Movies-TV

Disney's Done It Again.....another stupid sequel!

First off, I should tell you that there was nothing that could stop me from seeing this movie. I LOVED the original "Hunchback" flick. It is one of Disney's best! So even though I thought this film looked pretty dumb just by viewing the trailer, I just HAD to see this film.

Well, now I have seen "The Hunchback Of Notre Dame 2". And do you wanna know what I thought of it: BLEECCCCCCCCHHHHHH!!!!

Okay, so I in all honesty wasn't really throwing up after seeing "Hunchback 2". But let's get something clear: I wasn't pleased by it. It is about as bad as a movie can get without being just plain awful. And nothing good can be said about the animation: it's even worse than that of Disney's avrage DTV flicks! But before I complain anymore, (or even, gasp, get to the few good things this movie offers) let's talk about the movie's plot.

Taking place at least seven years after the first movie, Quasimodo is now getting ready for one of the biggist festivals in all of France (No, it isn't the Feast of Fools). He's getting ready for a day in which, for some silly, traditional reason, couples from around the city shout their true love's name, for ALL of Paris to hear. And all this happens when Quasi rings Notre Dame's most famous bell: a dinger covered with diamonds (On the inside of the bell, let's get that clear) called La Feddle. These are the things people did before TV.

By the way, Esmeralda and Phoebus are now married and have a somewhat cute (and somewhat pesky) kid named Zephyr. And their first lines in the film are typical for Disney sequel parents (ESMERALDA: Zephyr, you need to slow down! PHOEBUS: Listen to your mother son.). Zephyr and Quasi are best friends, and the little kid seems to spend more time with Quasi than with Mom or Dad.

Anyway, an evil circus master named Sarousch is after that big Diamond bell. It must be worth a fortune after all! He tells his assistant Madellaine that she should woo Quasi into telling her where the bell is so he can steel it. Though she's tired of making thefts, ("Why must we always steel?" she asks her boss) Mad does as ordered, and heads to Notre Dame.

Let's take a slight break here to talk about what could be the film's worst scene. The minute Madellaine enters the bell tower, Quasi hides under a bell because he is way too shy to even try talking to her. She looks up at him and asks if he is hiding from her. "No", Quasi replies. And than Madellaine starts laughing and-if you think I am fibbing, I'm not-SHE SAYS IT LOOKS LIKE QUASI IS WEARING A REALLY BIG HAT!!! And than the two of them start making a few bad big hat puns ("Two-Ton Topper" among them). And than, as if things couldn't get any worse, Madellaine looks to her right and.....GASP! "The Gargoyles! They Were Alive" she exclames.

Did I mention that Quasi has been hiding his ugly face for all this time? He's afraid that Madellaine will run off in fright the moment she sees it. And guess what? He's right. The minute Mad just glances at his face, she's like, "I h-have to go! I'm sorry". Come on, Disney! Did we need THAT in the story? I mean, it feels sooooooo tacked in there.

Of course, as Madellaine spends time with Quasi, she realizes he's a really great guy. The two of them fall in love, (Disney's so proud they are giving Quasi a girl) and this sets up some problems. Remember the evil circus guy? Madellaine needs to still steel that darn bell.

Okay, I'll start complaining now! One of this film's most major problems is the fact that it apears to be targeted at little kids. This means the film makers have to hammer the movie's message in as much as possible. For example, the diamonds on the famous bell are, just to hammer in that darn message, on the INSIDE of it. Now get real, Disney! If you were making a bell, and had to put diamonds on it, why the heck would you put them on the inside?

Also, to hear Jennifer Love Hewitt talk, you would think this was one of the greatest love stories you could see in any movie. Wrong. Even Mike and Celia had a deeper relationship in "Monsters, Inc." (maybe that's because Celia always wasn't always telling Mike she must be stupid)! Quasi and Madellaine share one dippy conversation after another, and there were some points where I really wished they would stop talking about their looks ("Do you really think there is more to me than what you see?" Madellaine asks Quasi for some stupid reason).

