The other day I watched Hot Shots for what I believe was the first time all the way through. I had seen some clips online throughout the years but barely knew anything about the actual film.the film was mostly a parody of Top Gun with some little jokes and slapstick humour sprinkled throughout a relatively tight film that seemed to have little leg room to really flourish; while critics seemed to have enjoyed it a lot more, I just found it a bit too long and incapable of really holding my attention. While I enjoy the genre of these parody films, I knew I had to check out the sequel to Hot Shots, of which I think is certainly a lot more popular; and a film I think I have actually seen before. I had higher expectations with the sequel as a result, knowing that a few extra years had passed and given both the actors and filmmakers, but also the industry to continue maturing.
I have to say, I definitely enjoyed the sequel more. It felt a lot more fun, with more humour to it and a more independent story that made it more fun to follow. The runtime certainly didn't feel as long as the first film, making it come and go without sticking for longer than was necessary. And I can't help but feel all it did was make me want to watch more parody films and establish a bit of a trend to come with my upcoming film viewings and reviews. I suspect it'll be a parody week, filled with nonsense and fun. Though Hot Shots still seemed to have that magic of the first, given more room to grow and focus on the most important elements; but very much still reliant on some existing ideas to propel itself forward and use them as foundations to the humour. On a quick, more serious note: Charlie Sheen was pretty ripped!
Hot Shots: Part Deux
As a parody film, this sequel still relies on some existing films and franchises to set up some themes and a narrative. Though this narrative uses them as mere setups for its own narrative that allows it to stand out a bit more and offer a wider variety of jokes. While I probably missed a few, it seems that Hot Shots: Part Deux has some influence from the Rambo franchise, Apocalypse Now, and even the Terminator franchise. For the most part it's a mockery of Rambo as Charlie Sheen's character finds himself in the jungle in pursuit of a terrorist. Weirdly a real one from that era; something quite interesting to see given the very real political events being made a bit of a mockery of. Reminding me a little of Team America (does anyone remember that anymore?). I can't say I really care all that much for the real political themes, though I can remember similar films in the past having some controversy over it, as if to serve as some thinly veiled propaganda. This isn't much different from the first Hot Shots film, and again it doesn't really bother me.
The narrative follows our protagonist into the jungle in pursuit of this terrorist, but only about halfway into the film does the action really start. The first half is a setup to establish the whole call to action for the character, again a bit similar to Apocalypse Now. The idea that the hero must be pulled from their them peaceful life back into another mission only they are equipped for. In this parody film, our hero is living with monks seemingly in some sort of Mongolian environment. It is already early on here in the film that the jokes begin to flow, and it seems that they don't really come to any end throughout the whole film. The pacing is maintained and the varied humour is pretty strong.
I actually found myself laughing a lot more with this sequel, finding the dialogue and the slapstick comedy to be a lot better. Both stupid and smart, which I think served as some nice balance between the two given too much of either would be a negative. A few of my favourite scenes came towards the end of the film, for example two characters fighting in close quarters, but instead of a knife being the threat, they are fighting while holding a banana, slowly trying to avoid it getting too close to them. Or a giant bazooka looking gun that just extended a fist out to punch the enemy. But aside from this slapstick humour, the film's dialogue is riddled with fourth wall breaking and references to other films. Our protagonist stopping mid gunfight to check his location, reading a map as if he was in a theme park surrounded by landmarks. Or or two characters crossing each other in boats only to acknowledge their own performances in other films together, praising each other for their roles; though my favourite comedic moments are always the idiotic, totally lacking characters that find themselves completely oblivious to their surroundings. Something I mentioned in my prior review was very strong with the films of Leslie Neilson.
This was definitely a much better entry. A sequel that was given more humour and seemingly a larger budget to do more with. The time went by quite quickly as a result, and this time I didn't find myself getting distracted or feeling that the story was lacking. Charlie Sheen of course carried the film forward with his more deadpan approach to line delivery, but the rest of the cast did pretty good too, and were also given a bit more screentime this time to even things out; I do feel the first film lacked variety a bit and required too much from Sheen, having a much shorter cast. Having more characters, a group to follow the protagonist around, meant the narrative shifted around them from time to time and gave them humour too. It seems that Jim Abrahams had managed to learn from Hot Shots' initial weaknesses and ensure they were not repeated here, ending up with a much more fun parody film that didn't seem to reliant on the source material it was mocking and pulling inspiration from. While it does reference the first film a little, fortunately you don't really need to see it to watch the sequel, making it stand on its own two feet; and it's no surprise that this one does seem to be the favourite of the two for most.
I'd recommend it over the weekend, perhaps late at night for something just very stupid to relax to and get a few laughs from. It doesn't take itself seriously at all, and sometimes that is precisely what we need from a film. If it doesn't manage to generate a few laughs from you, then you must be broken!
