From my favorite movies..

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

After winning the division the previous year, the Cleveland Indians return the following season with a new-found confidence. Their previously-ragtag players are now stars. Roger Dorn has gone from player to owner, removing the unhealthy management and influence of Rachel Phelps. New players have been contracted and the team roster looks stronger than ever. What could possibly go wrong?A pale imitation of the first movie. Major League was funny, engaging and exciting and the baseball was reasonably realistic. On the other hand, Major League II feels very clichéd and contrived. Engagement is limited – there's really no story to carry you along, it's just a (dysfunctional) team playing baseball. Furthermore, the baseball is sometimes quite farcical, and not realistic.There are some very funny moments – e.g. the Rick Vaughn 87-take commercial was side-splittingly funny – but the humour is generally less intelligent and mostly on the cheap side.

After winning the American league the previous season, the team is now aiming to win it all. Roger Dorn (Corbin Bernsen) has retired and purchased the team. Rick Vaughn (Charlie Sheen) returns but is no longer the Wild Thing. Jake Taylor (Tom Berenger) is one year older and is tasked to mentor young catcher Rube Baker (Eric Bruskotter). Omar Epps is the new Willie Mays Hayes who's in love with the long ball and his B-movie role. Cerrano (Dennis Haysbert) is now a peace loving Buddhist. None of the changes are working out for the team. Coach Lou Brown (James Gammon) tries to guide the once-again-dysfunctional team.The gang is mostly back and new problems are created for each character. Everything feels overly written. It's the same old concept with the same old story. Give everybody a problem, get them to solve them, and win the game. The charming freshness is no longer there. It feels tired. It is completely predictable, and boring.

I don't know why there's so many negative reviews for this film when I think it's just as good as the original and in some respects, even better. Major League II is a logical progression from the original with the team losing their focus and enjoying the spoils of fame. A lot of what happens is this film happened to the 2008 Philadelphia Phillies after they won the World Series. This movie is blasted for predictable, clichéd writing when there was just as much in the first one. At least this movie doesn't have the maudlin Randy Newman songs and dreadful romance between Tom Berenger and Rene Russo. It makes sense to have Charlie Sheen be the focus this time as his story is more interesting than Tom Berenger as the focus in the original. The new characters are all worthwhile and interesting, especially David Keith as the formidable Parkman and Randy Quaid as the irate fan who won't go away. There were enough changes in this film to make it a little different but still keep it like the original. And who doesn't get excited when you hear Wild Thing at the end when Rick Vaughan has even more at stake this time to strike someone out? Don't believe all the negativity regarding this film. It's a very enjoyable, worthwhile sequel that I feel is criminally underpraised while the original may be a tad overcelebrated.

Major League II is still a good movie but by no means is it in the same league as the original Major League.The first movie ends with the Indians finally making the playoffs for the first time in 40 years. They went onto being swept by the White Sox in the ALCS so the enemy team of this movie is now the W.Sox. The Indians big free agent pickup in the off season was a guy named Jack Parkman who while a great player ends up being a real prick and causing dissension in the clubhouse. Ricky Vaughn is also more concerned about his public image then being the bad boy he was previously. After Lou Brown has a heart attack that means Jake Taylor takes over as the teams manager. And yada yada.The movie isn't bad by any means but it doesn't seem to have the same magic and spark that the first movie had, I could watch the original ML a million times and never get tired of it.