1970. Hot Shots! Part Deux (1993)

Starring: Charlie Sheen, Lloyd Bridges, Valeria Golino

Director: Jim Abrahams

Running Time: 86 mins

Hot Shots! Part Deux is an American film and the sequel to Hot Shots!. After a series of rescue teams failed to retrieve American POWs being held by Saddam Hussein, Topper Harley arrives on the scene to save the day.

Just as was the case with the previous film, Hot Shots! Part Deux is a fantastically silly movie that, although it features next to no story or character depth, is a really entertaining watch, with a constant barrage of ridiculous gags wherever you look on screen, leaving the film more like a fun treasure hunt to try and seek out the weirdest little gags hiding in the corner of the screen alongside the big, crazy stuff.

The most important thing to know when going into this film is that it’s not a normal comedy. It’s not a film that tries to pass itself of as a typical movie, and is instead solely focused on parodying as many movies, political events and pieces of pop culture as possible. However, as silly as it sounds (and is), it’s a wonderfully gleeful and braindead way to spend an hour and a half, and will undoubtedly prove enjoyable if you’re in the right frame of mind.

Another plus is that everyone involved in the film seems to be fully on board with its excessively silly vibes. Not only does director Jim Abrahams craft the perfect atmosphere constant and insane slapstick to reign, but the actors, ranging from Charlie Sheen’s hilariously overly serious action hero to all of his co-stars’ brilliantly melodramatic take on the most menial things, all work together and help to make the film as stupidly entertaining as it can be, something that I found an absolutel delight to watch.

Of course, as the film is so intent on being so ridiculous, there’s not much reason to try and develop a solid story or characters, rather allowing the plot to twist and turn as randomly as all the jokes popping up on screen. However, it’s not something that feels like it’s missing from the film, and it was great to see, like its predecessor, the film throwing caution to the wind and never getting bogged down in trying to be a little more down-to-earth.

On the whole, Hot Shots! Part Deux is a very entertaining film, albeit not quite hilarious. For one, it doesn’t have quite as many big laughs as the original Hot Shots, rather a steady stream of chuckling. It definitely doesn’t compare to the mother of all parody movies, Airplane!, and there are no jokes that are endlessly memorable, even if they do make you chuckle and smile at the time.

Overall, however, I had a lot of fun with this film. It’s absolutely idiotic, and makes no attempt whatsoever to even pass itself off as a normal film, but that just adds to the crazy fun of it all, and although it’s not endlessly hilarious, it’s a really fun way to spend an hour and a half, which is why I’m giving it a 7.5.