MasterChugs Theater: 'Hot Shots! Part Deux'
Everyone loves a good spoof. Well, maybe not everyone. Osama Bin Laden probably doesn't like a good spoof. Neither does Mickey Rourke. Or Charles Manson. Other than those goons, everyone else just loves a goof spoof. The ZAZ team (Jerry Zucker, Jim Abrahams, David Zucker) perfected the genre with their outrageously great giggle fest Airplane!. Since then we've had our share of great gag movies (Top Secret!, The Naked Gun series) and not so great gag movies (uh … anything Leslie Nielson starred in after The Naked Gun). In 1991, writer Pat Proft (Real Genius, the highly underrated Brain Donors) and director/co-writer Jim Abrahams lampooned Top Gun with their wacky hit Hot Shots!. In 1993, they took on the Rambo trilogy with their equally goofy sequel Hot Shots! Part Deux. Lock and load for fun.
Yes, I realize how truly awful that statement was.
The simple enough story goes something like this: since being inexplicably dumped by Ramada (Valeria Golino), the love of his life, Topper Harley (Charlie Sheen), the erstwhile 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.
The supporting cast in the film works astoundingly well, with each person playing the material with the appropriate amount of seriousness it deserves and needs (which is, after all, the only true way a movie like this works). Valeria Golino effuses sexiness as Topper's love interest in the movie. And who knew Jon Cryer could be such a good crack up? In the film (possibly even funnier than its predecessor), we get Miguel Ferrer in a funny departure from his villainous roles, Richard Crenna doing a spoof of Lt. Troutman from those silly but fun Rambo movies, and some random actor as Saddam Hussein in one of the funniest opening scenes ever put on film (did you know that Saddam apparently uses the clapper each night before bed?).
Hot Shots! Part Deux is jam packed with jokes upon jokes upon even more jokes, which really shouldn't be a surprise given its ancestors. Film parodies abound. Puns run rampart. There's even a great gag where Sheen's father shows up to ... nope, you'll have to look out for Martin on your own. If ever there were movies worth owning just out of sheer giddy fun, it's both Hot Shots! and Hot Shots! Part Deux. Hot Shots! Part Deux will never change the face of cinema, but it did crack me up for almost an hour and a half. That's the mark of a good movie, because after all, my word is law.
Oh, c'mon, I kid! Hot Shots! Part Deux will make you laugh or your money back*! How can you go wrong when you've got one of the creators of Airplane!, Lloyd Bridges, and Saddam Hussein packing his daily meal in a kids lunch box? Enjoyable and utterly stoopid, the movie is well worth your time and money. Brains optional.
*Chugs cannot be held responsible for guarantees such as this. In the event that you do not laugh, it is suggested to take your claim with Harvey Weinstein or a brick wall, whichever is easier to deal with.
Yes, I realize how truly awful that statement was.
The simple enough story goes something like this: since being inexplicably dumped by Ramada (Valeria Golino), the love of his life, Topper Harley (Charlie Sheen), the erstwhile 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.
The supporting cast in the film works astoundingly well, with each person playing the material with the appropriate amount of seriousness it deserves and needs (which is, after all, the only true way a movie like this works). Valeria Golino effuses sexiness as Topper's love interest in the movie. And who knew Jon Cryer could be such a good crack up? In the film (possibly even funnier than its predecessor), we get Miguel Ferrer in a funny departure from his villainous roles, Richard Crenna doing a spoof of Lt. Troutman from those silly but fun Rambo movies, and some random actor as Saddam Hussein in one of the funniest opening scenes ever put on film (did you know that Saddam apparently uses the clapper each night before bed?).
Hot Shots! Part Deux is jam packed with jokes upon jokes upon even more jokes, which really shouldn't be a surprise given its ancestors. Film parodies abound. Puns run rampart. There's even a great gag where Sheen's father shows up to ... nope, you'll have to look out for Martin on your own. If ever there were movies worth owning just out of sheer giddy fun, it's both Hot Shots! and Hot Shots! Part Deux. Hot Shots! Part Deux will never change the face of cinema, but it did crack me up for almost an hour and a half. That's the mark of a good movie, because after all, my word is law.
Oh, c'mon, I kid! Hot Shots! Part Deux will make you laugh or your money back*! How can you go wrong when you've got one of the creators of Airplane!, Lloyd Bridges, and Saddam Hussein packing his daily meal in a kids lunch box? Enjoyable and utterly stoopid, the movie is well worth your time and money. Brains optional.
*Chugs cannot be held responsible for guarantees such as this. In the event that you do not laugh, it is suggested to take your claim with Harvey Weinstein or a brick wall, whichever is easier to deal with.
Labels: MasterChugs Theater
posted by Chris 'Chugs' Taylor at
5:58 PM
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