Who payed the critics

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

A Major Disappointment

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

"Rambo" parody in which Topper Harley leads a rescue team into Iraq to save Iraqi war prisoners and all of their previous rescue teams. Don't get me wrong Hot Shots! that was released in 1991 was amazing but Hot Shots! Part Deux is actually way way better. It's packed with so many movie references from Empire Strikes Back (1980) to Robocop (1987) to even Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) but the biggest one of them all is Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985) and it's just so freaking funny plus casting Richard Crenna was such a freaking good choice plus also loved Rowan Atkinson's part he was so damn funny as always. If you loved Part 1 Part Deux is just miles and miles way more insane!!!

The first "Hot Shots", whilst not exactly bowling the critics over, remains a popular addition to the spoof genre. But despite having seen the original many times, the sequel had largely passed me by. I guess I wasn't that bothered by it - how many spoof sequels can you think of that match the original - but thankfully, I shouldn't have been that worried. By switching its focus from mocking "Top Gun" to the likes of "Rambo", "Robocop" and "Commando", the film retains its delightfully silly outlook on things but still goes for the jugular against a soft target.Rock God from Mars Charlie Sheen returns as Topper Harley who has now left the military and is living a simpler life in a Tibetan monastery after having his heart broken by his former squeeze Ramada (Valeria Golino). But Topper is soon back in action after President Tug Benson (Lloyd Bridges) sends Colonel Walters (Richard Crenna) and CIA agent Michelle Huddlestone (Brenda Bakke) to get Topper leading a rescue mission in Iraq to free the guys who were sent to free the guys who were sent to free hostages from the first Gulf War. But as before, there is a saboteur in the side and soon, Topper must seriously rack up the body count in order to get the job done."Hot Shots: Part Deux" is not a film to take seriously - this is as stupid a film as I can recall. Like the first, it crams every scene with sight gags, one liners and slapstick and also like the first, a fair number do raise a smile if few out-and-out laughs. It isn't anything like as funny as its spiritual predecessors like "Airplane!" or "The Naked Gun", despite the director being one of the three responsible for them. However, it is funnier than modern spoofs like "Scary Movie" or "Meet The Spartans" but to be frank, I find the BBC News channel funnier than those films. Sheen is surprisingly funny as Topper, aping Sly Stallone perfectly despite launching a chicken from a longbow with intent, and so is Crenna who is basically playing his "Rambo" character for laughs instead. The rest of the cast do OK, mainly following Bridges lead but he does provide another link to the earlier, better movies. It's as if the film makers were pleading for legitimacy, saying that this is a proper spoof even if there is no Leslie Nielsen in it.I understand that "Rambo"-style films aren't exactly hard to spoof but "Hot Shots: Part Deux" does a decent job of bringing them down a peg or two. It isn't a laugh-a-minute mickey-take but it does make you smile and remind you how utterly stupid most action movies from that era actually are. Even compared to the first "Hot Shots!", it holds up pretty well but I couldn't escape the sense that they were trying a bit too hard. What made the likes of "Airplane!" so special was the screenplay which was simply hilarious on its own. There was no need for special effects besides the crude aeroplane model being buffeted by lightning - the lines and performances were enough. Here, the gags are almost drowned out by the explosions and fire fights - each scene simply takes its cue from scenes in other films but replays them for laughs. Nothing wrong with that, as such, but I just preferred the earlier spoofs to these ones. And remember, it's been a long time since spoof movies enjoyed this level of success.

Topper Harley (Charlie Sheen) has retired from the Navy and become a Buddhist in a small village. Colonel Walters (Richard Crenna) and Michelle Huddleston (Brenda Bakke), CIA, arrive and try to persuade Topper to come out of retirement in order to rescue a rescue party who went in to rescue a rescue party who are now hostages in Iraq.There is plenty of debate on the internet about who is hotter: Brenda Bakke or Valeria Golino. What a silly question -- Golino without a doubt! (I cannot say Golino is hot overall, I have not seen most of her work. But here she is gorgeous, and of course she was in "Big Top Pee-Wee" alongside her fiancée Benicio De Toto.) Maybe this film is silly and has no plot... but I like it, and it gets better the more I am familiar with the films it spoofs. Charlie Sheen is winning in this film. Pure winning.

Jim Abrahams ran out of "Top Gun" jokes, so this sequel mainly focuses on the even more spoof-worthy "Rambo"-movies. Apart from that, it's pretty much the same as the first. And honestly, what could anyone have against that? This stuff is just hilarious in all its weirdness, I wouldn't want it any other way. Also Charlie Sheen still fits in so surprisingly well and Valeria Golino returns too because well, pretty girls with foreign accents make any movie better. Highlights include the inevitable breakings of the fourth wall, the "Apocalypse Now" spoof that comes from pretty much nowhere and the downright bizarre running gag with the birth mark. I also enjoyed pretty much every sequence featuring Saddam, because it just felt so delightfully wrong. This movie is exactly what you expect, which I guess is a good thing.