Police Academy 6: City Under Siege (1989)

As has been said before in my reviews for the previous five 'Police Academy' films, the best of the 'Police Academy' films will always be the original by quite some way. It isn't great and will never be a favourite comedy or overall film of mine, but it clearly knew what it wanted to be so it was easy to take it for what it was and what it set out to do.It was followed by six sequels, and none of them were as good or even on the same level as the first, though admittedly some are worse than others. Most of them are actually being pretty bad or worse and lose what was enjoyable about the original in the first place. While it was with the fourth film where things properly got particularly stale, it was from the fifth film where finding redeeming qualities proved to be difficult.'Police Academy 6' is one of the series' worst, with very little to recommend and almost completely laughter-free. It is just saved from unsalvageable doom by Michael Winslow, Bubba Smith and George Gaynes giving their all, with the best moments provided with Winslow's admittedly one-joke but wry-smile-worthy imitations and noises and the best line being Hightower's wonderfully apt line about bad jokes being where he drew the line.The rest of the acting really isn't good, with the rest of the regulars struggling to bring any freshness to basically one-joke and ridiculously lame-brained characters or having very little to do (especially Leslie Easterbrook and Marion Ramsey reduced to just looking alluring, while GW Bailey is pretty much wasted this time). Matt McCoy is a hopelessly bland and unbearably wooden lead, couldn't have been a worse substitute for Steve Guttenberg. The villain is neither fun or threatening (as bad as the fifth film was, Rene Auberjonois actually at least livened things up if only a little) and Kenneth Mars is basically a cartoon.Bigger letdowns are the writing and story. There is in 'Police Academy 6' some truly infantile writing, that swaps genuine hilarity, wit and cleverness for mean-spirit, low-brow smut and juvenile vulgarity. It was the case in the previous sequels too, but not to this extent and they still raised a couple of chuckles, something that this film completely struggled, in all but maybe two times (and even with them the series has been much funnier), to do. The characters are one-joke ones with the joke stretched to not just staleness but breaking point, and are so bumbling and dumb it insults the intelligence. This is even when you know what to expect.Story wise, the series just gets lazier with each sequel. The premise was stale by the fourth film but now it is a case of an increasingly thin and repetitive premise stretched to breaking point.There is no energy, the film is ineptly directed, the music is forgettable at best and even with trying to include a few noir-ish elements the whole film looks cheap.Overall, even more of a mess than the previous film. 2/10 Bethany Cox

A gang is terrorising citizens by robbing stores in the Wilson Heights district of town.Since a leak in the department is suspected, the Governor has chosen the officers from the police academy along with Captain Harris and Lt. Proctor to catch the criminals using old fashioned police work.When Commandant Lassard is indicted, the officers must bring the gang and Mr. Big to justice to clear his name....What grabs me so much about this movie is how much it reminds me, especially in the last twenty minutes or so of Tim Burtons Batman.Not plot wise, but just the feel of the whole thing. Maybe it's because it was released around the same time as that movie, or Burton had a spare set going.Other than that, watching this movie through rose tinted glasses doesn't do the film any good. The first time I saw this film, I was 12, and I liked it, largely because Police Academy had been shoved down my throat, thanks to the yearly sequels.Seeing it now, you realise how poor the actual film is, and that the screenwriters couldn't come up with an original idea between them.It's all the same stuff. Hightower shows his strength and has one scene where he looks frustrated.Jones makes lots of noises and does bad Kung Fu.Hooks shouts.Tackleberry has a big gun.Callahan shows her guns.Harris and Proctor get things wrong.It's what we get, time and time again, and it gets less and less funnier.

One thing you notice about this movie is the abundant reliance on those one note characters. Matt McCoy gives up on being a Guttenberg replacement and is now left as an actual serious cop. He isn't a lot of fun, as everyone around him is quirky or funny. This may seem like a brave move by some, but let's face it, it's a little late to be trying to leave such a franchise with some dignity. Although this is horrible, it may be the most memorable, as I saw it as a child and actually remembered specific details about the (ahem) plot. I did enjoy some very brief moments, such as the henchmen actually teasing their boss. Just a little something, but it made the relationship with their boss a bit humane.

Police Academy 6 is a fine piece of social comment. It is analytical in it's approach to two sections of modern society on opposing sides and the eternal struggle between them. Director Peter Bonerz goes straight for the jugular in his approach to individuals battling authority,( eg: Hightower breaking the leg on Harris' chair.)However, this battle must also be fought with the demoralised underclass, who have taken to grand theft. These villains are not stereotypical. Peter Bonerz infuses their character with dynamic and spectacular character abilities. Somersaulting bank raids are the order of the day here. Most interesting, however, is the neo- classical manner in which the films villain is unmasked,echoes of nineteenth century pantomime abound. On the whole, a rewarding experience for those of us who have had their fill of unfunny comedy productions.