Ask most people who felt that Police Academy 5 fell flat on its face, and they will tell you that the franchise couldn't cope without its top-billed star, Steve Guttenberg. This is only part of the truth. The fact is that after Police Academy 2, the series had two top-billing stars. The other one was Bobcat Goldthwait, he with the amazing power to convince audiences that screaming and nervous tics constitutes a comedy act. Together, these two could have made any B-grade comedy film a masterpiece, but they soon decided they had better things to do.
Bobcat's performance here is fairly standard stuff for him. Simply act like a brutish thug who obviously took too much acid during the 1970s, and let nature take its course. Given that he only appears in the film's final act after some fairly hilarious shenanigans from the rest of the cast, the fact that his is the most memorable performance in the entire film should tell you a lot.
The rest of the film is all about the original cast, as well as several new faces obviously intended as substitutes for the old that weren't brought back, acting out a situation where they're no longer misfits looking for a new path in life, but still trying to make the grade where their superiors are concerned. Never mind that recruits like Tackleberry would never get within shouting distance of passing the Academy's psych screening, it's what they did after the fact that this film covers.
This episode also marks the debut of Michael Winslow's Bruce Lee schtick, which remains a poignant example of how much easier it was to laugh in a world without political correctness. However, instead of a main player, Winslow is relegated to a sideline act for this episode. Which is hardly surprising. In spite of numerous players being excised from the original cast, this sequel looks and feels overcrowded. As a result, each of the Police Academy sequels sees the characters taking turns at development.
In Police Academy 2, Tackleberry gets his turn to be developed, and boy what a turn it is. The concept of this nutter finding a woman, who in turn has an entire family, that shares his enthusiasm for firearms, is one that wouldn't go amiss in a horror film. David Graf was probably one of the most underrated performers in the franchise, making it all the more disappointing that he is not with us to be part of Police Academy 8.
Interestingly, the people in Police Academy films who are set up as the true villain are always those who actively seek advancement, be it by fair means or foul. The heroes, by contrast, are content to remain where they are, and advance quietly from sequel to sequel. Perhaps this is a subtle social commentary? If so, I'd say it came about purely by accident. The idea that a Police Academy writer could do something so clever on purpose is pretty laughable.
In all, Police Academy 2 gets a two out of ten from me. It's not nearly as horrible as those that came after, but it does show that the makers were running out of ideas already.
Bobcat's performance here is fairly standard stuff for him. Simply act like a brutish thug who obviously took too much acid during the 1970s, and let nature take its course. Given that he only appears in the film's final act after some fairly hilarious shenanigans from the rest of the cast, the fact that his is the most memorable performance in the entire film should tell you a lot.
The rest of the film is all about the original cast, as well as several new faces obviously intended as substitutes for the old that weren't brought back, acting out a situation where they're no longer misfits looking for a new path in life, but still trying to make the grade where their superiors are concerned. Never mind that recruits like Tackleberry would never get within shouting distance of passing the Academy's psych screening, it's what they did after the fact that this film covers.
This episode also marks the debut of Michael Winslow's Bruce Lee schtick, which remains a poignant example of how much easier it was to laugh in a world without political correctness. However, instead of a main player, Winslow is relegated to a sideline act for this episode. Which is hardly surprising. In spite of numerous players being excised from the original cast, this sequel looks and feels overcrowded. As a result, each of the Police Academy sequels sees the characters taking turns at development.
In Police Academy 2, Tackleberry gets his turn to be developed, and boy what a turn it is. The concept of this nutter finding a woman, who in turn has an entire family, that shares his enthusiasm for firearms, is one that wouldn't go amiss in a horror film. David Graf was probably one of the most underrated performers in the franchise, making it all the more disappointing that he is not with us to be part of Police Academy 8.
Interestingly, the people in Police Academy films who are set up as the true villain are always those who actively seek advancement, be it by fair means or foul. The heroes, by contrast, are content to remain where they are, and advance quietly from sequel to sequel. Perhaps this is a subtle social commentary? If so, I'd say it came about purely by accident. The idea that a Police Academy writer could do something so clever on purpose is pretty laughable.
In all, Police Academy 2 gets a two out of ten from me. It's not nearly as horrible as those that came after, but it does show that the makers were running out of ideas already.