HOT SHOTS! PART DEUX
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1993 James Berardinelli
Rating: 6.8 out of 10 (C+, ** out of ****)
Date Released: 5/21/93 Running Length: 1:27 Rated: PG-13 (Sexual situations, brief nudity, mock violence)
Starring: Charlie Sheen, Valeria Golino, Lloyd Bridges, Richard Crenna, Brenda Bakke, Miguel Ferrer Director: Jim Abrahams Producer: Bill Badalato Screenplay: Jim Abrahams and Pat Proft Music: Basil Poledouris Released by Twentieth Century Fox
Since being inexplicably dumped by Ramada (Valeria Golino), the love of his life, Topper Harley (Charlie Sheen), the earstwhile hero of HOT SHOTS!, has retreated into a monastery to contemplate the meaning of life. His time of solitude comes to an end, however, when his good friend and former superior, Colonel Denton Walters (Richard Crenna), is captured by Saddam Hussein, and a sexy female CIA operative (Brenda Bakke) arrives at the monastery to recruit Topper for the rescue mission. Biceps bulging and guns blazing, Topper charges into Iraq, letting nothing get in his way.
Two years ago, I gave the original HOT SHOTS! a scathing review, calling it "one of the most unfunny and sophomoric movies" of the year. Fortunately, while PART DEUX is just as silly and dumb as it predecessor, it manages a more humorous edge. As a result, the sequel is more watchable than the original. Better than the actual film, however, is its theatrical trailer, which shows a number of scenes not in the finished product (they look to have been produced explicitly for the trailer).
What HOT SHOTS! did for TOP GUN, PART DEUX does for the Rambo movies. Charlie Sheen has bulked up impressively for this role and, with unbound hair hanging to his shoulders and ammo encasing his body, he looks eerily like the posters of Sylvester Stallone from the second and third FIRST BLOODs. Then there's Richard Crenna, here in a role that's obviously a sendup of the one he played in the other series. Of course, PART DEUX doesn't stop with Rambo, getting its digs in at dozens of other targets ranging from the easily-lampooned BASIC INSTINCT to LADY AND THE TRAMP.
Bad puns, double entendres, and dumb sight gags abound (what else would you expect from Jim Abrahams and Pat Proft?). With as many as there are, it's only to be expected that quite a few are duds. Unfortunately, a disproportionate number of the failures occur during the last third of the movie, causing PART DEUX to be unbalanced. The first hour is decently paced as the humor keeps it afloat, but the final portion of the film is occasionally tedious.
There are a couple of real winners in PART DEUX. Most memorable are a cameo by Martin Sheen, a spoof of SEA HUNT featuring the original star (Lloyd Bridges), a slapstick gathering of the living presidents, and an on-screen digital "body count" meter during the climactic raid on Saddam's fortress.
Sheen and Golino wade through this film with gloriously deadpan expressions, playing it straight no matter how outlandish the story becomes. As is true of Leslie Nielsen in the NAKED GUN pictures, this is one of the film's assets. Satire often works best when it's intentionally modelled after bad drama. Oddly enough, one wonders if the Rambo films were the best choice for a spoof, since the second and third installments came close to self-parody in their own right.
Nevertheless, not enough of PART DEUX gels to make it an unqualified success, even for its genre. There are too many instances when the film is too obvious in its attempts at humor. Forcing jokes more often leads to them falling flat than working and, in PART DEUX, this happens on several occasions.
Those that enjoyed the original HOT SHOTS! will doubtless be entertained by the second part, as will moviegoers who laughed their way through LOADED WEAPON ONE. The stuff of PART DEUX is not AIRPLANE material, but it has its high points, and as a mindless summer evening out, it will certainly deliver what's expected from it.
- James Berardinelli (blake7@cc.bellcore.com)
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