanks, Maury" and then he says "Let's go, boys!" and we see the whole band are in the sauna room aswell, all wearing towels around their waists!

As for the film's soundtrack and star musicians they provide a key part of the film's success and appeal starting with James Brown who provides a charismatic turn as the Rev. Cleophus James and a catchy number in the gospel church scene.  And he shouts to Jake, when he is bathed in holy light from the skies that goes through into the church "Do you see the light?!" and Jake has his revelation and says "The band!" and James shouts "Have you seen the light?!" and Jake yells "YES!  YES!  JESUS TAP DANCING, CHRIST!  I HAVE SEEN THE LIGHT!".

Ray Charles also provides a good cameo as himself, as well as the owner of a music exchange store and he has a funny moment where he fires a gun near a young boy (played interestingly by De'voreaux White who later appeared as Argyle the limo driver in Die Hard!) trying to sneakily grab a Fender Stratocaster off the wall, and he says "Breaks my heart, a boy that young goin bad!".  And later after he plays the music number "Shake a tail feather" Jake says to Ray "OK, man. We'll take these axes" and Ray says "Naturally. And as usual, I gotta take an IOU!".

Aretha Franklin also puts in a really good performance as the wife of Matt Murphy who owns a diner, as she has Matt under her thumb and she warns Matt to "Think" about the consequences of his actions if he leaves to play with the band again.  In fact I think its safe to say that Aretha gives perhaps the best performance out of the guest artists in the film. 

So, in the scene, Mrs Murphy says to Matt after she has taken Jake and Elwood's order "We got two honkies out there dressed like Hasidic diamond merchants!" and Matt says "Say what?!" and she tells him "They look like they from the CIA or somethin!". Matt, curious, asks "What do they want to eat?" and Mrs Murphy tells him "The tall one wants white bread, toasted, dry, with nothing on it" and Matt suddenly looks excited and says to himself "Elwood".  Mrs Murphy then says "And the other one wants four whole fried chickens and a coke!" and Matt suddenly twigs who it is and he exclaims "That's Jake!  Shit!  The Blues Brothers!" and he goes out to see them.

However, Mrs Murphy is now willing to let Matt go as she tells Jake and Elwood "You ain't goin' back on the road no more, and you ain't playin' them ol' two-bit sleazy dives! You're livin' with me now, and you not gonna go slidin' around witcho ol' white hoodlum friends!".  Matt however tries to reason with her "But babies, this is Jake and Elwood, the Blues Brothers!" and Mrs Murphy looks at them in disbelief and exclaims "The BLUES BROTHERS??!! Shit! They still owe you money, fool!".

Mrs Murphy then berates Jake and Elwood when Elwood mentions they are on a mission from God and she shouts at them "Don't you blasphemy in here!  Don't you blasphemy in here!  This is my man, this is my restaurant, and you two are just gonna walk right out that door without your dry white toast, without your four fried chickens, and WITHOUT Matt 'Guitar' Murphy!".  Matt however says to her "Listen, I love you, but I am the woman and you are the woman and I will make the decisions regarding my life!".  Mrs Murphy then warns him "You better think about what you're doing! You better think about the consequences of your actions!" but Matt tells her "Oh, shut up, woman!" and she then breaks into the song "Think".

However at the end of the song, Matt decides to leave with Jake and Elwood and he says to them "Let's boogie!" and they walk out and Blue Lou (the saxophonist) who also works at the diner, looks to Mrs Murphy, who gives in and says to him "Well, go on, damn it!".  So, Blue Lou runs out after the others, leaving a very frustrated Mrs Murphy, who says to herself "Shit!".   

John Lee Hooker provides a catchy number as he puts in a brief cameo and plays his own track "Boom boom" however despite this he has no other lines of dialogue in the actual film.   

And last but not least is Cab Calloway who provides an excellent performance as Curtis and he has some good scenes, particularly his first scene where he tells Jake and Elwood after the Penguin tells them to get out.  So, Curtis says to Jake and Elwood "Boys, you're gonna have to learn not to talk to nuns that way!" and they both get up and shake his hand warmly. 

