Anthony's Film Review - Hot Shots! Part Deux (1993)

One of the funniest films ever in the genre of modern slapstick cinema...

I love comedy films. I especially love anything in the slapstick genre that does silly, yet not too distasteful, things. The second Hot Shots! movie is one of my favorite examples of a movie that'll throw in one silly joke every one to three minutes. It mainly pokes fun at the Rambo movies with a couple of references to other films. I remember seeing this movie many times over the years. It still makes me laugh out loud to this say.

Charlie Sheen stars as Topper Harley, the hero of the first Hot Shots! who is now retiring in the Far East. Meanwhile, some American soldiers are trying to rescue some hostages who in turn tried to rescue other hostages who failed to rescue the original hostages. Still with me so far? Good. So the President decides to get Topper on a mission to Iraq in order to save the men who went to get the men who went to get the men who went to get the men. In other words, hostages from all of these failed missions. On top of this, Topper's love interest Ramada from the first movie comes back in this movie, because as she explains, she had to be in the sequel.

I know the movie supposedly takes place in Iraq because Saddam Hussein is the bad guy here. Even with scenes involving the dictator, there are really funny jokes. OK, I'll make a correction. With scenes involving the dictator, it would be crazy NOT to have really funny jokes. There are jokes all throughout the movie involving unusual and unexpected dialogue, objects that don't belong in certain places, references to other films, some bodily functions, and anything else too strange to appear in a regular and more realistic comedy. And by doing it every so often, it makes it funny all the way through.

The film is brought to you by the same guys who brought you Airplane! and the Naked Gun movies. They are very good with making you laugh in any way possible. It's not high-brow humor. It's low-brow gut-busting humor that appeals to many people. And when you combine it with spoofs of other movies and genres, you have a winning combination. Hot Shots! Part Deux succeeds because of it.

I'm laughing and wanting to see the movie again just as I write this. I still remember scenes like the bow and chicken, the Star Wars-spoofing lightsaber duel at Saddam's palace, the digital dead body counter on the screen, the President scuba-diving with a creative "biological" weapon, and the romantic scene in a limo with the peeping limo driver. Hell, even the end credits have some jokes thrown in. All in all, Hot Shots! Part Deux is a lot of fun, so much that you would love to see a Part Tres, or whatever other foreign translation that can be used.

Anthony's Rating:

For more information about Hot Shots! Part Deux, visit the Internet Movie Database.

In addition, check out my review of Hot Shots!.