"FX 2," the "FX" being movie shorthand for "special effects," has Brown again playing Rollie Tyler, who has given up movie work in favor of making elaborate toys — toys that are so sophisticated they seem to be designed more for adults than kids (in particular a life-size, remote-control clown that will figure in the film's action more than once).
Rollie's girlfriend (Rachel Ticotin, who is also prominent in "One Good Cop") and her young son (Dominic Zamprogna) have helped him put the tragedies of the first film behind him — but her ex-husband (Tom Mason), a police detective, is about to pull Rollie back into the line of fire.
Before long Rollie again teams up with disgruntled, retired New York cop Leo McCarthy (Brian Dennehy) as they uncover police corruption involving a plot to recover stolen Vatican artifacts.
The storyline is a fairly by-the-numbers affair, with more than a few plot holes (the most obvious being a hit man who repeatedly tries to kill Rollie — and becomes our favorite cliche, the killer that wouldn't die — until Rollie turns the tables on him; then the guy just disappears.)
But, obviously, this is a film to enjoy for the wild action sequences and not to think about. On that level it works pretty well, especially when Rollie has to resort to using everyday items — as in a grocery store chase — to foil the bad guys.
The two Brians make a good team (Dennehy has a little inside joke where he tosses liquor bottles, spoofing Brown's role in "Cocktail") and there are some funny and inventive action scenes, but the film is very weak on plot and character.
It's also a very rough PG-13, for considerable violence and gore, nudity, profanity and vulgarity. "FX 2" really should have been rated R.