And in the next scene, Curtis tells him about how things are bad with the orphanage and says "Boys, things are bad. They gonna sell this place to the Board of Education... and I'll be out on the street. That money's got to be in the Cook County Assessor's Offiice within 11 days".  Jake asks Curtis "They wouldn't turn you out would they??" and Curtis says "Shit!  What's one more old nigger to the board of education!".  And then Curtis tells them "You know the sister is right. You boys sure could use a little churching" but Jake refuses and says "Curits, I don't wanna hear no jive-ass preacher talking to me about heaven and hell!" but Curtis insists "Jake, you get wise!  You go to church!".  

Then there is of course the scene where at the Palace hotel ballroom gig, the audience grow impatient as the Blues Brothers are yet to show up.  So, Curtis has an idea "Hey, you guys know "Minnie the Moocher?" and Murph says "I once knew a hooker named Minnie Mazola!" however Curits then says "No!  The SONG "Minnie the Moocher"!".  Steve Cropper, the guitarist then asks "Yeah, so what?" and Curtis shouts "Hit it!" and it cuts to the band playing the song all in fancy suits as Curits wears a white suit and he wins over the audience with his performance and scat singing. 

And lastly I will quickly mention the Blues Brothers band as they also get some good moments in the film such as Wille Hall, the band's drummer first meets with the brothers he says to Jake "So you're, you're free, you're rehabilitated?  So what's happenning?  What are you gonna do?  You got the money you owe us, motherfucker?!".

Murphy Dunne also does pretty well in his role as the band's keyboardist and his most notable scene is his first where the band are playing some cheesy Spanish lounge music. So, Murphy addresses the virtually non-existant crowd "Thank you. You're marvellous. Thank you. I'm Murph, and these are the Magic Tones. Steve ''The Colonel'' Cropper, Donald ''Duck'' Dunn... Willie ''Too Big'' Hall and Tom ''Bones'' Malone.We'll be back with the Magic Tones for the Armada Room's... two-hour disco swing party after this short break. Till then, don't you go changing!".

Alan Rubin as Mr Big also has some good moments such as when he speaks to Jake and Elwood at the restaurant and says to them "Come on guys, seriously the food is really expensive.  The soup is fucking ten dollars!" and later when they arrive at the Palace Hotel ballroom he says "its a fucking barn, we'll never fill it!".

Donald Dunn, the bass player also provides some funny and bizzare lines such as "Jake ain't lying, though. We had a band powerful enough to turn goat piss into gasoline!".  And later on after the band play the country bar gig, Willie says to the others "I say we give the Blues Brothers just one more chance" and Donald says "Why not?  If the shit fits, wear it!". 

Steve Cropper, the band's rythym guitar player, probably gives the smallest performance in the film out of the band members, so he has very little to say or do other than play guitar!  Well actually that award might go to Tom "Bones" Malone as the band's trombonist, as I'm not even sure if he has any lines of dialogue in the film!

And last of all is "Blue Lou" Marini as the band's saxophonist, who does actually a couple of noteworthy lines, such as the one where the band arrive at the country bar and they see a chicken wire fence up over the stage and Lou asks "Chicken wire???!".  And later as the band start their soul set, the country audience throw their beer bottles at the stage and boo at the band and Bob, turns off the lights.  So, as Matt suggests "Maybe they blew a fuse!" Lou tells him "I don't think so, man. Those lights are off on purpose!".    

DIRECTOR AND MUSIC 

Moving onto the direction, John Landis does a fine job with the film, although it was a rather turbulent production due to the problems with John Belushi's drug abuse and heavy partying, which partly contributed toward the film going way over budget from $17.5 million up to £30 million, as the production schedule suffered as a result.  But Landis nonetheless handles the film's comedy and musical sequences very well and it remains one of the best films of his career around a very fruitful period in his directing Hollywood films.    

