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Source:
rec.art.movies.reviews newsgroup
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Zucker/Abrahams/Zucker (all three members of the disbanded group have their names in the credits) must have expended most of their collective creative and comic talents on the wonderfully funny preview for THE NAKED GUN 33 1/3, because there's nothing in this film that comes close to the HOWARDS END/REMAINS OF THE DAY spoof. While the sequence has been cannibalized for inclusion in the picture, nowhere was it more entertaining than in darkened theaters several months ago, whetting the appetites of millions for this sadly disappointing feature.
As the latest installment of the POLICE SQUAD! saga opens, Lt. Frank Drebin (Leslie Nielsen) has been retired form the force for six months. However, despite his earnest attempts to play the happy house husband, he misses his job, and his marriage to Jane (Priscilla Presley) is beginning to suffer. Then, one day while Frank is baking cup cakes, he gets a visit from his old friends Captain Ed Hocken (George Kennedy) and Nordberg (O. J. Simpson). It seems that a terrorist (Fred Ward) is planning a big bombing and only Drebin can stop him. So, getting back in the green car without brakes, Frank heads downtown to retrieve his gun and badge--and bring the boys some fudge.
It's sad to see what started out as such a lively and creative series descend to this--a feeble attempt to stretch a few pedestrian jokes into a full feature film. The first NAKED GUN, like its television series predecessor, was a hilarious (if not overly original) motion picture. (Who can forget the antics on the baseball field at the end?) The second installment, while suffering from an overabundance of recycled puns and unfunny punch lines, still had its moments. Unfortunately, the third time around, there's not much to get excited about or to laugh at.
There are a few funny moments, such as the '70s spoof in the disco and some of the Academy Awards slapstick, but too much never clicks. Unlike its predecessors, this NAKED GUN doesn't seem to be trying very hard to be funny. Gone are most of the rapid-fire one-liners and sight gags. Sure, some have survived, but the frequency is way down, so when one joke fails, the wait for the next one is sometimes uncomfortably long. There's the obligatory Tonya Harding comment but, like too much of THE NAKED GUN 33 1/3's humor, it's not worth even a small chuckle.
Leslie Nielsen is still enjoying himself (in fact, he's on record as wanting to do another in the series), and his performance is as crisp as ever. The rest of THE NAKED GUN crew is back, filling their usual roles, and guest Fred Ward has fun hamming it up as the mad terrorist Rocco.
One thing that can be said about this movie is that it keeps the audience in their seats until the end of the closing credits--and with good reason. One could argue that the credits (opening and closing combined) are the most amusing part of the movie. It's what comes in between that's the letdown. Even the motion picture parodies (which are numerous, and include THE UNTOUCHABLES and JURASSIC PARK) are bland. Much of what this movie pokes fun at--especially the Academy Awards--is ripe for the satirical plucking. THE NAKED GUN 33 1/3 lines everything up in its sights, but never pulls the trigger. Much of the POLICE SQUAD! series' irreverence is absent without leave.
The original NAKED GUN movie was something of a modern comedy classic and, while its successor was distinctly inferior, it still had the capacity to entertain. The latest offering, however, gives us another example of a sequel that should never have been made. We really can't complain, though, since we have been warned. After all, the film is most aptly called THE FINAL INSULT, so the last joke is on the audience. Unfortunately, we aren't laughing--at least not enough--and that's the whole problem.
By : James Berardinelli
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Source:
rec.art.movies.reviews newsgroup
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"Like a midget at a urinal, I was going to have to stay on my toes."
- Leslie Nielsen's hard-boiled
narrative
NAKED GUN 33-1/3: THE FINAL INSULT is hilarious. Period. Fans of the series are advised to wear protective undergarments as these further exploits of Lt. Frank Drebin *may* inspire fits of uncontrolled urination.
But seriously folks, the film is just as funny as the first GUN sequel in which Babs Bush got hers. This time it's Oscar-bashing and not a moment too soon! Leave it to former Police Squad detective Lt. Frank Drebin (Nielsen) to come out of retirement to help stop a terrorist (Ward) bent on bombing the Academy Awards.
Once again, the gags are non-stop and NAKED GUN 33-1/3 spoofs everything from "Beavis and Butthead" to "The Brady Bunch." Blink and you'll miss a mention to STAR WARS or STALAG 17. More obvious are the references to recent films like THELMA AND LOUISE and JURASSIC PARK.
There's also an obligatory 70s flashback, a great sperm-sample bit, and an untouchable UNTOUCHABLES send-up that Sergei Einstein should've lived to see.
Joke for joke, it's the best stupid laugh-fest since HOT SHOTS! PART DEUX.
The downside is that the series is showing signs of strain. Technical credits are weak, from editing to production design. The cast is a loss--neither Presley nor Simpson nor Kennedy is very funny. As the villain, Fred Ward is hardly a worthy successor to Ricardo Montalban or Robert Goulet. And the line between Nielsen's dandy deadpan and boffo buffoonery is wearing mighty thin these days.
The irony, of course, is that the NAKED GUN films have *never* been as funny as the TV series that inspired them. "Police Squad!" ran for exactly six episodes in 1980 and was promptly cancelled. The original adventures of Lt. Frank Drebin were just as funny as the creator's hit film AIRPLANE!, but viewers couldn't handle the lack of a laugh track.
On the Zucker/Abrahams/Zucker hierarchal scale of hilarity, NAKED GUN 33-1/3 ranks about the same as NAKED GUN 2 1/2 and both HOT SHOTS! films. But they all pale in comparison to AIRPLANE!, "Police Squad!," and, even, TOP SECRET!
CREDIT LINE: Stay through the credits! They read like a Letterman
monologue.
BOTTOM LINE: NAKED GUN 33-1/3 is hilarious and just as funny as
second GUN sequel THE SMELL OF FEAR. The series may
be showing signs of strain, but the jokes still work.
Laugh 'till you cry.
By : Michael J. Legeros
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