Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment (1985) Reviews

• The best of the bunch!

  s-woodier2007-10-02

  Police Academy 2 is a joy from beginning to end. It's faster moving than the original and above all else, funnier. Director Jerry Paris ensures that the audience are going to have a good time with this picture. No blow jobs this time, instead we have forced anal inspection, which is probably less embarrassing to watch and much more hilarious.We also have more sight gags: Tackleberry's sweaty sock sticking to a door, Sweetchuck inadvertently punching a gang member,goldfish boiling on hotplates.We get our first glimpse at psycho gang leader, Zed. We meet the lunatic Kirkland family.Police Academy 2 has it all! This is the best of the series.It was downhill from here, I'm afraid.

• What more can you expect??

  Robert_duder2005-10-30

  The original Police Academy was stupidity maxed out but brought together with a weird outlandish cast that manages to stay with you and has such become a classic. Not too mention that it grossed over 100 million dollars so a sequel is a must do for Hollywood. Let's face it, there was enough characters and ideas in this franchise to do a sequel, or six sequels as the case turned out to be. Nonetheless it made sense after showing all the cadets make it to graduation that we would get to see them on the job. Thus continues Police Academy: Their First Assignment. Most of the original cast returns...Steve Guttenberg as Carey Mahoney, Bubba Smith, David Graf, Michael Winslow, Bruce Mahler, Marion Ramsey, and even George Gaynes in a more cameo type role as Cmdt. Eric Lassard. Guttenberg's Mahoney seems toned down in this sequel which is unfortunate. He doesn't show a lot of the smart-ass, prank playing personality that made the original so great. Everyone else plays their roles similar to that of the original so the jokes when it comes to the characters haven't changed a lot...just perhaps more of them. Michael Winslow as the noise making Larvell Jones is used far more in this one than in the original. Also at the forefront is Eugene Tackleberry who is a great character and he's a lot of fun and a great hero to watch. Sadly the film is noticeably missing G.W. Bailey, who plays Mahoney's perfect adversary Lt. Thaddeus Harris. He's replaced by Art Metrano who plays Lt. Hauser, the wanna-be Captain who will stop at nothing to see the force fail so that he can take over. He's good and it's fun to watch him get pranked by Mahoney but he doesn't have the seriousness/comedic timing that G.W. Bailey had as Harris. The late Jerry Paris takes over on the directing helm and seems to keep the Police Academy recipe in full force. As mostly a TV Director but a seasoned actor Paris should know all about comedy. Also to keep things fresh that added some new faces to the cast. Bob 'Bobcat' Goldthwait stars as the leader of the gang that is ruining the neighborhood that the Academy cadets are trying to clean up. Granted the first few moments of Goldthwait played Zed or playing himself are funny. The voice and the nervous little tics are humorous but then they just aren't funny anymore. And he's far from believable as the leader of any gang. Tim Kazurinsky plays Sweetchuck, the innocent, scared little store owner being harassed by Zed and his goons. And Howard Hesseman as Captain Lassard, little brother of Eric Lassard. Hesseman is good as their leader but the story isn't strong enough so everyone kinda falters because of it. Just like the first, Police Academy 2 is STUPID!! But that is exactly what Police Academy is and meant to be. It doesn't try to be anything but. All the characters are funny and have their own little quirks and it's a revisiting that was to be expected and done in an okay style. It's still even not as good as the original, but it is a sequel. The plot and story isn't quite as interesting as the original. Everything else is practically the same, and more of it!! There are still several silly little spots that you'll find yourself laughing out loud about. It's slapstick and still low budget and just fun. Rent this one with the original and you'll have a good laugh. Don't take it too seriously!! 6/10

• Their First Assignment

  Smells_Like_Cheese2008-07-13

  Police Academy is such a classic, it has some of the best laughs and is just such a great time to watch it wither it's by yourself or with a group of friends. So I couldn't resist, I had to see the sequels, but I was really nervous when I kept checking all the ratings for the sequels, they're all pretty low and below average. So I was expecting Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment to be absolutely bad, but actually I did laugh quite a bit. I admit this was below what the first one was with the laughs and the story, but I felt like it was a decent follow up with the first Police Academy movie. It was cool to see the old gang back together and just having fun like they did in the first film. The story is a little weak but it's still a lot of fun to watch and has some great laughs. A violent, well, um, if that's the right word, a violent gang has moved in on the town and are just making it into a havoc for anyone to live in. They are also making a mockery of the police, well, that's not too hard to do since they're pretty incompetent, so the chief wants a new team. He is given the class of '84, who haven't had any good jobs since they graduated, but now they are back together to get this gang out of town. At first they just end up screwing just as badly, but come together to be the best police force in town. Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment in my opinion is a fun movie, I think the 4.8 rating is a little harsh, I understand the low 5's, but I think the reason why is because it is a little less than the first Police Academy movie, now of course I would say to stick with the original for right now, but I wouldn't shy you away from the sequel. Anyone who says they didn't laugh once during this movie must be lying, because the scene where they put super glue in their Sergent's shampoo was beyond hilarious, it's a classic. So just go ahead and have fun with this movie, I think you'll enjoy it. 5/10

• Revenge of the 80's: The multiple sequels.

  Captain_Couth2005-01-09

  Police Academy 2 (1985) was quickly rushed into production to capitalize upon the surprisingly successful first film. The recruits have finally graduated from the academy and are now assigned positions throughout the city. Crime is rampant and the people are afraid to leave their homes because of a local crime wave. A group of young punks (led by Bobcat Goldwait) have recently assaulted the chief of police (Howard Hesseman). With the city in turmoil and with his job being threatened by the Chief's right hand man, he turns to the new recruits to help clean up the city. I hate it when they franchise a movie and tone down the raunchy humor and crude manners, elements that made the first one a success. The movie is funny but it's not as good as the first film. Sadly the creativity and humor of the Police Academy films goes down the eventual slippery slope. By the fifth film the series becomes very unwatchable and extremely redundant. Even though it's a step down from the first film, it's still entertaining. Recommend x

• Better Than The Rest

  funky_cherry862008-03-04

  Police Academy 2 Their First Assignment is filled with non stop laughs from start to finish honestly I enjoyed this movie more than it's sequels because after wards it got a bit boring. This time around we see Police Academy graduates Carey Mahoney (Guttenberg) and his friends Jones (Winslow), Hooks (Ramsey), Hightower (Smith), gun loving Tackleberry (Graf), and Fackler (Mahler) assigned to the 16th precinct to help stop a gang led by Zed (Goldthwait) that's terrorizing the neighborhood. Meanwhile Lieutenant Mauser (Metrano) does all he can to prevent the new recruits from succeeding if all fails he'll replace Pete Lassard (Hesseman) the brother of Commadant Lassard (Gaynes) as captain. So the group fights back with slapstick humor and crazy antics, along the way Tackleberry falls in love with fellow officer and also gun lover Kathleen Kirkland (Camp)It was so funny seeing Mahoney get revenge on Mauser by switching the shampoo with epoxy resin made me laugh so hard.