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The Gods Must Be Crazy II (1989)

★★★ — The Gods Must Be Crazy II (1989)

Jamie Uys had spent the better part of a decade riding the unexpected international success of the original Gods Must Be Crazy (1980), a low-budget South African production that somehow became one of the highest-grossing foreign-language films ever released in the United States. The sequel arrived in 1989 with a more substantial budget behind it and the backing of Weintraub Entertainment Group on the American side, though production remained rooted in southern Africa, with filming across South Africa and Botswana. N!xau, the San Bushman whose performance as Xixo had charmed global audiences with almost no prior acting experience, returned in the lead role. Uys, who wrote, directed, and edited both films himself, was by this point in his seventies, and the sequel would prove to be his final feature.

A-Z World Movie Tour Botswana If The Gods Must Be Crazy II were a person, it’d be that mate who shows up to a dinner party wearing a T-Shirt that looks like a dinner suit smoking a pipe that produces bubbles. This film is a South African comedy tornado with sped-up chase scenes, a “rhino” that looks like it was stitched together from garden gnomes, and sound effects lifted straight from Looney Tunes. At one point, a character's feet are dangling from an aeroplane so he keeps running to keep the speed up. It's literally a live-action cartoon. But here’s the thing, it’s genuinely funny. The slapstick is relentless, the cast leans into the chaos like they’re all in on the joke, and the sheer audacity of the fake rhino’s had me laughing. Its absurd. Would I watch it again? Probably, but only if I’ve had a glass of wine and need to laugh at something utterly ridiculous. A gloriously daft time capsule of ‘80s comedy. 3 stars for commitment to the bit.

Rating: ★★★ | Year: 1989 | Watched: 2025-05-31

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