Film review - Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous (12A) (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Film review - Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous (12A)

Having successfully thwarted a terrorist attack at the Miss United States Pageant, tomboy FBI agent Gracie Hart (Bullock) has become the darling of the media.

When Gracie's new found fame jeopardises her undercover work, and her relationship with her boyfriend breaks down, she reluctantly agrees to become the pretty face of the bureau.

Camp style consultant Joel (Diedrich Bader) and his two assistants are hastily drafted in to transform Gracie into the queen of the chat show circuit.

Keen to protect the bureau's golden girl, Captain McDonald (Ernie Hudson) orders tough cookie agent Sam Fuller (Regina King) to act as Gracie's bodyguard.

Sam is far from thrilled to be reduced to protecting FBI Barbie, sparking a fractious relationship between the two women.

The original Miss Congeniality was a fish-out-of-water comedy that married larger-than-life performances with a riotous spoof of the beauty queen scene.

The sequel lacks pizzazz not to mention the comic presence of Michael Caine.

It has its moments, like Gracie's ill-advised encounter with a Dolly Parton lookalike, and the agents' hysterical attempt to pass themselves off as drag queens.

Bullock spars nicely with King's hard cookie, who invariably mellows into a lifelong friend by the time the end credits roll.

Romantic sub-plots are put firmly on hold this time around the sequel is very much a case of sisters doing it for themselves. 5/10

By Stephen Webb

MISS CONGENIALITY 2: ARMED AND FABULOUS

Starring Sandra Bullock, Regina King, William Shatner Cert 12A, 115 mins

Showing at UGC and Cineworld from today