The film's soundtrack is also terrific as you would expect for a blues musical, and there many tracks from different artists such as Aretha Franklin's "Think", Sam and Dave's "Hold on, I'm coming", "Shake your tailfather" featuring Ray Charles, "Peter Gunn Theme" performed by the Blues Brother's band.  As well as tracks performed by the band and sung by the brothers themselves such as "Everbody needs somebody to love", "Jailhouse rock" and "Sweet home Chicago" and their great rendition of the cowboy TV show theme "Rawhide". 

FLAWS (Warning: some plot spoilers might be in here!)

As for The Blues Brother's flaws does it have any at all???? Yeah it does, although because the film is such a fantasy based musical comedy you can almost forgive them.

But yes it has to be said the film is ridiculously preposterous and one thing that struck me right away is how the police never pulled up Elwood for driving a police car in the first place!  Surely the authorities would have spotted that before he even did any speeding!  Or perhaps people can just drive police cars for their own personal use in the US (well wouldn't surprise me!).

Update: however an interesting update on this I found is that you absolutely can buy police cars that are no longer in service although people are required to remove any emergency equipment and markings before they can be driven on the road. 

And let's not forget about how daft and how much Elwood's driving skills are as he can defy the laws of gravity by making his car do a backflip and fly over a bridge as well as jump a big gap in a drawbridge.  Its fun but it really is pretty daft and the physics of it all is pretty well impossible I'm sure!  But hey, it is just a comedy film.  

I also wondered what happened with the band at the end of the film as they perform the "Jailhouse rock" number, are they prisoners aswell?  Or did they just dress up in prison clothes for the number???  Perhaps the band are held as accomplices to what the brothers are doing, but that's hardly right as they were kept largely in the dark about what they were brought back together for in the first place.  But again it is a comedy so logic and common sense go out the window I guess.

Another update: well according to a google AI search, the reason why the band are in prison with Jake and Elwood is because they were arrested as accomplices and therefore accountable in aiding and abetting the brothers to carry out their mayhem and chaos. So, in the end they were thrown in jail as well for somewhat very legitimate reasons after all. 

Its also beyond preposterous how Jake and Elwood are able to survive the attempts on their lives by the mystery woman, as they attacked outside Elwood's motel and later the motel is destroyed by explosives, set by the woman.  This is of course the most ridiculous one of them all as Jake and Elwood somehow manage to emerge, completely unharmed from the rubble (as you do!) but the actual chances of surviving that are non-existent! 

However, again interestingly enough, there is a theory why they survived, which is purely to do with they're being on a mission with God, so the divine powers that be helped them escape death numerous times at the hands of Jake's would-be bride. I guess in the end, despite all the chaos they caused, they did a good thing in the end by saving the orphanage.  

Anyway that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So, to sum up, The Blues Brothers after 46 years (can't believe its that long!) is still a highly entertaining comedy that features some really funny moments and spectacular car chases, not to mention some ridiculously over the top stunts. It also of course features two excellent performances from John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd, who are both great in their respective roles as the Blues brothers.

And for me, it remains one of those rare musicals that actually works very well (as I really don't care for them myself) which is in part thanks to it having a really good soundtrack that doesn't feature so much soppy love songs etc.  So, its definitely ones of the best musical comedies and certainly one of John Landis's best films of his career aswell as Aykroyd's and Belushi's, which is still well worth a look.

So, I will rate the Blues Brothers:

9 out of 10

So, that's it for now and I'll be back hopefully before the end of the month.

Until then, its bye again for now! 

 

Tomb Raider Underworld Review

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, now we are into June, its finally time I got a post done and this one will be on the action adventure game, Tomb Raider Underworld, which I recently finished playing. I also by the way have a playthrough of this game on my gaming channel right now, which is in the process of being uploaded and is six parts in so far, which is on SoulzGamer75 on Youtube if you want to check it out (shameless plug!). 

So, with that said, let's take a look at the game and see how it holds up some 18 years on from its release.

