Cheaper by the Dozen 2 (2005)

The Bakers, while on vacation, find themselves competing with a rival family of eight children. As with most comedy sequels 'Cheaper by the Dozen 2' lacks on the original's humor but also on fun as a whole. The first film was directed by Shawn Levy but the 2nd film is being directed by Adam Shankman and unfortunately there's more chuckles rather than laughs this time around but it's definitely not a bad film of course. There's some good humor here in there, a great soundtrack with mostly old music from the 70's. 80's and 90's but also the acting was of course very good especially from Steve Martin. It's a watchable sequel but it's nowhere near as great as the original film and it's messages are not as strong as the first time. (7/10)

As a lover for the original I had to go and see this one and to be honest its actually really good,actually better than the 1st movie.In this installment Tom and his wife and kids go off and spend some time together out in a cabin as part of their holidays but when Tom meets his former buddy and his new wife(played by Eugene Levy and Carmen Electra hey that is such a weird combo eh)the two go head to head in a family day tournament to see who's better. Of course one of Tom's daughters falls for Taylor Lautner's charcther and she asks Hilary Duff's Lorraine to help her win him over. Also Tom Welling's charcther falls in love too with Levy's on screen daughter,but hey its all good.I've been a fan of Steve Martin's since his Father Of The Bride days and I really liked him in this along with Bonnie Hunt.Overall if your not a fan of violence and likes to chill out and watch a good family movie then check out Cheaper By The Dozen II

The first film had lots of warmth and humour and although this sequel tries to recreate both these things fall flat.Martin and Hunt again are left to hold everything together but have less good material to work with this time and struggle to create any comedy gold. Martin tries hard by throwing himself into many physical comedy routines but the end result is that the film appeals much more to a child audience than it would to their parents which defeats the object of a family comedy.Welling and Duff have very little screen time and add nothing of any merit to the film. The Romeo and Julliet style love story also is trite and slow paced.Overall a fair sequel but it doesn't really add anything to the far superior original.

2003's Cheaper by the Dozen caught me by surprise when it turned out to be one of year's box office hits and yet the studio at 20th Century Fox came up with the idea of a sequel being needed to give character.Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt reprise their roles as Tom and Kate Baker, two of the loveliest parents you'll ever seen on screen, where things are changing around for the family. Their third child Lorraine (Hilary Duff) is graduating from high school and with summer on the way, all the children have plans of their own and not be with their parents. All of the kids return with Piper Perabo (Coyote Ugly) playing Nora, the first born who's having a baby and married to a guy that resembles Ashton Kutcher from the first movie; Tom Welling's Charlie doesn't have that many scenes while Hilary Duff as Lorraine probably shocked everybody with her thin body shape. However the breakout star is Alyson Stoner in the role of Sarah where during the film she manages to pull a few tricks up her sleeve just like the first movie.Back to the plot. Now with the twelve kids wanting to go their separate ways for the summer, Tom suggests to Kate that they go back to the lake house and do things as a family until an old rival (Eugene Levy) shows up at the same place where Tom's envy starts to get the best of him.Some parts of the film worked like the relationship between Steve and Bonnie's characters along with the way they interact with the kids. Sarah's growing up and liking one of Eugene Levy's sons was something that worked as well where she did everything like a normal girl would do from giggles to even stealing make-up. What didn't work for me was the fact that I felt as if I was watching the same thing like the first movie with problems on the horizon that one way or another, there's a happy ending.