Best movie of this year hands down!

Too much of everything

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

There are several reason to make a sequel to a popular film. 1. The story is so big that 1 film can't contain it, like 'Lord of the Rings' 'Star Wars' and 'Rocky'.2. The popularity of the film warrant's another adventure of the protagonist like 'Indiana Jones' 'James Bond' and 'Godzilla'. 3. A very good reason I thought of before writing this review, but I have since forgotten what it was.4. The movie was a horror movie in which it is impossible not to make a sequel, like 'Friday the 13th', 'Scream', or 'Air Bud'.5. The film was so popular that it would be way cool to make a sequel with the same crew and cast like 'Ghostbusters', 'Pirates of the Caribbean', or 'The Parent Trap'.The 5th category usually suffers artistic merit due to the fact that the producers or director don't give a Cockily-doodily-doo about the script as long as they can make a film with the previous film' title in it. There may have been a time when Disney cared about the quality of their scripts and even made their TV movies as high quality as their feature length features. Pixar cares about this aspect of film making and so far has not released any schlock because of this.The idea of a sequel to 1961's 'The Parent Trap', seems like a good idea on paper. At the end of the first film I wondered what became of the twins and what happen to their lives after the film ended. Someone else thought of this and got Hayley Mills to sign on to reprise her role as twins Susan and Sharon. Parent Trap 3 and 4 were also green lighted.Was it worth the effort? Lets compare the two films.Parent Trap (Original) Parent Trap (sequel) Has a Compelling YES NOOOO Story to be told Good Moral Message YES Not Really Charm YES NO Original YES NO ,NO, NO Funny YES Forced Wit YES NO WAY Disney MAGIC HECK YEAH Tinker Bell was Shot Smiles BIG Frowns The only reason to own or rent this film is because it is on the same disc as the Original Movie. Perhaps it is better that Disney has not released PT 3 and 4 on Disc or VHS because it shows someone somewhere still cares about artistic merit or quality. That person is working on a killer script where Hayley reprises her role as Pollyanna.

In the original Parent Trap, as everyone knows, Sharon (Hayley Mills) and Susan (also Hayley Mills) were separated at birth by divorcing parents. They met years later at summer camp, wanted to stay close and hatched a plan to get their parents back together again. Now, in the sequel, Sharon (a grown-up Hayley Mills) is also a divorced single mother to Nicole, a pre-teen gal with a good imagination. As it happens, Sharon's ex has remarried and moved on, but Sharon doesn't have the courage to date yet, devoting all of her time to her job and to Nicole. It is Sharon's plan to move to New York City, from Tampa, for a what she sees as a better job opportunity. But Nicole, who has just met a wonderful new friend, Mary, at summer school, does not want to leave Florida. Therefore, Nicole and Mary decide to hatch some matchmaking plans themselves. After all, Mary's father, Bill, is a handsome widower who seems a good match for Sharon. The two little girls even telephone Sharon's twin, Susan (also Hayley Mills), a married Californian, to come to Florida, where she will pose as Sharon and "flirt" with Bill, getting his attention. Can such a plan, er, trap, work? As a youngster in the early sixties, there were few films I enjoyed more than the Parent Trap. Mills was a talented and beautiful young star and the film had considerable "girl power", making it a wonderful choice for my three sisters and myself. Therefore, when I walked into the supermarket and saw a combination DVD of the original and the sequel I never knew existed, I plunked down my ten dollars. It was money well spent. No, the second film is not as worthy as the original but it is still delightful and fun. Mills is quite nice as the "getting-back-on-my-feet" single mother and as the sunnier twin, Susan. Tom Skerritt, as Bill, provides a good-looking and humorous suitor for Sharon while the two young girls in the film are fine, too. While the cinematography and production values are somewhat lacking, there are nice costumes and a pretty Floridian setting. Best of all, the script has originality and zest, especially when it comes to creating situations of mistaken identity. Therefore, if you consider the original movie to be your cup of cinematic tea, do try to find the sequel, too. Any showing of the films together, at a young gals' sleepover, for example, will be a big hit with the audience.

Wow.This film.What can I say? Disney has become infamous in the last decade for producing cheap sequels to their beloved animated classics. However, from 1986-1989, they produced a slew of three forgettable, low-budget, made-for-television sequels to their 1961 classic, The Parent Trap.The Parent Trap is an amazing film. I grew up with it, for God's sake. Picking it up for $9.99 at Circuit City was a steal-- I barely remembered Parent Trap II (having seen it a few times on Disney Channel as a kid in the nineties), but nonetheless braced myself for the worst when I popped it in to the DVD player (it comes on Disc 1 of the set). My expectations were not unfounded.The characters, plot, cinematography and dialogue are duds. Mary's father is cited as "gorgeous," but he looks like a creepy pedophile. His maid, Florence, is a cheap imitation of the beloved Verbena from the original, uttering "I don't say a word" twice. Other supporting characters are just as forgettable. That annoying girl in summer school has a BRONX accent and they're in Florida, for God's sake. And I was not surprised to see that the guy who wrote this "teleplay" never got work again. His characters are SO utterly exaggerated and unbelievable as human beings: eleven year olds CONSTANTLY going on about "cute" boys? Don't think so. Not to mention the fact that this film doesn't tie in with the first AT ALL. The scheme Mary and Nikki "cook up" is uninspired. Susan is introduced doing some "yoga" in the beginning. As Mary would say: "Yikes." The montage at the beginning of scenes from the original is just out-of-place and unnecessary. Also, watch out for the clear rip-off of the original's ending!Hayley Mills. Hayley Mills. What were you thinking? Her talents have greatly diminished in the thirty-five year gap between Parent Trap I and II. She overreacts and her inflections are enough to make me wanna toss my cookies all over the floor. Katherine Fei Heim is utterly talentless. She reminds me of Pippi Longstocking and I wish she'd march back to Villa Vilekula where she belongs! She is a horrid actress and when she screams "YAHOO!" I want to wring her neck...Parent Trap II is basically four episodes of any cheesy sitcom from the '80s spliced together. Nearly half as long as the original at eighty minutes, its plot makes viewing seem to last for eons. Thank God Parent Trap III and IV have faded away into oblivion. The fourth is titled "Hawaiin Honeymoon." Need I say more?

Just about any 80's kid who had the Disney channel remembers this movie with great fondness...this was one of my favorite movies, and my sister and I loved to watch it over and over. I wanted to BE Nikki and Mary...I wanted their clothes, their bikes, their rooms, their parents...they even made me want to go to summer school! (Sort of.) Watching the movie always takes me back to when I was 8 years old and a big fan of the "Parent Trap" movies (I saw the original first). This is a great movie to watch as a kid (especially when you're a girl) since it shows the kids trying to control their parents' destinies by scheming to get them together. It's always fun to watch a movie where the kids are in control, instead of the parents!As for the movie itself, it's a cute and fun sequel to the popular original, but don't expect a movie in the same caliber. This was a made-for-the Disney Channel-movie, after all. And since it's told through the point of view of the kids, it's clearly targeted to a pre-teen audience. Keeping this in mind, you should enjoy the film once you realize that it's completely different than the original in terms of production value, writing, setting, plot, you name it. Fans of Hayley Mills should get a kick out of seeing her reprise her role as the famous twins 25 years later.