Hot Shots! 2

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.

I don't know if I've ever seen a comedy as zany or as randomly silly as "Hot Shots! Part Deux." Then again, I'm not all that familiar with the comedy genre, but I can say that between this movie and its predecessor, every pratfall, every parody, every little joke has been done. Part Deux is even crazier and more random than its nonsensically silly prequel and it's even less intelligent, but strangely enough, it's a lot more enjoyable. I thought the first "Hot Shots!" was a promising hit-and-miss satire; Part Deux succeeds.

Like its predecessor, Part Deux sets its plot as a parody of one specific film, but makes satirical parodies of dozens throughout its running time. The first movie was a parody of "Top Gun" but made references to dozens of other movies from "Dances With Wolves" to "Gone with the Wind." Likewise, the sequel is a parody of "Rambo III", but that's just the setup for all of the jokes that follow. Like Rambo, Topper Harley (Charlie Sheen) is retired to the Far East when his former commander (Richard Crenna) comes in and asks him to join a rescue mission to save hostages from Iraqi captors. Sheen at first refuses but when Crenna is captured as he was in "Rambo III", Sheen heads in after him along with a misfit group of soldiers. And meanwhile, Admiral Benson (Lloyd Bridges) from the first movie has been promoted to president of the United States and continues his idiotic and incompetent running of the country.

Now this is precisely the sort of comedy that a movie-lover like myself enjoys. Why? Well, not only because it is so zany and buffoonish that one can't help but laugh at it, but because it's like a big mincemeat of movie references. The setup is a parody of "Rambo III", but I spotted parodies of "Casablanca", "Platoon" (which also starred Charlie Sheen), "Lady and the Tramp", "The Wizard of Oz", "Terminator 2" and so on. And just when I thought they were going to between two movies forget to parody "Star Wars", sure enough I got my fix for that. And that's not even the limit of it. The movie also makes jokes and points fingers at some of your favorite actors. A brief example is an enemy patrol boat that comes into the shot. The boat's name is "The Behn Gazaarah" as a tribute to actor Ben Gazzara. If you've seen lots of movies and you love the movies, this is the comedy for you because you can sit back, relax, have the time of your life laughing, and point your finger at the screen whenever a parody comes up and say "Yeah, that was from (insert movie title)!" "Hot Shots! Part Deux" opens up with a joke and closes with a joke and at least ninety percent of these are gut-busting in their effect. There are some jokes throughout the film, such as a few of the Saddam Hussein jokes toward the beginning, that were not all that funny, but around and after that were some of the zaniest, silliest, most random pratfalls I've ever seen. But it's also funny because it doesn't just make a simple parody and joke, but keeps pushing it one step ahead. Instead of just simply parodying the spaghetti-kiss scene from "Lady and the Tramp", it carries it to the next step with Charlie Sheen pushing a meatball across the plate with his nose and then the scene morphs in a parody of "Casablanca." It's also not just enough for the movie to create a character like Richard Crenna's character in the Rambo series to be Sheen's former commanding officer. But to have Richard Crenna himself play the character and wear the same outfit and the same makeup and speak in the same rhythm and manner.

And if there is one other element in this movie that I loved, it was the Lloyd Bridges character. Like the admiral he played in the first "Hot Shots!" Bridges plays the president of the United States, Thomas "Tug" Benson as simply a complete idiot, somebody so stupid that they could never, in real life, get a job running a grocery store let alone a country. And Bridges looks like he's having a good time playing the character, which in turn makes it very funny for the audience.

In closing, "Hot Shots! Part Deux" is a tremendously enjoyable satirical comedy and precisely the sort of parody that I find entertaining. The key to its success is that it's so unbelievably random and silly and nonsensical. Whereas so many comedies I know try to do the same thing but just fail, it passes with flying colors. This is one funny movie.

What can I say about this movie? A comic moment at every turn, hilarious lines and a great spoof to live by. I, being a Ryan Stiles fan, couldn't stop laughing when I first saw this. His performance was top, and Charlie Sheen just brought it all together. My favourite moments included when Dexter (Rowan Atkinson) mentioned his shoelaces being tied together, and when the army wrote the sounds of the morse code (Dah di di dah dah di dah)! Couldn't stop laughing!!! The casting is great, with Lloyd Bridges as the President and Ryan Stiles as Rainbowitz, this is a great movie spoof! I recommend this movie for slapstick fans and people who just want a laugh, a lot of laughs!!

After being really happy with the first Hot Shots, I was excited to see the next and I have to say that Part Deux was still a ton of fun. Despite the fact that I know that this film may be a little silly and over the top with the jokes, it still was a lot of fun to watch. I think everyone needs an outrageous comedy here and there. Charlie Sheen is an absolute blast to watch, this time, they are taking on Rambo, Predator, Commando, Basic Instinct, and many other references.

Topper is asked to come back to save a bunch of American soldiers captured by Saddam Husain, but he has been dumped by Ramada and starts a steamy affair with a CIA agent who gives him her mole for luck. When he sees Ramada on the mission due to sequel casting, they stick together and the team puts in their best and saves the soldiers from the wacky dictator.

Hot Shots Part Deux is a lot of fun for certain people, like me, who enjoy these zany goof ball comedies. I really do prefer this kind of comedy to many I've seen today where it's more shock than originality. The Hot Shot movies are so much fun and I would recommend these movies for anyone. Just sit back and have fun with these comedies, I think you'll have a good time.

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.