First time watch for me. Can't imagine what it was like to watch this on the Deuce back in the day.

Lots of great scenes including Mr. T, Ernie Hudson and even a Dolemite appearance but the highlight for me is Tony Cox as Midget, the little person who is desperately trying to solicit sex from a female prisoner.

Vinegar Syndrome recently restored the film and released a nice Blu-ray.
Great interview with Jamaa Fanaka on the disc.

Watched the Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray.

"We're only interested in capturing the pocketbooks of America."

"I believe in miracles. I believe in America! I believe in Too Sweet! I believe in motherhood! I believe in apple pie! I believe! I believe!"

I can't help but see this as being almost a post-mortem on the blaxploitation cycle -- a commentary on how a genre of films that started as an outlet for representation and empowerment wound up being commercialized and exploited by both the white and black man. It's to Fanaka's credit that something that could've easily been angry and overtly didactic is a blast to watch, with roller disco, Rudy Ray Moore cameo and the nastiest use of potato salad I've ever seen. In the end, Too Sweet's gritty, human story wins out over the cartoonishness of corporatized black exploitation. I mean, what the hell else is Ernie Hudson in a clown wig supposed to represent?

Loses the grit of the original but in doing so kind of becomes a parody of itself? It's like what happened with Rocky but sped up and more committed to making anything but a traditional boxing movie. Ernie Hudson takes over for Badja Djola and knows exactly the kinda movie he's in. Rudy Ray Moore showes up. Mr. T plays himself. Tony Cox stars in his own movie about trying to grease his balls. Dedicated to Jamaa Fanaka's parents.

This has an "only 80s kids will remember" dream cast - Mr. T, Winston from Ghostbusters, the teacher from Gremblins, but also some cameos from a young Tony "Bad Santa" Cox, Rudy Ray Moore (credited as Rudolph Ray Moore!) and a bunch of folks from Penitentiary one. It doesn't disappoint. I loved this one as a kid and it still PACKS A PUNCH!

The first Penitentiary was obviously fairly successful at the box office, thus prompting writer/producer/director Jamaa Fanaka to bring back Leon Isaac Kennedy for this unnecessary sequel. The budget is comparatively bigger this time around, with much of the film taking place outside of the confines of the prison. It also has a larger cast that includes the likes of Mr. T, Ernie Hudson and even a brief cameo by Dolemite himself, Rudy Ray Moore.

However, it lacks the gritty edge of the original and feels decidedly campy at times. It's also rather padded out with pointless bits such as a potato salad snogging scene (!) that's just as baffling and icky as it sounds. Granted, there's the undeniable coup of a Mr. T vs Ernie Hudson showdown at the end but even it is squandered by being edited down to a few brief snippets that are intercut with the main climactic boxing match.

A third Penitentiary would follow in 1987.

The STAR WARS style opening crawl that connects the first two PENITENTIARY pictures might be one of the greatest things I've ever seen in a movie.

Fanaka's sequel is hurt a little by distracting recasting (Ernie Hudson is crazy and all as the new Half Dead, but he's got all his teeth! Also -- I miss Wildcat!), and there are some weird narrative hiccups, but there's no denying these movies came from a singular, unique worldview. The love of cinema on display is infectious (that dude playing sax in the crowd during Too Sweet's first fight is amazing!), and Fanaka is just as good at being a sheer entertainer as he is at delivering documents of social unrest. Plus, Mr. T becomes one of Too Sweet's corner men, so that warrants a watch by itself.

Rudy Ray Moore cameo for the gold.

Goofier, longer (ouch), but more fun than the first one. There's a mad magazine-style energy Fanaka is channelling that would land more strongly for me if it was a little tighter, not necessarily more focused, but he's the one calling the shots, and this is what he likes!

I'll be humming the theme all day.

Want to learn more about Jamaa Fanaka? Listen to the episode we did about the director for The Important Cinema Club Podcast.

A ridiculous change in style from the first film, Penitentiary II is absolute bananas. It trades in prison brutality for cartoon lunacy. There's skate-dance-offs, Mr. T (as himself) rubbing a genie's lamp that spills purple smoke, an almost constantly nude Ernie Hudson engorging himself with scenery, fight drama interrupted by Tony Cox paying for sex, a Rudy Ray Moore cameo (this delighted me), cake-faced making-out, Glynn Turman hamming it up, and vicious tonal shifts from nasty sexual assault to goofs and spoofs. My favourite moment was when a child incomprehensibly yells "GO AHEAD!" which then sparks a chant of "GO AHEAD!" as characters march about in a circle around Too Sweet. It's like something out of Tim and Eric. Penitentiary II is definitely a worse film than the first, but I probably enjoyed it more.

Contains hopefully the most sexual scene involving potato salad in cinematic history. Hopefully...

Brought to you by Schlitz. Less driven plot this time around with really great hangout moments. Half Dead and his woman steal the show in the scenes they’re together.

i’ll never be able to eat potato salad again. at least not in the conventional way.

Way, way more self conscious than the first one (the hospital PA paging Dr Benway absolutely has to be a tonally inappropriate Burroughs reference) but nearly as much fun, with a sprawl that makes me imagine Fanaka as a black Lindsay Anderson. Am I overreaching with this? Who knows, but it feels right. This is halfway to the gothic craziness of PENITENTIARY 3 (there’s a saxophone player in the boxing audience!) but still has a foot in consensus reality. I absolutely love how the boxing scenes have the exact same “school play meets brutal face pounding” vibe in all three movies.

Potato salad sex and believing in apple pie.

Brilliantly Rocky derivative sequel with some of the best character names ever committed to film

Loses the grit of the original but in doing so kind of becomes a parody of itself? It's like what happened with Rocky but sped up and more committed to making anything but a traditional boxing movie. Ernie Hudson takes over for Badja Djola and knows exactly the kinda movie he's in. Rudy Ray Moore showes up. Mr. T plays himself. Tony Cox stars in his own movie about trying to grease his balls. Dedicated to Jamaa Fanaka's parents.

You would think that given that this movie includes a fight with Ernie Hudson against Mr. T, this would be a clearly enjoyable film.
Nope.
Do not do.

Good film

If I ever speak about this film in front of an audience, you can be sure that a muscle man disguised as a genie will be standing next to me and enveloping me in purple smoke.

Good film