User Reviews

Upon picking up this movie from the hold shelf at my local library, the friendly librarian took it from me squealed, "Oh, Mannequin, you're gonna love this." Incredulous, I responded, "You've actually seen it?" "Of course, I was a child of the 80s," was her quick reply. Slightly dumbfounded, I took the now properly scanned out DVD from her white hand and bid her adieu. Upon stepping outside into the mid-afternoon sun, I took another look at the film I would soon set upon myself. As it turns out, I had rented a DVD containing not only Mannequin 2: On the Move, as I had previously thought, but the original Mannequin, starring 80's heartthrobs Andrew McCarthy and Kim Cattrall, as well. I opted against watching the original, believing no man should ever watch more than one movie in his lifetime that contains the word "mannequin" in the title. The opening of this movie made me question whether someone had played me for a fool. A horse? Ancient Britannia? What trickery has caused me to be thus beguiled? But alas, I was not fortunate enough that someone had copied over the movie with a bootlegged copy of Monty Python and the Search for the Holy Grail, oh no, I was in store for the fate that had been set upon me.

Through a "comical" (if you have the brain power of a child) series of events including our hero cutting off the helmet horns of a guard and proceeding to stab the same guard in the foot (poor guy, he was just trying to do his job), the fair maiden is captured and "frozen" so to speak, for 1,000 years or until her true love finds her and removes a cursed amulet. But never fret, dear reader, because almost exactly 1,000 years from now, people with the same faces still exist! Yeah, bunch of inbreds we seem to have here. I'm going to spare you the rest, because I would rather eat my hands than give the exposition any more of my time.

In a good light, and if you squint real hard, the film is a tacky, 80s (despite being released in 1991) romp about that classic storyline: boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl, ancient sorcerer/count tries to steal girl, boy defeats ancient sorcerer/count. In normal light, where the wrinkles and cellulite are plainly visible, the film is a pile of trash, on fire. The dialogue is bogus. The characters defy the rules of society and events occur simply because the movie has to move along, not because of how reality works.

Things I saw: -The lead actor's car kinda reminds me of the jeeps from Jurassic Park -"Look, your mother gave me all these people's lives" was uttered by the mannequin while watching a movie, which made me genuinely chuckle. Point, Mannequin 2. -At one point, the lead actor opens the door to a women's restroom and looks around. Didn't even knock, the pervert. -For a good portion of the movie, the lead actor's mother believes our hero is in love with a sex doll; she sees him make breakfast for it, then walks in on him banging it. -The villain shoots someone with a gun and cuts a boy with a sword, with police officers a mere 25ft away, yet they don't do anything. -Only two black characters have speaking roles, though the same actor plays both roles.

During each scene, passersby and supposed extras seemed oblivious to the "comical" happenings around them. I eventually began to realize the sad truth. The makers of this film didn't obtain permits for filming. Those were all real reactions of real people who just happened to be around. You see a 21 year old on a go cart speeding through a mall? I'd hustle out of the way too, but otherwise go about my day. Crazy kids. Someone says they don't have any "silver" to pay for furniture, well, slang is a thing. This movie had to have been shot on a couple of hand-held camcorders and taped together by a pair of coked out interns in an abandoned studio back lot.

Yet, this piece of garbage boasted an estimated budget of $13 million. Even more incredibly, it actually made $3.8 million in theaters. You know what movie was also made for $13 million? Black Swan. Nearly 20 years later. I would love to see the line item budget for Mannequin 2: On the Move. The amount of coke that could have been purchased is unthinkable. In fact, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, you could purchase a kilogram of cocaine for between $50,000 and $65,000 in 1991. I'm surprised you couldn't see the cocaine spilling onto the set during scenes. Seriously, whoever did the editing deserves a kilo of coke themselves, ah, you know what, they probably got it. I hope they used it in good health.

You know, on second thought, I bet the $13 million was actually used as punitive and royalty payments to both the city of New York and the people who did not realize they were being filmed during the making of this movie.

Finally, I'm going to take a moment here to spill some ink about Gladden Entertainment, who financed this motion picture. In fact, per IMDb, this was the final picture produced by Gladden Entertainment, a company founded by David Begelman, a man most famous for a studio embezzlement/fraud scandal he led and who committed suicide in 1995. Sad story, of course, but still, given the fact that I have yet to wash my eyes hard enough to unsee this piece of filth, a fitting story nonetheless.