And as I will mention a bit about the plot, the warning is coming up...

PLOT SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

STORY 

So, the story begins with Lara (voiced by Keeley Hawes) who's manor has been set on fire and it explodes, with Lara desperately trying to escape, as she reaches the exit door, one of her team, Zip, shoots at her.  

The story then moves back in time to a week before the explosion with Lara having traveled to the Mediterranean sea, in an effort to try and learn about the disappearance of her mother.  Lara travels underneath the sea and finds an ancient temple of Norse legend, and within it she finds one of Thor's gauntlets.  After Lara travels to the surface she intercepts the ship of one of her adversaries, Amanda Evert, and onboard she battles with her mercenary soldiers and finds an imprisoned Jacqueline Natla, another of Lara's old enemies.  Natla tells Lara that she must locate Thor's hammer and by using it, Lara can then unlock the underworld and find her mother and Natla gives Lara a potential location for the hammer in Thailand, after which Lara escapes the sinking ship, as a result of her battle with Amanda's mercenaries.  

Lara then travels to Coastal Thailand but she doesn't find the gauntlet but does find evidence that her father had been and moved it before he died and Lara soon deduces where he moved it, right back home at the Croft manor. 

As Lara returns back to the manor she searches beneath her home and finds her father's secret office in a crypt and she also discovers the other gauntlet as well as tape recording from her father warning her that Helheim contains a potent weapon.  However at this point the mansion is set on fire, which leads into the events at the start of the game, and Lara briefly encounters her doppelganger, who also fatally shoots one of Lara's team members, Alister.  Zip who believes that Lara shot Alister, fires a few warning shots at her, but Lara convinces Zip that it wasn't her and after a brief fight with her doppelganger who escapes, Alister dies.  Lara afterward then decides to continue her quest to find Thor's hammer, which takes her on a dangerous path to where she will eventually learn the truth about what happened to her mother.

THOUGHTS

Tomb Raider Underworld is another strong entry in the Lara Croft series and it sees the continuation of what made Tomb Raider Legend work so well with a good solid storyline as well as some excellent voice acting from Keeley Hawes, who in many ways is the definitive voice for the character.  The game also saw some subtle changes made to Lara's character as she no longer wears her usual turquoise sleeveless top and khaki shorts, but a dark brown top and and black shorts.  Lara also like she does in Legend, has a few costume changes throughout the game at different levels, and her movement is now far more realistic as the movement is now fully motion captured and was modeled by an Olympic gymnast, Heidi Moneymaker (sounds like a James Bond character!).

GAMEPLAY & NEW FEATURES

Gameplay wise Underworld is also where the game scores very well and there some enhancements to the game effects such as Lara can now be stained with mud when she runs through wet or mucky terrain, which is then washed off by the rain.  Lara can also push foliage aside when she runs through environments such as jungles and her movements also feel that bit more immediate and dynamic than before given the motion capture.  Lara can also open jugs or pots that contain medicine or valuable items, which she can kick open with her feet and these are spread throughout the game.  Lara also uses a motorbike which features more prominently here than it has done in previous games such as Legend and she can use it to navigate traps and obstacles.

COMBAT  

Another improvement to the game is in the combat system as Lara can now shoot her guns and aim while she is climbing or driving rather than just having to do just statically do it when she is running on the ground.  There is also a change to the adrenaline moments where you can take control of Lara during the moments where time is slowed down and she can move out of the way of gunfire. Lara can also perform a melee kick to enemies at close range to finish them off if they are low enough on health.

MOVEMENT 

Movement wise Lara can also now in addition to swinging from poles, she can also lift herself up and walk on them side to side as she prepares to jump onto another area. She can also climb up handhelds on walls and rock faces as well as perform acrobatics on the poles and jump from pole to pole in certain areas to reach other areas.  

