Police Academy 4 : Aux armes citoyens

So I watched Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol last night, the one thing I really noticed here on IMDb is that the ratings just keep going down after each movie. But I still wanted to see them and judge for myself, I loved the first Police Academy, the second and third are cheesy, but they were fun still. Now onto Citizens on Patrol, I honestly liked this film, I know it was cheesy and cliché, but with G.W. Baily back in his game, you can't go wrong. Again, one of the things that surprised me is that they've been able to get the same cast back over and over again, we also have two of my new favorite characters: Zed and Sweetchuck. It was great to have the old gang back together, even if the movie needed a little work, they still made the movie very enjoyable.

The Police Academy is given a new assignment, there is a new program called C.O.P., Citizens on Patrol, taking regular people off the streets and turning them into cops. Mahony has taken a few misfit punks off the street and made them join, there's an old lady, there's the average or less then average people in the program as well. But Captain Harris hates this program and will do anything to shut it down, but when there is a jail outbreak, he may just have to rely on the C.O.P. program to help him out.

Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol has it's good laughs here and there. I always love to watch the jokes the gang plays on someone, my favorite this time was how they super glued the mega phone onto Harris's lips. I would recommend this if you are looking for a couple laughs, I think people are bing a little too harsh on these films. They're the Police Academy sequels, they're light hearted and fun, they're meant to just relax and laugh for a bit at the stupid stuff. But I did feel like this is the weakest I have seen so far out of the sequels, it could have had more laughs, but it is worth the watch.

5/10

Why is this movie rated so low? I admit that it is the fourth in the series and that is getting pretty ridiculous but this one has many memorable moments in it. Also where else can you go see Sharon Stone, David Spade, and a speacial appearance by a young kid at the time named Tony Hawke. No where else can you get so many people in one of their first movies. It is also still highly entertaining and causes me to laugh often. This is where you should stop watching the series however b/c they lose Steve Guttenburg and he is the only reason the series kept on for as long as it did. So don't give this a low score. Help it get out of the lowest 100 where other real horrible films belong.

That is the Citizens on Patrol (Program) ... which sounds a bit like what they were doing in part 3 ... but calling it something else. So Part 1, 3 and now 4 has giving people (viewers) new students and their "adventures" in making it through the ranks ... well actually just throwing them some bones to have something to laugh throughout the movie.

Talking about this: the joke from movie number one with the podium .. it still gets ... referenced (milked) ... and why not? It is the most memorable of the jokes of the whole series. I feel a bit bad for the Proctor character ... he is the butt of many of the jokes and has to walk quite the fine line. Him and his boss ... well they do not have the easiest job, but they make it look easy. There is a feeling of decline ... and of course there is - because overall what new jokes are there to tell? You even get the family back that likes to hit each other (I suppose that is meant to be funny ... maybe it is for some I reckon) ... Anyway, let's not fret and while this has overstayed its welcome at least there are so many of the original cast leftover that you may not mind ... also you have appearances from Sharon Stone (clothed - a lot!) and David Spade as skater ... which is quite insane in and of itself ... but also a short cameo by none other than Tony Hawk himself. It kinda feels like the first appearance from either of those ... or at least one of the first ones they did, I might be wrong ... do we care? It's just fun to see them I guess.

So what's happened so far? A gaggle of society's goofiest citizens have taken advantage of a new policy to loosen hiring standards at the police force and actually made it through despite efforts from all directions to get them thrown out. They embark on their first assignment, which is to turn around Commandant Lassard's beloved precinct 16, which has been dubbed the worst precinct in the city and given 30 days to turn around or suffer some major employee turnover, a fate which is relentlessly helped along by the eternally butt- kissing Captain Mauser. They display a spectacular feat of water-borne police work, saving the academy and then return in the next movie to beat the city's other police academy when it turns out that the governor decides it's not worth the money to keep them both open.

Oh, and of course you all realize who is in this thing, right? None less than Sharon Stone, David Spade in his first film, and Tony Hawk in an early stunt-skateboarding role! You gotta see this!

