An absolute waste of money

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

"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!!!

Lampooning the first three 'First Blood' moves, Charlie Sheen reprises his role from the original 'Hot Shots!' movie, called upon in this instance to come out of seclusion and rescue war prisoners held hostage in the Middle East. As per the first 'Hot Shots!' film, the gags vary in effectiveness, but this is a funnier movie overall as it not only parodies Rambo, but also pokes fun at the clichés and conventions of motion picture sequels; "I had to come ... it was a sequel" states Valeria Golino upon appearing halfway in. Lloyd Bridges is also on hand once again and more absentminded than ever and Martin Sheen has a great small bit as his own iconic war antihero from 'Apocalypse Now'. It might seem easy to complain about the mindless action at hand here, however, this is something that the film itself acknowledges, with soldiers actually dressed with targets before Sheen guns them down and subtitles that compare the body count to that of 'RoboCop' and 'Total Recall'. Simply put, the film has more clever audience winking and genre nods that the first film by a golden mile. Bridges is arguably funnier in the first film and Sheen does a better Tom Cruise than Sylvester Stallone spoof; generally speaking though, this is a superior film through and through. Richard Crenna is even on hand to parody his own 'First Blood' series character!

(Originally reviewed: 09/02/2017) Like the first film, it's mildly amusing and on occasion laugh out loud. Charlie Sheen is back and yet again pretty good as Topper Harley, and also returning are Valeria Golino as the pretty Ramada and Lloyd Bridges as the hilarious president 'Tug Benson'. These performances are all respectable but Bridges sticks out with his silly but hilarious one liners in which he constantly makes fools out of other people despite being the actual fool, including one where Harley says "Mr President" and Benson says "you're not the president, I haven't seen him yet but he's around here somewhere". There's successfully amusing references to Rambo, Basic Instinct and Robocop including a scene involving the pretty good, hot looking Brenda Bakke who manages to parody Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct in a scene that ends up with famous quote, "what are you going to do, charge me with smoking". During the late stages of the picture there's action sequences that are better filmed than the Rambo sequels and one that spoofs Robocop where it shows the body count, and which films he has beat by way of that body count. I like how that scene comes off with "bloodiest film ever", I think this is amusing, smartly done and refreshing humour if you like this sort of film; and just to add, this film even looks good, the cinematography especially and the sunset scene at the end were a nice touch. Jim Abrahams and Pat Croft have wrote enough decent jokes to keep the film alive, just when a gag doesn't work it quickly comes back with a few good one liners, and despite this picture having its share of poor jokes such as a vomit scene, an immature fart joke and the stupid Hussain nonsense, there's slightly more hits than misses and though it's not consistently amusing or funny, it's a somewhat decent spoof with good performances, therefore I would mildly recommend part 2.

Saddam(Haleva, looking the part) has taken hostages taken by a foreign dictator, and several failed rescue attempts, the US is running out of specialists to send in. Topper(Sheen, doing a good Rambo) is tracked down, but he's heartbroken over the loss of Ramada(Golino, sultry as ever). Maybe something will motivate him... like Crenna playing the same role he did in the First Blood series.With the new military-themed blockbuster ripe for parodying chosen(one with a grander scope, as it should be), a cast of new and old faces alike all game, this sequel does a lot to live up to its predecessor. Like the franchises of Naked Gun and Airplane!, this works in part because so much of it is played straight. One element in a scene or bit will be off, but usually only that, so that it contrasts against the "real" backdrop.The pop culture references, gags and jokes are plentiful, with a gradual rise towards the climax. We get to breathe, and it doesn't rush so that anything really goes completely unnoticed. Rarely does something fall flat. The material is both visual and verbal, with cleverness, silly stuff, plays on words, etc. Roles are well-cast, and no one is really given too much or little screen-time or laughs.This is Abrahams before these got excessive - in spite of the "drop in/out" nature of the hilarious antics, they never feel disjointed, and there is a clear whole... one with a defined plot, I might add, another thing some more recent entries in the genre have gotten wrong. FX and stunts look and feel real, thus successfully convincing us that we really *are* watching a big-budget action flick - just one where a lot "goes wrong", strange things are said and done, etc.There is a lot of violence, some sexuality(both comically over the top) and a little strong language in this. I recommend this to any fan of send-ups. 7/10