I have to admit I hated this movie when I first saw it. After second viewing I realize I was too harsh for "Fletch lives". It ISN'T one of the crappiest sequels of all time. It's a rather lazy , uninspired , obligatory sequel to a hit movie , yet far from being truly terrible.
The 1985 "Fletch" movie was a hit and a really good movie in style of "Beverly Hills Cop" . It had Chase at is best as fast-talking quick witted reporter . It was funny movie with a solid , realistic detective story which was a quite faithful adaptation of the first book in the Fletch series by Gregory McDonald. A hit book series produces an original hit movie and there is enough material to use for new movie so the decision to make sequel seems logical , right ? It can't go wrong , right ?
WRONG. There were eight sequels and prequels written by Gregory McDonald that could have been used as the basis for the second "Fletch" movie at the time and yet Universal decided to write a completely new story. WHY ?! If something works ,don't fix it ! Also , why the original writer Andrew Bergman was replaced ? In the end "Fletch" and "Fletch lives" are like apple compared to orange - that different.
The mystery here is lame , rather predictable and silly stuff that could easily appear in Scooby Doo cartoon. Fletch moves to South and meets hillbillies, racists, and religious zealots . The movie is really just a string of stereotypes with a loose plot thrown in. The story is thin and the focus seems to have shifted to Fletch's disguises and gags rather than working on layers of mystery.
The other big problem here is that somehow Fletch is often irritating . He's very arrogant and doesn't seem to really like anyone .It is completely against the character we came to like in the first movie - he had big ego, sure , but he liked and helped other people. He was a charming character , here he is rather egoistic. The gags come way faster and more frequently in the original. The jokes sometimes are rather stupid and crude. Thankfully there are some good one liners here and there and funny situations (fat man healing scene). The music by Harold Faltermeyer is still fun with pretty cool new music theme that appears in the opening credits.
Chevy Chase carries this movie with his usual cynical wit and comedic timing. It's fun to watch him in various disguises . Good character actors like R. Lee Ermey ("Full metal jacket") , Randall "Tex" Cobb ("Raising Arizona") , Cleavon Little ("Blazzing saddles") offer decent support.
I give it 5/10. I can understand that some people really like this movie for being more crazy than original. If you don't get offended by the stereotypes (I wasn't) you might enjoy the obvious cartoonish style of "Fletch lives". I even somehow appreciate the fact that moviemakers tried a different approach here than in the original one. However in the end "Fletch lives" is a very shallow movie with no real intelligence or passion behind it. A "watch it and forget it the next day" type of movie. Shame that the Fletch series ended here, when Chase could easily have made a career starring in his own franchise for few next years. Oh , those stupid, arrogant Hollywood producers .They should have adapted another one of the books.
The 1985 "Fletch" movie was a hit and a really good movie in style of "Beverly Hills Cop" . It had Chase at is best as fast-talking quick witted reporter . It was funny movie with a solid , realistic detective story which was a quite faithful adaptation of the first book in the Fletch series by Gregory McDonald. A hit book series produces an original hit movie and there is enough material to use for new movie so the decision to make sequel seems logical , right ? It can't go wrong , right ?
WRONG. There were eight sequels and prequels written by Gregory McDonald that could have been used as the basis for the second "Fletch" movie at the time and yet Universal decided to write a completely new story. WHY ?! If something works ,don't fix it ! Also , why the original writer Andrew Bergman was replaced ? In the end "Fletch" and "Fletch lives" are like apple compared to orange - that different.
The mystery here is lame , rather predictable and silly stuff that could easily appear in Scooby Doo cartoon. Fletch moves to South and meets hillbillies, racists, and religious zealots . The movie is really just a string of stereotypes with a loose plot thrown in. The story is thin and the focus seems to have shifted to Fletch's disguises and gags rather than working on layers of mystery.
The other big problem here is that somehow Fletch is often irritating . He's very arrogant and doesn't seem to really like anyone .It is completely against the character we came to like in the first movie - he had big ego, sure , but he liked and helped other people. He was a charming character , here he is rather egoistic. The gags come way faster and more frequently in the original. The jokes sometimes are rather stupid and crude. Thankfully there are some good one liners here and there and funny situations (fat man healing scene). The music by Harold Faltermeyer is still fun with pretty cool new music theme that appears in the opening credits.
Chevy Chase carries this movie with his usual cynical wit and comedic timing. It's fun to watch him in various disguises . Good character actors like R. Lee Ermey ("Full metal jacket") , Randall "Tex" Cobb ("Raising Arizona") , Cleavon Little ("Blazzing saddles") offer decent support.
I give it 5/10. I can understand that some people really like this movie for being more crazy than original. If you don't get offended by the stereotypes (I wasn't) you might enjoy the obvious cartoonish style of "Fletch lives". I even somehow appreciate the fact that moviemakers tried a different approach here than in the original one. However in the end "Fletch lives" is a very shallow movie with no real intelligence or passion behind it. A "watch it and forget it the next day" type of movie. Shame that the Fletch series ended here, when Chase could easily have made a career starring in his own franchise for few next years. Oh , those stupid, arrogant Hollywood producers .They should have adapted another one of the books.