Hot Shots! 2

"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.

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

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!!

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. (***)