Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit

"Father forgive us, we know EXACTLY what we do"

Deloris Van Cartier (Goldberg) has successfully transformed her experiences with the nuns into a Las Vegas show.  She is surprised when the Mother Superior (Smith) asks for her help.  She, Sister Mary Patrick (Najimy), Sister Mary Lazarus (Wickes), and Sister Mary Robert (Makkena) are now teachers at St. Francis Academy in San Francisco.  The school is struggling and needs lots of help.  They ask Deloris to once again put on the habit and be Sister Mary Clarence to teach the music class.  She reluctantly agrees, even though it means living the facade both in and out of the classroom to fool the monks that they teach with: Father Maurice (Hughes) the principal, friendly math teacher Father Ignatius (Jeter), grouchy Latin teacher Father Thomas (Sullivan), and cook Father Wolfgang (Gottschalk).

The music class is a disaster.  The students think it is an easy course: show up, do whatever you want, and you'll pass.  They have no respect for Deloris or the course.  She forces some order and discovers that they can sing, so she turns them into a choir.  The school administrator, Mr. Crisp (Coburn), tells the faculty that the school will close at the end of the term, so Deloris rallies them to try to save the school.  Meanwhile, she has to wrangle the egos and fears of the class, including diva Rita Watson (Hill).  Can the come together to save the school?


This is the sequel to 1992's Sister Act.  After that film was a success, Disney wanted to make a sequel and talked Whoopi Goldberg into returning to the role.  All of the nuns return to perform "Ball of Confusion (That's What the World is Today)".  The main nuns from the previous film also return: Maggie Smith as Mother Superior, Kathy Najimy as Sister Mary Patrick, Mary Wickes as Sister Mary Lazarus, and Wendy Makkena as Sister Mary Robert.

The returning women are joined by an eccentric group of men.  Veteran actor James Coburn is imposing as Mr. Crisp.  The monks are interesting but don't take away from the women you already love.  Thomas Gottschalk was the host of the German show Wetten, dass...?.  He won his role after he won a bet with Goldberg.  He is funny here and adds to the crazy of the monks.  They are also joined by some talented teens.  Many of them had backgrounds in television or music.  Lauryn Hill, who plays Rita, is an accomplished singer as both a singer and a member of a group.  Jennifer Love Hewitt plays Margaret and went on to be a TV and movie star.  And Goldberg's daughter Alex Martin plays one of the students.

It is an entertaining film.  Again, it is a clean family film with some great music.  I prefer the original, but this is still fun.  The fashions and slang are very 1990s and dated, but that doesn't take away from the film.

Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1993) 107 minutes
Director: Bill Duke
Starring: Whoopi Goldberg as Deloris Van Cartier / Sister Mary Clarence
Kathy Najimy as Sister Mary Patrick
Barnard Hughes as Father Maurice
Mary Wickes as Sister Mary Lazarus
James Coburn as Mr. Crisp
Michael Jeter as Father Ignatius
Wendy Makkena as Sister Mary Robert
Sheryl Lee Ralph as Florence Watson
Robert Pastorelli as Joey
Thomas Gottschalk as Father Wolfgang
Maggie Smith as Mother Superior
Lauryn Hill as Rita Watson
Brad Sullivan as Father Thomas
Alanna Ubach as Maria
Ryan Toby as Ahmal
Jennifer Love Hewitt as Margaret
Devin Kamin as Frankie
Christian McVeigh as Tyler Chase
Tanya Blount as Tanya