Add me to the list of people who wasted their time on this film. As a fan of the original, I appreciated that while low-budget, it was chock-a-block full of non-stop action, with just the right amount of slow, sentimental scenes. The acting was also very enjoyable, with Dar often letting his boyish, good-humoured self come through in so many scenes. In this sequel there are so many things wrong, I don't know where to start.
First, how about hair and makeup? It's the first noticeable flaw. Whatever they did with Marc Singer's hair was tragic. Marc, who has light brown hair was given subtle, natural highlights in the original Beastmaster. He was also buff, while not needing to emphasize on his body. Marc naturally did that on his own. But in Beastmaster 2, it seems the hair and makeup team went bananas. I don't know if they were inspired by the early 90s look from rock bands like Skid Row or Warrant, but Marc was given an entire new hair-do that mimicked Jani Lane, with an all-over dye job of lemon-blond hair (also, lemon-blond dyed eyebrows, making them look non-existent). His hair was then-styled in that pre-grunge one-length, longer by several inches than we remembered him. Also, his body was tanned and oiled, giving it a waxy appearance in every scene. Simply awful.
Second, the writing and acting. I expected less and got it from the entire cast, but Marc Singer it seems was given so little dialogue this time around. He has safe, predictable lines, and apart from that, just appears bewildered. What ever happened to our lovable Dar? The Dar with the impish grin, who teased everyone he liked-both men and women. The Dar who enjoyed using sarcasm and sly humour to make his point. That Dar is completely rewritten for Beastmaster 2, and not for the better. Dar in this film seems completely reprogrammed to align with Tarzan, who has very little to say, and whatever he does say is uninteresting.
Third, the plot itself. While I'm not opposed to the idea, it's just that the fish-out-of-water stories have been done before, normally crossing over in our own linear world. For Beastmaster, it's hard to tell which side is supposed to be silly. Is it the fantasy, sword n' sandals bunch, or the materialistic, big city no-minds from our world? Usually a film's set puts the viewer into a mood. We feel lit when we are prepared to watch fantasy, science fiction, that we understand while watching what we are expected to see. This film does a messy job of combining both worlds, and neither one sits well with the other for the viewer. At least, it certainly didn't for me.
Finally, the evident loss of familiar faces. Marc Singer is expected to carry on in the title role, but the original had so much more going on when it came to key characters in Dar's life. Obviously Tanya Roberts couldn't reprise as Kiri with L. A. rich girl Jackie showing interest in Dar. But what about John Amos (Seth), Josh Milrad (Tal), and Ralph Strait (Sacco)? All three were around in 1991 and could have been very capable to reach out to, but were they? Not only that, but the animals weren't even recognizable. Ruh is no longer black (but apparently there was good reason for this for the safety of the cats), but what happened to Sharak? Smoothed down light feathers, compared to the full-feathered dark coloured bird from the original? It's too different. As for Kodo and Podo, I guess we'll just pretend they're just the kits we saw at the end of the original film. The problem is with the animals, there really wasn't much involvement from them, aside from a few minutes at the beginning of the film. Otherwise, they just hang around Dar, with Sharak, maybe being more useful than the others. So as far as familiarity goes, we still miss out on our old friends from the original.
I've probably typed out too much for a stinker of a film as it is. If you watch it, you'll do so out of morbid curiosity for being a fan of the original. But don't say you weren't warned.
First, how about hair and makeup? It's the first noticeable flaw. Whatever they did with Marc Singer's hair was tragic. Marc, who has light brown hair was given subtle, natural highlights in the original Beastmaster. He was also buff, while not needing to emphasize on his body. Marc naturally did that on his own. But in Beastmaster 2, it seems the hair and makeup team went bananas. I don't know if they were inspired by the early 90s look from rock bands like Skid Row or Warrant, but Marc was given an entire new hair-do that mimicked Jani Lane, with an all-over dye job of lemon-blond hair (also, lemon-blond dyed eyebrows, making them look non-existent). His hair was then-styled in that pre-grunge one-length, longer by several inches than we remembered him. Also, his body was tanned and oiled, giving it a waxy appearance in every scene. Simply awful.
Second, the writing and acting. I expected less and got it from the entire cast, but Marc Singer it seems was given so little dialogue this time around. He has safe, predictable lines, and apart from that, just appears bewildered. What ever happened to our lovable Dar? The Dar with the impish grin, who teased everyone he liked-both men and women. The Dar who enjoyed using sarcasm and sly humour to make his point. That Dar is completely rewritten for Beastmaster 2, and not for the better. Dar in this film seems completely reprogrammed to align with Tarzan, who has very little to say, and whatever he does say is uninteresting.
Third, the plot itself. While I'm not opposed to the idea, it's just that the fish-out-of-water stories have been done before, normally crossing over in our own linear world. For Beastmaster, it's hard to tell which side is supposed to be silly. Is it the fantasy, sword n' sandals bunch, or the materialistic, big city no-minds from our world? Usually a film's set puts the viewer into a mood. We feel lit when we are prepared to watch fantasy, science fiction, that we understand while watching what we are expected to see. This film does a messy job of combining both worlds, and neither one sits well with the other for the viewer. At least, it certainly didn't for me.
Finally, the evident loss of familiar faces. Marc Singer is expected to carry on in the title role, but the original had so much more going on when it came to key characters in Dar's life. Obviously Tanya Roberts couldn't reprise as Kiri with L. A. rich girl Jackie showing interest in Dar. But what about John Amos (Seth), Josh Milrad (Tal), and Ralph Strait (Sacco)? All three were around in 1991 and could have been very capable to reach out to, but were they? Not only that, but the animals weren't even recognizable. Ruh is no longer black (but apparently there was good reason for this for the safety of the cats), but what happened to Sharak? Smoothed down light feathers, compared to the full-feathered dark coloured bird from the original? It's too different. As for Kodo and Podo, I guess we'll just pretend they're just the kits we saw at the end of the original film. The problem is with the animals, there really wasn't much involvement from them, aside from a few minutes at the beginning of the film. Otherwise, they just hang around Dar, with Sharak, maybe being more useful than the others. So as far as familiarity goes, we still miss out on our old friends from the original.
I've probably typed out too much for a stinker of a film as it is. If you watch it, you'll do so out of morbid curiosity for being a fan of the original. But don't say you weren't warned.