Hot Shots! Part Deux (1993)

Writer/director Jim Abrahams spoofs Rambo (as well as Terminator 2, Basic Instinct, Star Wars and The Wizard of Oz), with Charlie Sheen returning as heroic Topper Harley, who leads a team of soldiers to Iraq on a mission to rescue hostages taken during Desert Storm (and to free the men who were sent to rescue the men who were sent to rescue the hostages).It's funny how your tastes change over the years: back in 1993, I thought that Hot Shots Part Deux was unrelentingly hilarious; this time around, the film had me giggling a few times, but the majority of the jokes seemed incredibly lame and puerile. I guess I'm more sophisticated than I give myself credit for.Sheen is passable as a comic actor, Valeria Golino is ravishing as love interest Ramada, and Richard Crenna mercilessly mocks his Col. Trautman role in the Rambo movies. But it's 'Tug' Benson, the incompetent President of the USA, who made me chuckle the most. Surely no-one that inept and boorish could possibly be elected to the post of Commander in Chief (looks at today's news and rolls his eyes).

(Originally reviewed: 09/02/2017) Like the first film, it's mildly amusing and on occasion laugh out loud. Charlie Sheen is back and yet again pretty good as Topper Harley, and also returning are Valeria Golino as the pretty Ramada and Lloyd Bridges as the hilarious president 'Tug Benson'. These performances are all respectable but Bridges sticks out with his silly but hilarious one liners in which he constantly makes fools out of other people despite being the actual fool, including one where Harley says "Mr President" and Benson says "you're not the president, I haven't seen him yet but he's around here somewhere". There's successfully amusing references to Rambo, Basic Instinct and Robocop including a scene involving the pretty good, hot looking Brenda Bakke who manages to parody Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct in a scene that ends up with famous quote, "what are you going to do, charge me with smoking". During the late stages of the picture there's action sequences that are better filmed than the Rambo sequels and one that spoofs Robocop where it shows the body count, and which films he has beat by way of that body count. I like how that scene comes off with "bloodiest film ever", I think this is amusing, smartly done and refreshing humour if you like this sort of film; and just to add, this film even looks good, the cinematography especially and the sunset scene at the end were a nice touch. Jim Abrahams and Pat Croft have wrote enough decent jokes to keep the film alive, just when a gag doesn't work it quickly comes back with a few good one liners, and despite this picture having its share of poor jokes such as a vomit scene, an immature fart joke and the stupid Hussain nonsense, there's slightly more hits than misses and though it's not consistently amusing or funny, it's a somewhat decent spoof with good performances, therefore I would mildly recommend part 2.

Saddam(Haleva, looking the part) has taken hostages taken by a foreign dictator, and several failed rescue attempts, the US is running out of specialists to send in. Topper(Sheen, doing a good Rambo) is tracked down, but he's heartbroken over the loss of Ramada(Golino, sultry as ever). Maybe something will motivate him... like Crenna playing the same role he did in the First Blood series.With the new military-themed blockbuster ripe for parodying chosen(one with a grander scope, as it should be), a cast of new and old faces alike all game, this sequel does a lot to live up to its predecessor. Like the franchises of Naked Gun and Airplane!, this works in part because so much of it is played straight. One element in a scene or bit will be off, but usually only that, so that it contrasts against the "real" backdrop.The pop culture references, gags and jokes are plentiful, with a gradual rise towards the climax. We get to breathe, and it doesn't rush so that anything really goes completely unnoticed. Rarely does something fall flat. The material is both visual and verbal, with cleverness, silly stuff, plays on words, etc. Roles are well-cast, and no one is really given too much or little screen-time or laughs.This is Abrahams before these got excessive - in spite of the "drop in/out" nature of the hilarious antics, they never feel disjointed, and there is a clear whole... one with a defined plot, I might add, another thing some more recent entries in the genre have gotten wrong. FX and stunts look and feel real, thus successfully convincing us that we really *are* watching a big-budget action flick - just one where a lot "goes wrong", strange things are said and done, etc.There is a lot of violence, some sexuality(both comically over the top) and a little strong language in this. I recommend this to any fan of send-ups. 7/10

Hot Shots Part Deux is a better than average movie with a alright story line and a great cast.Its definitely not better than the original Hot Shots,but its not an awful sequel.People who where fans of the first might be disappointed,but I didn't have very high hopes because I wasn't a huge fan of the first,but its definitely not as good as the first,I just found it to be a movie to just laugh at,but still misses a lot,its not as good as movies like Airplane or The Naked Gun.Fans of the first Hot Shots will probably be disappointed,but will probably still laugh at many scenes.Topper Harley (Charlie Sheen) returns,this time in a parody of Rambo as he is the leader of a team in heading to Iraq to rescue a soldier who has been kidnapped.