WEAPONS AND AMMO 

Guns and ammo wise Underworld offers not much in the way of new weapons but you do get the choice of your own weapon before the start of a level such as two submachine guns, an assault rifle or a shotgun, but personally I always go with the submachine guns!  However unlike Lara's main dual guns, the other weapons have limited ammo so you need to use them carefully against the bigger more dangerous enemies in the game. You can however boost the amount of ammo Lara can carry for these secondary weapons in the tailoring section in the menu, where you can either select low, normal or max for ammo, so its a good idea to go for the max option to make it last longer.

GRAPHICS 

Graphically speaking Underworld is easily the best looking game up to this point in the series so far as the graphics are stunning and the environments are rich and very well detailed, and the environments are once again quite varied.  Lara's character model is also the best yet as she looks pretty sexy and they have gotten away from the ridiculous big polygon breasts of the original game but don't worry, Lara is still very well furnished in that department here! In fact this would really be the last game where Lara's chest is so accented so to speak! The graphics also have much improved environmental effects such as rain, lightning, sun, smoke and also snow effects. So, overall visually, this game for its time is very impressive looking and still holds up well today. 

VOICE ACTING (Warning: this section may contain spoilers!)

As for the voice acting, Underworld is excellent and features a solid cast.

Starting with Keeley Hawes, who is great in her role as Lara Croft and she for me is still the definitive actress to have played the part in the video games. Keeley also provides plenty of dramatic moments but also does deliver the odd fun line here and there as well, such as the scene where Lara is about to enter the crypt under Croft manor and she says to Zip "I warned you that playing your music too loud would wake the dead!". Then there is the scene featuring in the intro and in the Croft manor level where Zip opens fire on Lara and she ducks and pulls her pistols on him and warns him "Drop it, Zip or I'll drop you!".  

This is then followed by the scene where after (SPOILER!!) Alister is killed by Lara's doppelganger, she is vengeful and vows to go after Amanda and Natla. So, she tells Zip of Amanda and Natla's new partnership "They seem to be a team now, Amanda and Natla!". Zip then asks "So, what are we going to do now?" and Lara firmly says "After I deal with the authorities, I'm going to South Mexico to retrieve Thor's belt!" and Zip bemused asks "What?! So, Alister's dead and its business as usual?!" and Lara vengefully tells Zip "I need Thor's belt to get his hammer and I need a hammer to kill a god!". 

Kath Soucie is also pretty good in her role as Amanda, Lara's rival, who is cahoots with Natla and she plays the part with Amanda almost as a malicious spoiled brat although she does somewhat change her tune later on in the game.

And I will mention one of her scenes where Amanda (SPOILER!!) decides to help Lara near the end of the game to prevent Natla's evil plan. So, Amanda says to Lara "After killing the Midgard serpent, Thor dies from its venom anyway" and Lara says "Not if you clear this corridor and get us out of here". So, Amanda tries to use her powers but its no use and she says "Out of juice, just like Bolivia. The good news is we saved the world. The bad news is we're going to die down here, just like your mother!" and Lara angrily threatens her with the hammer for a moment but relents. 

Alex Desert is also very good as he returns in his role as Zip, one of Lara's tech team and he has some moments aswell, such as the one where in the intro, Zip opens fire on Lara as Lara's butler, Winston tries to stop him as he says "Its Lara!" and Zip says "I know!". So, as Lara warns him "Drop it, Zip or I'll drop you!" and Zip angrily says "What? So you can shoot me again??!" and Winston tells Zip "It wasn't Lara! Why would she set fire to her own home??!" and Zip says "She got into the vault, it had to be her" and Lara asks "Is that what happened here? Did someone blow open the vault?". Zip then pushes Winston aside and says "Alright, say it wasn't you, someone who looked a hell of a lot like you opened it using the retina scanner" and Lara says "Impossible!" and Zip says "Exacty!".  