No main mannequin protagonist in a Mannequin sequel? Check. Only one main star returning and for the most part has amnesia to the outlandish events of part one? Got it. Trying to cash in on the song craze from the original. Well, they tried.

I understand Hollywood – the mindset, not the character here – and their need to cash in on popular films for inevitable sequels. I also feel the need to walk that thin line of rehashing the first one but giving people the same feeling they got the first time around. Unfortunately, in this case, they went so far from the original's mythology, this should've just been called something different.

And that all said, it wasn't a terrible movie on its own. Not great, not even really good, but thanks to the two leads, namely Kristy Swanson and some – mind you SOME – jokes that worked, I didn't hate on it as I believe most did.

In this universe, a curse was placed 1,000 years prior to present day (1991) to turn Swanson's Jessie into a wooden doll. This is where it gets tricky: there are several ways to break the curse when there was only one given at curse time. Removing a necklace, but only a future true love can do that and yet many take it away and clap it back on with ease. You can wait for the 1,000 years to be up and she just turns back. Or just true love will find her.

See, the movie sets up rules and immediately breaks them and then the movie is all over the place. Once this happened twice, I gave up on continuity and just hopped for the real life Jessie back. (Speaking of which, apparently Jessie had no idea she was frozen for 1,000 years or even a doll, but when others enter a room, she "pretends" to be said doll.)

Okay the set up continues with her coming back, getting frozen again, and many, many more subplots not even worth going into. They crammed so much in here that was so unnecessary, it really did harm the film and reduce the romance part.

Mannequin On the Move has its moments, but not many. Hollywood's character that I loved from the first one returns, but is bland the first half. Suddenly, in the third act, he bursts out with some funny one-liners.

And while it does have its moments, it's not recommended for fans of the first one. If you've never seen that one, eh, maybe you'd like this throw-away.

***

Final thoughts: I honestly don't think I've ever seen this before yesterday, but the funniest line of the movie was from Hollywood and I know I used to say this to my friends or new people all the time when I used to go out to the clubs:

Jason: You were in the marines? Hollywood: Yes they were looking for a few good men and... so was I.

I knew I didn't make that up, but thought it was funny, so I did reuse that over and over. At least, now I know where it came from

Same plot... different characters... over the top fantasy plot... over acting... "Mannequin On The Move" is an uncalled for sequel to a popular romantic comedy. It was obvious that a sequel was on it's way but my real question is: "why did it take 4 years to produce this sequel?". There isn't real effort in my opinion.

Still, the movie is entertaining , pop corn entertaining. Meshach Taylor returns as well as the ultra flamboyant Hollywood. His character is probably the most likable in the movie. Not that William Ragsdale or Kristy Swanson are not good but Taylor steals the show. Talking about the lead couple, I felt that Ms. Swanson wasn't very natural in her role. She's extremely cute and had this "girl I would like to protect" personality but she lacks of a vibe. Ragsdale (a different kind of hero in "Fright Night") delivers a less usual performance as a geeky hero. It works. Terry Kiser of "Weekend At Bernie's " fame delivers an over the top performance but strangely enough, it works for the movie.

Ah, what the heck. Give a chance to this sequel and you might have a good time if you are into the post 80's mess. It's a cheesy movie with a happy ending. You can't go wrong.

In contrast to many posters here, I enjoyed this movie very much, and had a number of laugh-out-loud moments. I see it is listed here as an USA production, but the DVD I have starts with the classic Rank Organization gong man.. which I've seen so often introducing mostly decent British films. Also, the medieval scenes had a strong taste of Monty Python's items set in the same period, so I was under the impression I was watching a Britfilm.

That impression was even heightened with Jason's drive to work - having breakfast, brushing teeth, dressing while driving, and ultimately removing the steering wheel - which to me were almost literal quotes from Mr. Bean (TV).

Oh, just some of the little things that made me laugh: the toy race-car Jessie parked before Jason's house, and a policewoman just applying a parking ticket...

or the first dialog between Jessie and Jason, which briefly upholds the notion that Jessie can only speak German: "Ah-choo!" - "Gesundheit!" - "Dankeschön!" Ah, such little details can cheer up my evening considerably, it doesn't always have to be a huge hot-air balloon (though that was cool too, right through to the street-cleaning and the final Hauptmann-König museum scene).

