Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment (1985, Jerry Paris)

Julie Brown shows up at the end of Police Academy 2, which doesn’t make much sense since her character is only in one other scene and she doesn’t have a single line. I was left wondering if she didn’t have a bigger role and ended up cut out (she would have been Steve Guttenberg’s love interest–something he doesn’t have in the film). I imagine if she’d been left in the film, it might have been more amusing.

Police Academy 2 actually has a number of good laughs. Art Metrano is the sleazy police officer out to mess up the heroes so he can get a promotion and he does a fine job. Lots of decent jokes involving him. Not so many with anyone else, except maybe David Graf and Colleen Camp, who have the movie’s romance storyline. They both really like guns. It’s occasionally rather funny.

The film suffers from a lack of narrative. Director Paris started on features but ended up in sitcoms and Police Academy 2 plays like a long, bad sitcom episode. The only real storyline is Graf and Camp’s–the rest of the movie revolves around police captain Howard Hesseman in danger of losing his command (to Metrano), but it lacks any drama. One gag after the other propels the script… it would have helped if the film had a protagonist.

Hesseman looks embarrassed most of the time and no actor really stands out–though Bobcat Goldthwait was a few good moments.

It’s pretty dreadful.

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CREDITS

Directed by Jerry Paris; screenplay by Barry W. Blaustein and David Sheffield, based on characters created by Neal Israel and Pat Proft; director of photography, James Crabe; edited by Bob Wyman; music by Robert Folk; production designer, Trevor Williams; produced by Paul Maslansky; released by Warner Bros.

Starring Steve Guttenberg (Officer Carey Mahoney), Bubba Smith (Officer Moses Hightower), David Graf (Officer Eugene Tackleberry), Michael Winslow (Officer Larvell Jones), Bruce Mahler (Officer Douglas Fackler), Marion Ramsey (Officer Laverne Hooks), Colleen Camp (Sgt. Kathleen Kirkland), Howard Hesseman (Capt. Peter ‘Pete’ Lassard), Peter Van Norden (Officer Vinnie Schtulman), Lance Kinsey (Sgt. Proctor), Art Metrano (Lt. Mauser), George Gaynes (Cmdt. Eric Lassard), George Robertson (Chief Henry J. Hurst), Tim Kazurinsky (Carl Sweetchuck) and Bobcat Goldthwait (Zed McGlunk).