Hot Shots! 2

OK, let's get this clear; Hot shots IS silly. Silly, simple, stupid and ABSOLUTELY pointless. But hey, it IS a slapstick comedy, and a ******* GREAT ONE! MUCH better than the first movie! In EVERY SECOND of the movie there is a gag, a joke, or someone or something that is so damn funny that I can't help myself from falling of the chair laughing like hell! I think I've seen this movie over 20 times, It's still the funniest movie ever for me. I guess when it comes to movies of this kind, I just want them to be as stupid, with as many jokes per minute, as possible. I think Charlie Sheen is perfect for this role, he does look serious, like some kind of a bad Rambo-wannabe, and a serious-looking person doing stupid things is always great. It's also great that Richard Crenna plays almost the same character as in Rambo 3, with many of his lines unchanged. If you've watched the Rambo-movies, (most important the third one), you'll get more of the gags and the dialogs, especially in the scenes from the Buddhist temple. Saddam Hussein is also excellent, he looks really like the real one! If you like stupid and crazy movies...WATCH THIS!

I guess it's quite obvious that those who didn't like the first "Hot Shots" movie just shouldn't give this movie a try. But for the fans of that one, and I'm one of them, this movie promised to offer a lot more pleasure and laughter. What has always appealed to me is the fact that they try to make fun of so many other movies. This time they have re-used parts from movies like "Rambo", "Apocalypse Now", "Terminator", "The Lady and the Tramp"... Trying to find all those references is already a big part of the fun, especially when you already know most of those movies.

In "Hot Shots! Part Deux" Topper Harley has retired again, now living in a Buddhist monastery. But again he is asked by the CIA to lead a special operation into Iraq. He will lead a rescue mission who has to rescue the last rescue team, who went in to rescue the last rescue team who were sent to rescue some prisoners left behind after Desert Storm. While saving them, he will meet again with his beloved Ramada and will shoot a couple millions of Iraqui soldiers...

Even though this movie wasn't as strong as the first one, I must say that I still had a good time with it. Not every part worked very well, but scenes like the one with the chicken shot out of a bow or the 'I loved you in Wall Street' scene are just hilarious. But one of the best parts must have been the one in which they said that the critics wouldn't like it, because this was just a weak copy of the first one in order to make more money. That was so spot on that I couldn't help smiling about it.

About the acting I can be quite brief. It's completely over the top, but what else can you expect from a movie like this one? This is a parody and some normal acting would never be able to put the emphasis on the already absurd situations. It's sometimes a bit too much, but I know that it's necessary for the movie and that's why I still appreciate it.

In the end this is an absurd comedy and parody on many kinds of movies. If you like this kind of humor and know most of the other movies, then you'll probably have a great time with it. I sure liked it and that's why I give it a 7/10.

"Hot Shots! Part Deux" beats the odds to be pretty good, not just as spoofs go, but as spoof *sequels* go. Granted, it's not always very funny, but enough of the verbal and visual jokes work to make this solidly entertaining comedy fare, and a worthy sequel to the hilarious first movie. It goes about making fun of the corpse littered action escapism films of the 1980s, which of course were a genre just ripe for parody. Charlie Sheen returns as hero Topper Harley, now living in Thailand after getting his heart broken by Ramada (Valeria Golino). He's approached by the CIA to undertake a top secret mission in the Middle East where he must rescue the rescue team who went in to save the rescue team who tried to retrieve some hostages.

Also returning from the first film are Lloyd Bridges, who once again is an absolute riot; somehow, his idiotic character Thomas "Tug" Benson has become the President of the United States. Jerry Haleva makes an encore appearance as Saddam Hussein, and gets more to do this time, including a climactic duel with Benson. New characters include those played by lovely Brenda Bakke, Richard Crenna (who gets to poke fun at his own "Rambo" series role), Miguel Ferrer, Rowan Atkinson, Mitch Ryan, Ryan Stiles, Gregory Sierra, Andreas Katsulas, and Clyde Kusatsu. So there's a lot of familiar faces here, including some other famous faces in gag cameos. (The best one is by Sheen's dad Martin.) One of the brightest jokes is the "bloodiest movie ever" one; among the movies and shows parodied are "Basic Instinct", "No Way Out", "Lady and the Tramp", "Terminator 2: Judgment Day", and Bridges' own series 'Sea Hunt', but mostly co-writer and director Jim Abrahams, an old hand at this sort of thing, keeps his focus on skewering the mindless macho action flick.

Overall, this is a very enjoyable comedy, no matter if some of the humour is dated (such as referring to then first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton). It manages to hold up pretty well on repeat viewings.

And war is indeed fantastic.

Eight out of 10.

While the original will always be considered better, this film still held true to the Hot Shots mentality. While the whole concept may have been a little dragged out, at least they didn't try to make another movie to further destroy this franchise. Charlie Sheen was once again, Charlie Sheen. With yet another tongue-in-cheek performance, Sheen proves to us he is one of the most nonchalant comedy actor of our day. Plenty of funny things to talk about, but far too many to mention.

It's surprising how much fresher this movie looks and plays compared to most other spoofs of the 90's. It's a reminder (which you may need after watching films like "Dracula:Dead and Loving It") that ANY genre can work with the right amount of effort put into it. Maybe it does have a few duds here and there, but there are far more surrealistic gems along the way ("Geronimoooo!". "Geronimoooo!". "Meeeee!"). One of the best of its kind. (***)