Major League II (1994) * *

Directed by:  David S. Ward

Starring:  Charlie Sheen, Omar Epps, Dennis Haysbert, Tom Berenger, Corbin Bernsen, Margaret Whitton, Michelle Burke, James Gammon, Alison Doody, David Keith, Eric Bruskotter, Bob Uecker, Randy Quaid

If you haven't seen Major League (1989), no worries.   Major League II will recycle the formula and some of the gags for you.    One of the best lines in the movie was in the trailers of the original film, but was puzzlingly edited from the movie itself.    The filmmakers put the line back in this sequel and made sure not to make the same mistake.     It goes like this:

Vaughn:  "That ball would've been out in any park in America"

Nikki:   "Not every one"

Vaughn:  "Oh, yeah?  Which one?"

Nikki:  "Yellowstone" 

Major League II would likely be amusing to those who didn't already see the first film, which was pretty funny and had energy.    The sequel tries to recreate the energy with often cartoonish humor, which works occasionally but not enough.  

Major League II begins in spring training following the motley Cleveland Indians' surprise run to the playoffs last year.    We are told they were swept in the ALCS by the Chicago White Sox and return to action fat, happy, and complacent.    Leading hitter and base stealer Willie Mays Hayes (Epps), who was played by Wesley Snipes in the first film, made an action movie in the offseason and now complains of a leg injury.    Star pitcher Ricky "Wild Thing" Vaughn (Sheen) has forsaken his Mohawk hairdo for a suit and tie and thus loses about ten miles per hour off his fastball.    He is more interested in endorsements than baseball and takes on a girlfriend who is more like a live-in publicist.

Star slugger Pedro Cerrano (Haysbert) is no longer a glaring, gruff power hitter, but has taken up Buddhism.   He is more at peace and slower to anger, but he can't hit anything.    Manager Lou Brown (Gammon) returns, but soon suffers a heart attack in the middle of a losing streak and is replaced by former catcher Jake Taylor (Berenger-who was the heart and soul of the previous year's team).    There are also antics involving Roger Dorn (Bernsen), who retired, bought the team (how much did he make as a player to afford a team?), but runs into such dire financial woes he is forced to sell the team back to the original owner Rachel Phelps (Whitton).    She would love nothing more than to move the team to Florida, although since the making of this film there are now two major league teams there.  

Major League II also throws in a catcher who can't throw back to the pitcher, a Japanese player who calls out Pedro on his lack of passion, the team's cynical play-by-play announcer (Uecker) who occasionally passes out drunk behind the microphone, and an angry fan (Quaid) who has colorful nicknames of his own for Wild Thing.   Oh, and let's not forget the Indians' newest trade acquisition Jack Parkman (Keith) who thinks his new teammates are all losers and can't wait to be traded again.   Major League II has a lot of moving parts and the movie resolves them all in time for the playoffs, where the Indians will inevitably face Parkman again and give him his just desserts. 

Major League at least felt more like a realistic baseball movie and the final game had an authentic playoff atmosphere to it.    Major League II throws its characters into odd slapstick situations which are hit and miss, mostly miss.    When the big game occurs, it doesn't have the same vibe as the previous film's, and the entire product suffers.