Brenda Bakke in Hot Shots! Part Deux (1993)
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Hot Shots! Part Deux (1993) is a marvelous parody movie from writers Jim Abrahams and Pat Proft. Abrahams also directed. I guess you could say that Abrahams is the master of this genre. With the exception of Blazing Saddles, he's been involved in pretty much all of the funniest parodies and genre spoofs ever conceived.
On the surface, Part Deux is a parody of Rambo III, but it manages to take a swipe at just about every movie from the 70's and 80's, every political event from the same period, classic movies, and every movie cliché ever conceived. It is must viewing for movie geeks, for the references as well as the humor. Part Deux is the wilder, less disciplined of the two Hot Shots! movies, delivering a masterful example of comic open field running, from Bob Vila's tips for remodeling a monastery to Geronimo jumping out of a plane and yelling, “me.” It's just non-stop gags, and a lot of them are hilarious. Some of my favorites: Charlie Sheen and his date parody the eating scene in Lady and the Tramp. Sheen's lover has a diving board above her bed. Sheen's girlfriend never makes it on the train to Hawaii, but she sends a card. It's a pre-printed Hallmark card especially for the occasion of abandoning lovers at stations. He looks at it while she reads it in voice-over, ending with, “this card is printed on recyclable paper.” Saddam Hussein is a major character, and his refrigerator is chock-full of Old Iraqi beer. He's holding the hostages between Iraq and a hard place.
Part Deux suffers a bit from comic dating in two ways: First, there are too many topical references to political and cinematic subjects completely familiar at the moment, but now obscure. Second, Lloyd Bridges does a pretty thinly disguised impersonation of the ever-clueless Ronald Reagan, with a bit of George Bush the First thrown into the mix. I thought this impersonation was hilarious at the time, when I thought Reagan was merely a simpleton. Time has made the comedy seem too mean-spirited to me, however, given what we now know about Reagan, and given that my mom suffered the same fate. If you are not familiar with all the movies and political situations they are spoofing, don't worry. You'll lose some of the humor, but there is plenty to go around.
The comic stars of this movie are Sheen and Bridges, who play the young hot shot and the doddering authority figure respectively. Sheen has taken a beating over the years for his personal life and some of his poorer script choices, but when you give this guy the right script and the right jokes, he is a straight-faced comic genius. In the past week I have seen this film and Goldmember, and this just shines with a light of comic inspiration that Goldmember can't even dream of.
People who hate spoofs are not going to change their minds when they see this film, but those who love the genre will get to see the masters at work, near the top of their games. Most people prefer the first Hot Shots!, (1991) but I love the free-wheeling humor of the second, which reminds me of the comic anarchy of the Marx brothers classic, Duck Soup. This film is a C+.
Nudity Report: Brenda Bakke topless from behind, and her body double possibly topless in very dim light.
Critics Vote: Ebert 3/4, Berardinelli 2/4.
IMDb Summary: IMDb voters score it 5.6/10.
Box Office: Part Deux grossed only $39 million in the USA.
DVD Info: Widescreen anamorphic, 1.85:1; "an adventure in filmmaking" documentary; "early awareness" featurette.
Written by Scoopy…courtesy of Scoopy.net