Police Academy 3 : Instructeurs de choc

Police Academy 3 (1986) The inmates are now running the asylum. Mahony and company are now instructors at the place they once attend. Running out of ideas and funny situations, the film starts to repeat (ad naseum) many of the gags and punchlines from the first two films. While new characters are being added to the series, a few old one decide to leave (for good). If you notice, the bigger the star Steve Guttenberg becomes, the lesser screen time he gets. Oh well.

Slightly recommended. If the producers have thought with their heads instead of their pocket books, they should have put this series to bed instead of dragging it out and running the series until the wheels and the engine fell off.

In this sequel, the same slapsticks that have been used in the first two movies are apparent and that's what makes it fun to watch. Michael Winslow, who plays Jones, has once again entertained me with his vocal prowess. Also Hooks' (Marion Ramsey) timidness is easily shrouded by her tough side always saying "Don't move, dirtbag!"

Steve Guttenberg (Mahoney) didn't need to stretch his role for this one. It is still fun to watch after 13 years of it's initial release. One of a perfect movies to watch on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Police Academy 3 (1986)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

The gang is back and this time they must train some new recruits and if they fail the academy might be shut down for good. Once again, for a fan I think this film still has enough laughs be be mildly entertaining but there's no doubt this is where the series started to slip away. While there aren't as many laughs here as the previous two films the thing manages to stay alive due to the nice characters created by the cast. Guttenberg, Smith, Graf, Winslow and Leslie Easterbrook are back with Bob Goldthwait and Tim Kazurinsky returning from the second film. The movie tries to have a plot with the academy threatened to be shut down but of course this just sets up all the attempted laughs. The best moments of the movie happen as we get a semi-remake of the original film as we see the new recruits going through their training. This film only runs 83-minutes, which certainly wasn't the normal thing in 1986 so that should tell you that the screenplay doesn't go for too much.

I saw POLICE ACADEMY 3: BACK IN TRAINING on cable one night and I have to say for a second sequel, POLICE ACADEMY 3: BACK IN TRAINING is pretty funny. It's not quite as funny as the first two POLICE ACADEMY movies, but is pretty close. It's kind of like the first POLICE ACADEMY except with a different set of people being trained to be cops. The characters are hilarious and so is the movie.

While still suffering from the humor limitations of being rated PG, "Police Academy 3" has sight gags enough to make it worth watching a few times (at least more often than "Part II").

The gang's all here and trying to train a new line of cadets in their own image (poor cadets) while Lassard (Gaynes) tends to his goldfish and tools about in his modified golf cart.

Even Bobcat Goldthwait returns as Zed, this time training to be a force of good. His scenes breathe a lot of life into this affair, as he screams at doors until they fall down, terrorizes his fellow cadets, hot wires police cars with his teeth and sings at the most inopportune times.

Everyone else has at least one good scene, maybe two. And considering how many are in the cast, that leaves room for a lot of good scenes. Even Georgina Spelvin is back from the original and, bless her, she makes good, too (though not as hilarious as in the original).

This is about as good as the sequels get, so look no further for laughs than "Police Academy 3: Back in Training". Definitely Bubba Smith's finest hour.

Seven stars. Good job, officers.