Even worse, Esmeralda & Phoebus don't have that much screen time. Esmeralda still dances, but she doesn't do much as far as the story is concerned. As for Phoebus, they kind of made him into a bit of a jerk. When Madellaine is being held prisoner and telling Phoebus important info about how he could save his son's life, he replies, "She Could Be Saying Just What Sarousch Wants Her Too!". It's at this point when Esmeralda says a line that makes no sense. "Now try looking at her a second time, like you did with me.". It was the other way around. ESMERALDA was the one who had to give Phoebus a second look before falling in love with him. PHOEBUS was always in love with the girl.

As for the new characters, they are no where close to being as great as any of those found in the original. Sarousch is a stupid bad guy, not up there with Frolo at all. Zephyer is more iritating than adorable. And Madellaine might be kind of likable, but she is NOT an Esmeralda.

There is only one really good song here, and it is played during the End Credits. All the other songs are not that great, espcialy one sung by Quasi and Zephyr about their freindship.

If their is a plus side to this film, it would have to be some of the few cute scenes. Esmeralda & Phoebus have some cute romance at the begining, but they don't do much after that.

And there is one moment where I found myself feeling for Quasi and Madellaine. When Quasi gives Madellaine a hand carved figure of her that he made himself, he tells her that he made it for her. "Now you can always see yourself through my eyes" he tells her. Madellaine looks at the figure. Tears start filling her eyes. No one has ever been this nice to her in all her life. She starts babbling.

But, of course, the film makers blow the scene by having Madellaine give Quasi a huge kiss on the forehead, leaving a big lip print there. But stupid as this movie may be, something dangerous happens when you give this film too many viewings: It starts growing on you.

What a Pleasant Surprise!

No it's not the Original. Sequels (animated and not) are seldom as good as the original. But there is a sweet quality to this one...from dh & my perspective and that of my 4yo daughter. She understood this movie...she provides a running commentary throughout. The songs are very nice. Tom Hulce and Jennifer Love Hewitt compliment each other in song and voice. The moral? Always look inside a person to see who they really are...the outside is not always true. It's also a struggle of being ready to love. Quasi fears the thought of finding someone who will accept him. He is not ready. Sometimes love comes when and where you least expect it. And considering all the other "lessons" that bombard our kids today, I will stand by Hunchback II.

Yes!

This sequal to the heartwarming 1996 film lives up to the magnifiance of the original.
The undying message throughout the movie is that "it's what's inside that counts."

Another festival is on the way and Quaisimodo and his old friends are busy preparing. After seeing a circus, Quasi falls in love with the beautiful Madelline. The master of the circus is Saurchoush, a crook who wants to steal the famous jeweled bell. Quaisi finds out that Madelline was using him. Madelline says that her heart isn't in the evil scheme.

Could Quasi fall in love?
Will he be able to save the bell? If you are a true fan of Disney, ignore the negative reviews, a see this for yourself!

Not as bad as I thought but no oscar

This movie is cute as in I don't have the heart to be a harsh critic. Hunchback of Notre Dame II is pretty package and nothing more. I always thought this movie was a bomb. It still is . It's animation is pretty cheap. I'd definitly hire these animators. But no way in heck I'll charge them for stories in which they are sorely lacking as this movie illustrates. Stick to the original or read the novel if you are 18 and older. IN short pretty cheesy.

