Frenetic, feisty sequel to ROMANCING THE STONE is little more than a retread of the first film. This action fantasy again features macho-but-sensitive Michael Douglas and bristly Kathleen Turner, barely escaping with their lives in one incredible adventure after another.
The picture begins where the first one ended, with Jack (Douglas) and Joan (Turner) sailing off into the sunset--but their storybook romance is beginning to show fell symptoms of reality. The couple are idling their time away in a romantic port, but a bored Joan is eager for new adventures. One
soon presents itself in the form of an Arab sheik who asks her to write his autobiography. When Joan hesitates, she is abducted. The chase is on, with Jack out to rescue his fair lady from a pack of desert cutthroats. Loudmouthed Danny DeVito is hot on both their trails, lusting after another
fabulous gem, the Jewel of the Nile.
The action here is virtually nonstop and the special effects are often astounding: good and bad guys battle atop speeding trains and the lovers dangle perilously over cliffs and ride through stampeding desert tribes. But THE JEWEL OF THE NILE is missing the faux-innocent tone and consistent
narrative invention that made ROMANCING THE STONE work. Moreover, it's hard to overlook the racist depiction of Arabs, which is markedly less jovial than the stereotypical treatment of Latinos in the first film. leave a comment