This is of course a silly, childish film, but I as 52-year-old male could definitely enjoy it. I know I'll re-watch it when I'm in that particular mood, and for now give it 8/10.

Mannequin 2 On The Move is a 1991 romantic fantasy comedy and is the sequel to the 1987 film starring Andrew McCartney and Kim Cattrall. This time around it centres on a peasant girl named Jessie(Kirsty Swanson)who falls for a handsome Prince named William (William Ragsdale)and the two apparently want to get married. But an evil sorcerer (Terry Kiter from Weekend At Bernies)curses the girl by giving her a necklace which causes her to freeze. The only way to break the spell is if the girl falls in love with someone else in another land. Another catch is if someone takes off the necklace,she's alive but on she's frozen again.

We cut to 1991 and we meet a man named Jason(also Ragsdale) who works as a store clerk at a fashion store. One day however Jason and his new friend/assistant Hollywood Montroe(from the 1st movie) spots a truck where the enchanted peasant is kept. Jason finds her as he goes in for her in the water. He brings her back to the store and takes off her necklace only for her to become real, and thinks that Jason is her Prince William . As the two spend time together they fall in love. But when Jessie finds the necklace and puts it on again she becomes frozen again,plus the evil sorcerer who is now a count tries to take her back. Could Jason be the Prince and can he save her from the reincarnation of the sorcerer,as well as breaking the curse.?

Overall It's a silly 90s movie and although it's not the same as the 1987 version it's still a cute entertaining movie and I knew Jason would marry Jessie in the end of the movie.

Kirsty Swanson was likeable as Jessie as she was so naive and likeable. Plus her and William Ragsdale had cute chemistry together(he reminded me of Zac Efron).

I like how they added the original song Nothings Gonna Stop Us Now by Starship at the end of the credits. If you enjoyed the first one and love cheesy over the top romantic comedies like this than do check it out.

My rating 5.8/10 59%

Rewatched 29th January 2019 Last time I watched it was when I was a kid in the mid 90s and totally forgot about it till now.

Stewart Raffill has made a diverse list of films over his career, directing everything from The Philadelphia Experiment, The Ice Pirates, Tammy and the T-Rex, Mac and Me and wrote Passenger 57. Let's add this movie to the mix, which takes the first film and pretty much does it all over again, but this time inside Philadelphia's Wanamaker's department store.

It was produced by David Begelman, who embezzled thousands from Judy Garland before becoming an executive at Columbia Pictures. Actor Cliff Robertson noted that money had been paid to him from the studio that he didn't receive at one point in 1977, which led to Begelman being let go and a rift within the studio itself. Begelman was more punished for lying about going to Yale on his bio than for stealing money; Roberston was blacklisted for years for speaking up. By 1980, he'd return to the job at MGM, where he lasted for two years and produced Fame and Poltergeist.

He then moved to Sherwood Productions, where he produced WarGames, Mr. Mom, Blame It On Rio and The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension, another movie that he scammed investors on by reporting inflated costs and pocketing the difference. After an investor pulled out, he started yet another production company where he made Mannequin, Weekend at Bernie's, The Fabulous Baker Boys, Short Time and the movie we're discussing right now. After failing to find funding to keep making movies, he became depressed and shot himself at Los Angeles' Century Plaza Hotel.

A thousand years ago, Prince William (William Ragsdale, Fright Night) of the kingdom of Hauptmann-Koenig wanted to marry a peasant girl named Jessie (Kristy Swanson, the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer). However, his mother (Cynthia Harris, Mad About You) does not approve of the marriage and asks her sorcerer (Terry Kiser, Bernie himself) to turn her into a mannequin for a thousand years or until she finds love in a foreign land.

Ragsdale also plays Jason Williamson, a new window dresser at Prince & Company, a Philadelphia department store. This is unlike any store you've ever seen before, putting even the one from A Christmas Story to shame. It's like a self-contained city and will have a huge reveal of the new windows, which will include a peasant girl mannequin that is, of course, Jessie. Once our hero removes her cursed necklace, he suddenly has a new love.