Another rare Disney animated movie

This is a rare Disney animated movie without violence. This movie deserves a G rating, then a lot of there animated movies. While the Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) had both lanuage and violence, this had one of either, and zero scary scenes. This movie reunties most of the characters from the first movie, and has some new characters like Zephyr and Madelliane and Sarousch. The archdeacon makes a breif appearnce in the movie. Quasimodo's evil master is not back, and which whould be good news if you hated him in the first movie. Clopin also returns in the movie with Esmeralda, Pheobus, Laverne, Hugo, Victor, and Quasimodo. As the movie opens, Emseralada (Demi Moore) and Pheobus (Kevin Kline) are maried, and they have a son named Zephyr (Haley Joel Osment). With leaves Quaismodo (Tom Hulce) without a girl he lives to shout her name while the bell Le Fieilde rins during a festival. That is into an evil circus ringmaster named Sarousch (Micheael McKean) sends Madelliane (Jennifer Love Hewitt) to gfet informationm on the bell, so he can steal the bell. The cast also includes Quasimodo' best friends Hugo (Jason Alexander), Victor (Charles Kimbrough) and Laverne (Jane Withers).

As bad as they say...

This movie is as bad (or worse) than everyone has said. the animation is shoddy, and the storyline is boring. If you are looking for a good cartoon... look elsewhere. You'd be throwing your money away on this one.

A short and sweet film, that is not as bad as most people say!

Of course there are things wrong with it, but it is not unbearable, no way it isn't. I absolutely love the original, (dark, powerful, poignant and chilling)which like Beauty and the Beast is CHARACTER/THEME driven not plot driven, and the music overall made a suitably poignant film, based on a disturbing story by Victor Hugo, who seems to have a relationship with sad endings.One thing I didn't like about the sequel was the change to Esmeralda. She was my favourite character in the original, however you don't see much of her, and when you do, you don't empathise with her as much, if at all. And in some early scenes when they animated her with no nose. The songs were not brilliant to be perfectly honest with you, but they could have been worse, although the one over the end credits was lovely. Likewise with the animation, very Saturday morning standard, but there is a lot worse in other sequels. The rather pantomime villain was neither sinister or frightening, a complete contrast to the legendary Frollo in every aspect, but Michael McKean did a serviceable job with the voicing, so I'll give the character some credit. I didn't think much of the overall plot, as it was very predictable, like most DTV sequels. The studio should have made this character driven too.On the other hand, the main positive was a surprisingly good performance from Jennifer Love-Hewitt, as Quasimodo's love interest, although it did betray the essence of the original, which is a near-masterpiece, in my opinion. Zephyr was a spirited boy also, and his well-developed relationship with Quasimodo, was a delight to see, and very sweet. The film was a little short, but moved along at a reasonable pace. You really feel for Quasimodo here like the original., and the gargoyles are marginally better than they were in the original, where their song was very good but misplaced(the only criticism of the original). I just want to clear up one thing. The gargoyles as explained in the book, are made of stone, and are part of Quasimodo's imagination. Also, there are parts of the book, that just wouldn't work for animation, so please stop criticising the original for its unfaithfulness to the book, because there was a reason for that.All in all, a short and sweet, if flawed sequel, that isn't as awful as many infer. 6/10 Bethany Cox

An okay film.

I liked The Hunchback of Notre Dame II as a whole. Of course, the animation was much worse than in the first film, but the voices were good. I also liked the songs.

Again, Quasimodo was a very appealing character, and I liked his warm friendship with Zephyr. Madellaine was nice, but at first, I thought she was too insecure. Sarousch was definitely the stupidest Disney villain ever.

Slightly enjoyable at most

This film was kind of slow for a cartoon. It was of course really predictable and had many small problems. Some of the songs were not that good. I only counted 2 that were worth listening to. The animation was still good but that could not help the plot of the film any. I believe that this is Disney's way of trying to make more money off the success of the original film. In my crystal ball I see a sequal to Finding Nemo next but straight to video. Obviously people do go out and buy these sequels. I figure it is due to the fact that children are sometimes easily entertained.
This one was a flop and I hope to not have to watch it again.

Disney is hard up for material

This movie really stunk, especially when compared with the original Hunchback. It was so boring I couldn't get my five year old to stay in the room to watch it, and she's a video watching fanatic. I wish Disney would stop making these lame...really lame....sequels. There's enough good literature out there that they haven't even tapped yet. They care nothing for entertainment anymore, all they care about is making a buck. Well, we rented this one only, (thank heavens!) and that's all the money Disney's getting out of me on this really rotten flick!

