Review: 'History of the World Part II' continues Mel Brooks' legacy after 40-plus years
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For more than 40 years Mel Brooks fans have been singing the opening lines of “The Inquisition” from his comedy “History of the World Part I” with unrestrained glee because the tune, which features a dancing and singing Brooks as a monk during the Spanish Inquisition, is absolutely hilarious.
The title of the film itself suggested there would be another installment of the comedy which derived laughs from sketches set in the Stone Age to the French Revolution.
“History of the World Part II” arrives on Hulu Monday as a series (the episodes are about a half-hour each), and it promptly reminds why there was a more than four-decade delay in Brooks, who is now 97, getting it to the screen.
Forty-plus years of additional history along with what he didn’t mine from the past in the film, should have been fertile ground for Brooks to provide something thought provoking. As brilliant a satirist as he can be, it’s probably too much to ask for him to create something akin the to classic “Blazing Saddles” again. Ultimately the original “History” proved uneven, and bits that didn’t score bogged down the pacing.
The same can be said with this sequel.
It features skits that will play out over multiple episodes (there are eight in the season) with the likes of Wanda Sykes, Josh Gad, Ike Barinholtz, J.B. Smoove and Seth Rogen among a cast of what seems like thousands.
While some of those skits land − taking aim at modern phenomena such as influencer/social media culture and others where the disciples kvetch about the lack of menu diversity at The Last Supper − others, even when highlighting someone as funny as Sykes, stumble. Although, anyone who doesn’t laugh at the Shakespeare sketch where Gad portrays an intellectual property stealing Bard, doesn’t possess a sense of humor.
What it does have going for it is a cast of willing and eager participants as Smoove, Gad and Rogen get their moments to deliver on the material’s potential. At times in “History of the World Part II” that’s enough.
George M. Thomas dabbles in movies and television for the Beacon Journal. Reach him at gthomas@thebeaconjournal.com.
Review
Series: “History of the World Part II”
Cast: Ike Barinholtz, Josh Gad, Seth Rogen, Wanda Sykes
Directed by: Various
Rated: TV-MA
Grade: C+
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Review: 'History of the World Part II' shows uneven Mel Brooks