Greg Ellis is also very good again in his role as Alister, the other member of Lara's tech team, who helps her out. So, I will mention the one scene where (SPOILER AGAIN!) Alister is fatally shot by Lara's doppelganger. So, after he is shot, Lara tries to help him and Alister weakly says "I feel bloody awful!" and with his dying breath says "I'll see you..." and Lara desperately shouts "Alister, hold on!" and Alister finally says "I'll see you...in Avalon..." and he dies and Lara angrily shouts "Damn it!!". 

Last of all is Grey DeLisle as the main villain, Natla, who plans to destroy the Earth from the underworld in order to reshape the world to her liking. 

So, I will quote one of her scenes and its the one where Natla is about to set her plan into action in the underworld and Lara threatens her with Thor's hammer. So, Lara shouts "Natla, shut it down!" and Natla says "Lara! Unexpected but I'm glad your here!". Lara then asks "That's the Midgard Serpent?" and Natla tells her "Of course not. Jörmungandr is the network of the tectonic ridges that encircles the earth on the ocean floor. And we stand now on its weakest point, where the ancient supercontinent Pangaea first broke in two. When this relic unleashes its fury below, the very seems of the planet will burst. "The Midgard Serpent will rise up and spew poison into the air, and all the world will be consumed by fire and ash." Ragnarök! The seventh age is upon us!".

MUSIC 

Music wise the game is also excellent and it features a fine score, which was composed mainly by American composer, Colin O'Malley and it has many passages which are dramatic and atmospheric and suit the game perfectly well. The score was also partly composed by Troels Brun Folmann, who supervised the music as well and created the main theme of the game.

FLAWS

Getting onto the flaws and niggles of the game....yes, Underworld does have a few problems.

For starters I would say the combat system, while its good that Lara can fire her guns while she climbs, the auto-aim aspect is a bit unnatural looking in practice as Lara her guns in every direction at ridiculous speed!  The adrenaline moments, whilst you no longer need to press a specific button at a given moment, don't feel like they really add anything valuable to the gameplay, and they also feel a bit awkward when you try and move Lara in slow motion.  

Another issue lies with Lara's movement at certain points in the game where she seems to get stuck when she stops running and hits a wall and you have to make her do a roll to get her unstuck or some such action, which highlights some of the flaws in the game's movement. I also found some issues in the PC version, where Lara failed to use her grapple effectively and pull down some statues, which involved reducing the frame rate to 60fps to correct this. So, given its almost 20 years old, there are still some technical issues with this game.  

I also think the game's climactic battle sequence is a bit frustrating where Lara has to use Thor's hammer to knock out the doomsday device, which involves a lot of jumping about over a large area, which can easily lead to Lara loosing her footing or jumping off the wrong way and falling to her death, which in short is a real pain in the ass!  

Some of the game's puzzles are also a little frustrating such as the one where Lara needs to open an underground passage in the Mexican jungle, which is timed and she has to ride her motorbike to get there before it closes on her, and its easy to get lost in the jungle and get there after it has closed! To be fair, its best to park Lara's bike nearer the exit of this area to give her the best chance of getting to the passage before it closes.  

The game also lacks any actual game bosses as such, which can be more fun to deal with (albeit frustrating as well!) when you do and the actual enemies in the game don't really pose much threat to Lara in the end, which makes for a rather disappointing combat experience. However to be fair, I think they were trying to prioritise exploration in this game over the action orientated ways of Tomb Raider Legend.  

Last of all, I did have one or two issues with the game's tone being that bit darker and the sidelining of Zip and Alister, who provided some welcome comic relief in Legend and their banter with Lara was great in that game. However here, Lara spends most of her time on herself with no contact with Zip or Alister, which makes the game feel a bit less personal and lacks the humour that Legend had and did so well. 

So, that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP 

So to sum up, Underworld is still a very good addition to the Tomb Raider series and it remains a solid entry in the franchise with its good storyline, terrific graphics, largely excellent gameplay and good voice acting cast lead by Keeley Hawes, which makes it still worth playing.

So, I will rate Tomb Raider Underworld:

8.5 out of 10

So, that's it for now I will be back soon with another post.

Until then its bye for now!