That said, they must deal with the machinations of Count Gunther Spretzle, the reincarnation of the sorcerer, who wants Jessie for his own. He also has an army of bodybuilders - Rolf, Egon and Arnold - who are as ineffective as it gets.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the fact that Hollywood Montrose (Meshach Taylor) shows up again and pretty much looks at the camera and lets you in on the fact that this happening twice is absolutely ridiculous. Taylor also plays a doorman at a nightclub in the film.

If you watch this and say, "That pink convertible seems familiar," well that's because it's the same one from Raffill's Mac and Me.

The failure of this film killed off Begelman's Gladden Entertainment, which led to the end of his life. If you can get past that, this movie is absolutely off the rails. It has no grounding in reality whatsoever, beyond the fact that a mannequin comes to life. I've seen it so many times - it's a Becca favorite so it airs several times a year in the B&S About Movies household - and every time I wonder, did anyone watch this in the edit and laugh that no one had caught on to the fact that they were aliens that didn't know how humans really behaved?

I saw this movie when I was younger and really loved it....granted as to all 'sequels' it is not as great as the first one but still a good movie. Like Mannequin it starts off in another time and something unrealistic happens like with Emmy getting sucked through a time portal of some kind through the tombs of her ancestors and then somehow being turned into a mannequin....a magician puts a curse on a young maiden that a prince has fallen in love with for a thousand years or til true love that she will remain frozen...The blossoming story of love between Kristy Swanson and William Ragsdale is very sweet and as in Mannequin it ends with a unique rescue of true love and bringing Meschak Taylor back for this one as well was a welcomed comic relief as 'Hollywood'. All in All a good movie!

I watched both part's 1 and 2 consecutively over the past two night's. part 1 is GREAT!, but part 2 is also a little gem too! It's so lively, original, and fresh! With a really entertaining soundtrack of music as well, ''Mannequin 2: On the Move'', is well worth a go. Starting out in Medieval Europe, in the fictitious land of ''Hauptmann Koenig'' in the year 991, a young man named William is a young, sexy and unbetrothed handsome Prince of the land, son of the evil Queen, he has fallen for local townsfolk girl, Jesse, and even though they are from Europe, we, the audience, are entranced by their love and commitment to each other, even though they all have strong, thick and heavy American accent's! They are so close, they plan to elope, but then William's mother, the scummy old Queen, turns up, and gives him a necklac, cursed by a local sorcerer, to allow for him and his bride to be, to make as a symbol of their eternal love. Once it's on, she turns to plastic, a mannequin, and is cursed to remain that way for a thousand year's, until she meet's a true love from another land, only then can the necklace be removed. So, 1000 year's later, here we are, in Philadelphia, Emmy and Jonathan have since gotten married, Claire Timkinn has since quit Prince and Co. and left it in the hands of Mr. James, a snobby ex-pet emporium owner, Roxie has also left town, B.J. Wert is in prison and Felix and Mr. Richard's have somehow mysteriously disappeared! Jonathan's younger cousin, Jason, has been offered his cousin's place at the store, and like his cousin, he has some of his same qualities's, he's smart, clever and has a good sense of business, he's also young, sexy, and caring too!, but above all, he's about to give everyone a shock, he look's exactly like William too!, one day, his first day actually, a shipment of Merchandise for the store is coming, it's from Europe, actually it's from ............ Hauptmann Koenig!!!!!!!! After the shipment truck crashes on the way and the merchandise falls into a river, Jason see's mannequin go under, thinking it's a real live girl, he jumps in to save her, only to find out, she's a mannequin! Later that night, Jason is clearing up for closing time, he is putting away extra stock from the shipment, jewelery, valuable's, etc, he removes the necklace form Jesse, and she comes alive after a 1000 year snooze1, and in the process, scaring the living daylight's out of him! He shows her around the city, explain everything to her in great detail, and she tell's him she love's him, he cannot believe this, but she's determined to spend the rest of her life with him!, he agree's and they fall for each other. Jason tell's his story to the head fashion designer at the store, none other than... Hollywood Montrose!, who reassure's him that ''this sorta thing happened before!'', and it's happened again. All ends well, with the two tying the knot, and spending the rest of their live's together, while sorcerer is turned into a mannequin himself, tossed out of a hot air balloon, and broken into pieces