Mannequin: On the Move

Directed by Stewart Raffill, Mannequin: On the Move follows William Ragsdale’s Jason Williamson as he finds himself falling for a woman (Kristy Swanson’s Jessie) who was cursed to live inside a mannequin a thousand years ago. Filmmaker Raffill, armed with a script by Edward Rugoff, Michael Gottlieb, David Isaacs, Ken Levine, and Betsy Israel’s screenplay, deliver a continuously larger-than-life comedy that’s rarely, if ever, as engaging or charming as one might’ve anticipated, as the movie’s been suffused with a juvenile comedic sensibility that slowly-but-surely wears down the viewer’s interest and enthusiasm – with the arms-length atmosphere compounded by the inclusion of several underwhelming digressions and performances. (Meshach Taylor’s exceedingly, excessively broad work here tops the picture’s list of ill-advised attributes, ultimately.) And although the movie admittedly does boast a small handful of fleetingly entertaining elements, Mannequin: On the Move is, for the most part, a lackluster sequel that feels long even at just 95 minutes.

** out of ****