Review of Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment (1985) by David G — 20 Sep 2010

Cheap and cheerful sequel, hastily thrown together to capitalise on the success of the '84 original. As before the plot is barely worth mentioning, existing purely to get our heroes from one gag to another.

As for our newly graduated lawmen, well Hightower is still a brick shithouse, Tackleberry is still a militant gun nut and Jones still makes funny noises. Surprised? Me neither. A good half-dozen of the original cast including Kim Cattrall and Leslie Easterbrook don't reprise their roles but you don't really miss them, their places being filled by equally eccentric weirdos such as Art Metrano's Lt.

Mauser, who accompanied by his bumbling sidekick Proctor, takes over from G.W. Bailey's Lt. Harris as the resident police station bully boy and our heroes' nemesis. Star of the show? It has to be the comically over the top (and one of a kind) Bobcat Goldthwait, who plays gang leader Zed.

He's not actually in the film that much sadly but boy oh boy when he is on screen you're in for a treat! The scene where his gang robs a grocery store - genius! Overall the film is pretty funny and will keep you entertained, but with an ending that comes out of nowhere and scenes that occasionally feel like they've been thrown together at random, you can tell that in the rush to get the film out so quickly there wasn't a lot of time for spit and polish.