Review of Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment (1985) by Luke S — 19 Apr 2011

In the second instalment of the Police Academy series six of the newly minted police officers including Mahoney, Jones, Hightower, Tackleberry, Hooks and Fackler are assigned to their first real duty as full-fledged officers.

Pete Lassard, brother of police Commandant Eric Lassard, is running New York's 16th precinct . . . the precinct that just so happens to have the highest crime rate in the city! A mysterious new gang has moved in to the area and are committing crimes like they are going out of style and to top it all off, Lassard has to deal with all of this in conjunction with a shrinking force and a shrinking budget.

He is given an ultimatum by the higher ups, decrease the crime rate or lose his position as Captain of the precinct. To help him out they give him the aforementioned 6 academy recruits to help bolster his force.

The newbies make their goofs of course, but their eagerness and fresh attitudes more than make up for their transgressions. Despite their hard work however, this new gang proves elusive to catch. To make matters worse a senior officer on the force, Mauser, is plotting Lassard's downfall so that he can step in and take his place as Captain when the axe drops.

After some trying times that eventually see Mahoney and his partner get suspended and Lassard step down as Captain, a last ditch undercover mission led by Mahoney is staged to infiltrate the gang's ranks and expose their base of operations.

I liked this movie but not quite as much as the original. The first movie was funny throughout whereas this one kind of picked it's spots. But it's still a great comedy and there are so many memorable moments you can take from it.

The Mauser shower scene, Jones beating on the guys at the market Bruce Lee style, the list goes on and on! As a kid the Zed character played by Bobcat Goldthwait was one of my favourites from the whole series, so it was awesome to see him introduced in this film.

I thought it wasn't until the third or fourth movie that saw him come in to the picture! Good flick.