BLUES BROTHERS 2000 (1998)

BLUES BROTHERS 2000 Dan Aykroyd, John Goodman, Joe Morton (1998, Universal, PG-13, $106.99) Eighteen years after ushering in a lamentable age of big-budget, high-decibel, car-crashing comedy, the Blues Brothers are back. Well, sort of. Replacing the late John Belushi, Goodman just goes along for the ride as Aykroyd reassembles the band and hits the road, pursued by tediously cartoonish cops, nuns, Russian agents, and white supremacists. Beaten by director John Landis, this dead horse would make for the most pointless sequel since Cannonball Run II, if not for some red-hot production numbers by Aretha Franklin, James Brown, B.B. King, and other greats. Viewing tip: Fast-forward through the guns, explosions, and 50-car pile-up. Slow down only when someone starts singing. The music: A The movie: D