Buy on VHS

I thought this was a very good story, but the story wasn't as good as the first. There was no action or adventure, only romance.(A lot of kids will flinch at the mushy parts).I was glad with the happy ending, though. I was dissapointed with this movie a little. None the special features are good! If you want to buy it, buy it on VHS, there is no point of getting it on DVD. Save your money!!

Short and Sweet

I perfer this one much more than the first for a child. I think the first one had too much depth for the target age. This one had much more simple understandings. Short... sweet and over! A+ and amen to that! :) My son loves this and after watching this one hardly ever asks to see the 1st one anymore.

A sequel for redemption

Defiantly not the best sequel in the world, at least this time they strive to give Quasimodo a love interest who is actually interested in him back. Quasimodo stops by a traveling circus and falls for the evil magician's assistant, Madellaine. The evil magician, Sarouch, tries to force Madellaine to help him steal Notre Dame's most famous bell. I guess it is a good thing that Quasimodo now has a love interest but I would think that Disney could come up with a better plot line to achieve that goal than the one that they did.

Touching Sequel

While the animation of Hunchback II was not as crisp as that of the original, it had a brighter, more cheerful ambiance. Most of the characters from the first movie have returned, with a few additions. Young Zephr (voiced by Haley Joel Osment), the son of Phoebus and Esmeralda, is Quasimodo's best friend. Quasimodo also finally meets his true love in Madellaine (voiced by Jennifer Love Hewitt), a spunky yet insecure circus performer. Unfortunately, Madellaine has been forced by her boss, the evil, flamboyant Sarousch, to help steal La Fidal, a valuable bell from the cathedral.

The developing affection between Quasi and Madellaine was beautifully depicted: he helped her to focus on her strengths while she was able to see the beauty within him. (La Fidel could perhaps be seen as a metaphore for Quasi since it was plain on the outside with a beautiful, glittering interior.) The scene where the hunchback was showing Madellaine the sights of Paris was a joy.

Although I initially didn't think that the songs were as good as those of the first film, I found that, after a couple of viewings, they have grown on me: I find them playing through my head from time to time.

Overall, this is a very enjoyable film and a pleasing compliment to the first Hunchback movie.

A WORTHY---ALBEIT, TONED DOWN---SEQUEL!

I mean, it was made directly for video. And, so, was aimed mostly at younger, more impressionable viewers! Still, it was nice to see and hear almost all the original cast members from the first movie. *Spoilers ahead!*
Mary Wickes, of course, passed on after the first movie, so the voice of Gargoyle Laverne had to be done by Jane Withers (of "Josephine the Plumber" fame, for those old enough to remember). Also, some fans might object to Phoebus and Esmeralda taking the proverbial backseat. But, then again, this is supposed to be about QUASIMODO finally finding true love. Especially, since Phoebus and Esmeralda are now the parents of a rambunctious (seven-year-old?) son named Zephyr! Thus, no matter how unintentional, that's got to be rubbing it in for poor Quasi. Last, but not least, it was a pleasant surprise to me that Jennifer Love-Hewitt does her own singing in this movie! So, I give the whole thing no less than three stars. KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK, DISNEY!!

Just horrible..