This time, Commandant Lassard has come up with a scheme he calls Citizens on Patrol (C.O.P. Get it? Get it?), in which he elaborates slightly on the plot of the original movie. You see, the police force has been stretched a little too thin and the public has developed a negative opinion of them due to the fact that they can't be everywhere at all times to stop every single crime in the city. So the natural solution, of course, is to train the public as deputy police officers and basically have briefly trained undercover cops all over the city.

In fact, so close is the resemblance to the first movie that we are even treated to a couple characters who are forced to join the police academy or face jail time – an idea suggested, of course, by Mahoney himself.

This is the best part of the movie, by the way. There is a hilarious gang of skateboarding punks who are disturbing the peace left and right, headed by none other than David Spade, who is a hardened urban predator if I've ever seen one. Thug life, baby!!

Sharon Stone also has a relatively small role in the film, although probably one of the ons that she would like to forget about, and Lieutenant Harris is back after being gone for the last two movies. All of the other relevant cast members return, with the addition of a new group of misfits, like the token fat black guy, David Spade and his idiot skateboarder friend, and Tackleberry's FATHER-in-law. Remember that guy? Who is always gleefully punching out his son? I can't wait until the grandparents start joining!

But don't worry, until then we have Mrs. Feldman to hold us over. Here's this sweet old lady living in a nursing home/military barracks and who has more of a love of all things camouflaged than Tackleberry himself. In fact, I was waiting the whole movie for her to tell her that she's his long lost mother, but no such luck. Something went wrong with the screen writing in there somewhere, but ultimately she turns out to be one of the most consistently funny characters in the movie. She's played with a good-natured smile by Billie Bird, who clearly enjoyed herself while making the movie. You can always tell when the actors are having a good time, and it always makes the movie better, which is good because this movie needs a lot of help!

Of course, it's not much different than the last three movies as far as being worth watching. Bud and his father are still trading punches and it's still more groan-inducing than laugh- inducing, people are still accidentally wandering into the Blue Oyster Club, which hasn't been funny for three movies by now (Proctor inadvertently wandering in naked was the high point of this gag, but also the point where it becomes the most clear that the joke has lost its steam), and Jones is still doing that Bruce Lee impersonation which was funny in the first movie when I was a kid, but as an adult not so much… But, Callahan has a great wet t-shirt scene that makes the whole movie worthwhile!

Oh, and was Mahoney's mischievous grin ever amusing? That poor guy, man. His reputation has for some reason become so tarnished that he is seen by most of the public as even more of a washed up has-been than, umm, well no one else really comes to mind. Bill Paxton? Nah, he's cool, I think. I never needed to forgive him for Weird Science, but Guttenburg unfortunately has a whole string of bad sequels to make up for, and Cocoon and Short Circuit are just not gonna cut it! At any rate, super-gluing the loudspeaker to Harris' face was funny, but why they missed out on the opportunity to have Harris screaming through it at high volume at the doctors in the hospital I just can't understand. The screenwriters are not scoring many points in this one!

But still, this is one of the better Police Academies so far. This one and part 3 are the best ones in the series that I've seen so far, despite the hilarious 1980s badness (there's a boot- legging crime lord, for example, who operates his illegal warehouse standing around with a fistful of cash and a hula hoop around his shoulders), but there definitely are some fun gags. Harris macing his armpits is one is one of the more memorable gags in the whole series, along with Mauser getting his hands glued to his hair, and I have to admit that I enjoyed some of the scenes of the original recruits trying to recruit the public for the new C.O.P. program. It's not a good movie, but it's a good Police Academy movie!

Ok, I the first three Police Academy movies were all quite good. I had a vague memory that part 4 is still somehwat good. But when watching it again, I was surprised that most that happens in the movie had been forgotten completely. I mean, the previous films felt very familiar with all the legendary jokes that seem unforgettable. This movie had also some good jokes but...I think it is more forgettable. It starts promising, introducing new interesting characters. But towards the end the plot (if there was much of it in the first place) disappears and the movie becomes quite random.

Pros: Harris from the first film is back. He's a great opposing force, better than Mauser from parts 2-3. This is also the first time Harris and Proctor work together. Harris shouting "Proctor!" is classic. Also nice to see more of Zed. The best new character is Mrs. Feldman, the old lady who has Tackleberry's attitude.

Overall it's not a very solid movie but it does have some good comedy moments. Recommended only for fans of the earlier films.