(The tasteless joke my friends and I used to say as kids, regarding these PG-13 boobies, was that tits only get an R rating when they are big.) Godbless you 1980’s you were a more amazing time, in many ways. Hey, bare breasts in a PG-13 movie? Not bad. Now we only get two topless sunbathers briefly sitting up in shock. That means we don’t get anything like the comically uncreative line of bikini-top-removing extras parading past the camera during the bonfire scene in the first film. So things have been downgraded from R to PG-13, and the cartoony shenanigans have been ramped up. Wisely recognizing that despite its very adult themes and scenarios, the most easily replicated successes of the first film (the sillier character stuff) hit its most sensitive nerve with the younger male crowd. Police Academy 2 is where the series really begins. Comparable to the Death Wish franchise, in a sense it almost doesn’t belong with the rest of the films. Had there never been any sequels I think it would be more fondly remembered by the greater populace today. What Works: While it feels sort of wrong to call the original Police Academy “clever,” it was nonetheless a pretty successful mash-up of the tone and style of Animal House with the attitude and structure of Stripes. Mauser (Art Metrano), who stands to gain Pete’s job if Pete gets fired. Though our heroes are such idiot fuck-ups they probably would’ve gotten Pete fired anyway, things can’t move fast enough for our new unlikable middle-management asshole, Lt. Our six noobs are tasked with taking down the massive street gang terrorizing the neighborhood under the leadership of Zed (Bobcat Goldthwait). Lassard gives Pete six of our characters from the first film – Mahoney (Steve Guttenberg), Tackleberry (David Graf), Hightower (Bubba Smith), Jones (Michael Winslow), Hooks (Marion Ramsey), and Fackler (Bruce Mahler) – despite the fact that they were all pretty goddamn incompetent. Presumably because he’s a clueless idiot, Cmdt. Lassard (George Gaynes), to ask for his six best graduates. His problems all stem from being understaffed, so he calls his brother over at the police academy, Cmdt. He’s running the worst precinct in the city and has only a month to shape shit up or else he’s gonna get demoted. Captain Pete Lassard (Howard Hesseman) is in a tight spot. The Story: Having concluded the first film with the successful graduation of our hero cadets, the franchise logically should move out into the real world. The Installment: Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment (1985) The series stretched over seven films from 1984 to 1994, as well as two seasons of an animated television series (1988-1989) and a single season of a live-action sitcom (1997). The Franchise: Police Academy - following the wacky lowbrow exploits and tribulations of a police academy graduating class as they blunder their way through the world of law enforcement while always remaining disrespected underdogs. I have donned my sweats and taken up cinema’s gauntlet. But a champion has risen from the rabble to defend us. And any film, no matter how seemingly stand-alone, conclusive, or inappropriate to sequel, could generate an expansive franchise. Horror, action, comedy, sci-fi, western, no genre is safe.
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