It's always a dilemma when deciding wether you should buy a Disney sequel or not. On one side, you might be a huge disney fan and/or curious of the sequel, on the other hand, you've seen many others of those cheap Direct-to-video sequels disney is sadly producing at the moment. Not all disney sequels are bad, mind. But you should better read some reviews or rent the movie before buying it, just incase it turns out to be one of the bad ones.
This movie here is definitely of the bad ones. In fact, I think it's the cheapest one I've seen so far. It has absolutely none of the magic the original movie had, so don't be fooled by its title. Sure, it might be nice that Quasimodo finally gets a girlfriend as well, but frankly, it seems a little like the makers of the movie just thought that it was absolutely necessary that every character gets a lover. Even Phoebus' horse got a girlfriend!
The moral ("don't judge things by their appeareance") might be nice, but I think it's already come across well enough in the first movie. It's kind of forced here. There are so many situations where a character judges something by its outside and then is proven wrong, like the bell which looks ugly on the outside, but has jewels on the inside, and the herb Quasi gives to his girlfriend, not cause it's pretty, but cause it smells good.
The story is rather ridiculous. The feast of love, where everyone shouts out their love's name, is a cheesy idea. And Quasi's "love story" with Madeleine starts with her seeing him and running away screaming in fear. After that, Quasi already starts singing a song about how they may fall in love, even though he doesn't even know her.
The Animation is pretty bad too. There was even a scene that wasn't drawn completely! In the beginning, as the couples walk over the stage singing, they start disappearing before they reach the end of the screen.

THIS sequel is definitely not worth your money. I bought it because I heard so many negative comments on it which made me curious, but even that wasn't worth it.

NOOOOO!

*SPOILERS*Oh. How could they DO this to Quasi? HOW?! I had to watch this movie in chunks, I was so horrified. Bad stuff;- Madeline running away like a bat out of hell when she saw Quasimodo's face for the first time and him immediately singing a song about her afterward (UGH).- Phoebus and Esmerelda in general. "I LOVE ESMERELDA!" "AND I LOVE PHOEBUS!"- Phoebus and Esmerelda having a kid, who's only real part in the movie is to make Quasimodo look even more kind and precious, as well as a set up for a kidnapping.- The image of Esmerelda and Phoebus in bed together. NOOO!- And was I surprised by the silly ending of Quasi and Madeline doing the same thing?- And more with that ending...Madeline kisses him, but because he is 'ugly,' they don't show the whole thing like they do with the first kisses of other Disney couples (see Aladdin, Tarzan, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast...come on, the list goes on)- That villain was dumb. He wanted to steal the bell. BOO. HOO. And did anyone else think it was hilarious when he called Madeline his 'little cabbage'? Hahaha.- Of course the animation was that of a sloppy afternoon cartoon. I know, I couldn't do it so good, but after a masterpiece like the first movie, us fans expect a little more effort.- Oh, but then I am forgetting the most tragic thing of all...this movie was made only to get MONEY! Precious MONEY!So, what next? "Bambi 2;"; Bambi is invited to Oprah, where it is revealed that her mother is actually still alive! And, "Snow White 2; The Wedding Night"! Horrifying.

Haven't received the package, Where is the movie?

I am still waiting for this package. I don't know what happen, but has not arrived.The Hunchback of Notre Dame II

RENT FIRST! YUCK!

WHY?! WHY?!! WHY?!!!
If you're looking for a bad story, cheap animation and awful songs, buy The Hunchback 2. You deserve it!
If you want a great story, excellent animation and great songs,
buy the Original Disney film, The Hunchback Of Notre Dame.
Don't believe me? Do yourself a favor...........
Rent it first...and then decide.

Cute, Charming

I happen to think Disney is overdoing it a bit in the animated sequels department. There's "The Little Mermaid 2," "Cinderella 2," "The Lion King 2(and "1 1/2"), and there's..."The Hunchback of Notre Dame 2," which has Quasimodo, the "hideous"(I think he's cute) bell-ringer looking for love, and providing guidance to Zephyr, the young son of his friends Phoebus and Esmeralda. Quasimodo befriends Madeline, a troubled young woman, who secretly has ties with a very bad man(whose name I do not recall) who wants to steal the bell of Notre Dame. Quasi and Madeline's friendship hints at becoming...more than that, but there are obstacles along the way, such as her dealing with Quasi's looks, and--of course--her criminal ties. It's all pretty cute and more interesting than one would think with a good performance from the always talented Tom Hulce,who apparently hasn't acted in a movie since."The Hunchback 2" is sort of a strange film to mark an actor's last cinematic performance, but ...at least it's charming.