Given my penchant for not leaving an entire film franchise un-reviewed, it was inevitable that I would get around to Hot Shots! Part Deux (1993).  Lucky (perhaps?) for you, right after I covered the first, Hot Shots! (1991), I decided to go for the sequel.  Hot Shots! Part Deux is more of the same kind of humor as its predecessor, and mostly I am okay with it.  I could do without some of the more overt sexuality that is found in the follow up, but it manages to stay just within the bounds of being PG-13.  What becomes evident if you view these two films so close to one another is the way that they satirize war, the second installment playing into this theme more directly.  Armed conflict is a failure, whether it is between nations or individuals.  This is a fundamental idea to Christianity, no matter what some outside of the religion might want to tell you.  Then again, there are some among our brothers and sisters who might quibble about being peace loving, too.  Thus, it might be problematic to enjoy something that makes light of death on such a scale, and this is a specific joke found in the movie.  Hopefully, my description will make sense of my complex ideas about the production despite its simple humor.

One thing that is important to understand about Hot Shots! Part Deux is that it was made at a time when the United States was recently coming off of victories in the Cold War and Desert Storm.  Before, during, and immediately after these conflicts, Hollywood made many movies that underscored American military might.  I bring this all up now in order to explain some of what I am about to give you.  With that in mind, we start with a team of American commandos attempting to free prisoners from Saddam Hussein’s (Jerry Haleva) compound in Iraq.  While the rescuers move into position, the Iraqi dictator goes about his evening unconcerned, making sandwiches and playing with his pet dog.  I say this only to highlight some of the comedy.  He has no reason to worry, though, because all the invaders are about to be captured.  This is not the first time they have failed to free the hostages, and President Thomas “Tug” Benson (Lloyd Bridges) realizes that he needs somebody special to successfully complete this mission.  Actually, he is told by aides that this is necessary because he is a twit, but again, comedy.  The person whose name comes up is Sean “Topper” Harley (Charlie Sheen), and he is recommended by Colonel Denton Walters (Richard Crenna).  If you know your cinema, you will immediately get the Rambo spoof here.  To continue with the reference, Colonel Walters travels to Thailand with Michelle Huddleston (Brenda Bakke), the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer in charge of the operation.  Though they first see Topper prize fighting (with Reese’s Pieces glued to his “gloves”), he is living with Buddhist monks in the hills.  He has come to this faraway place to escape his heart break in the wake of being left at the train to Hawaii by his former lover Ramada Rodham Hayman (Valeria Golino).  Though he originally says no to going, and the monks are sad to see Michelle leave, the television in his simple cell one evening brings him a news report that Colonel Walters, Topper’s old friend, has been captured.  Thus, he leaves his refuge behind to return to the United States to be a part of the team that will hopefully accomplish what has yet to be done.  After a night with Michelle that can safely be skipped for the sake of Christian purity, she and Topper head for the Middle East with three other soldiers.  If you have ever watched the show Whose Line Is It Anyway? (1988-pressent), you might recognize Ryan Stiles among this group.  Anyway, they parachute in and soon meet up with their contact on the ground.  This turns out to be Ramada.  On their way to their target, she finds time to explain to Topper that the reason why she had left him is because she found out that her husband, Dexter Hayman (Rowan Atkinson), is alive.  Now she is in the Middle East because he has been captured by the Iraqis and she is there to try to get him out alive.  This revelation aside, their team, like others before them, encounters more resistance than expected.  President Benson learns of this and decides to take matters into his own hands, scuba diving from a warship onto the shores of Iraq.  By the way, do not bother thinking about geography with this film.  Regardless of their troubles, Topper’s group make it to the compound and begin freeing prisoners.  Most of them are set free except for Dexter, who is being held inside the palace.  Gallantly, Topper volunteers to go after him while the others get away.  Upon making it to the waiting helicopters, Michelle wants to leave immediately, abandoning not only Topper but the president as well.  This unmasks her as the culprit behind all the failed rescue attempts.  As for Topper, he gets a little assistance from President Benson, who, among other weapons, fights Saddam Hussein with a lightsaber.  It is all quite funny.  Topper carries Dexter all the way to the waiting choppers, even though he is wounded several times, and the only thing wrong with Dexter is having his shoelaces tied together.  In other words, he is a bit of a moppet as the British would say, and he falls to his death off a cliff trying to take a picture of Ramada and Topper.  This is convenient as they are still in love, and are now free to fly off together into the sunset together.

That last sunset shot in Hot Shots! Part Deux needs a little further explanation as their helicopter does not so much fly towards the sun as around it.  It is a great final joke in a film that makes fun of most popular action and/or war films.  As I said in the introduction, applying comedy to a serious matter can present problems, particularly from a Catholic perspective.  There is one scene in particular where Topper is running around the prison toting his machine gun, and there is a literal body count spiraling quickly upwards as he kills more people.  At one point it makes the claim that it surpasses RoboCop (1987), and later Total Recall (1990), in the number of violent on-screen deaths.  How does one, Catholic film reviewer or otherwise, go about making society aware of the dangers of violence?  Perhaps more then than now, there was somewhat of a public outcry against such material in culture, from movies to video games.  The worry was that exposing the young in particular to such material was going to lead to them becoming criminals.  What Hot Shots! Part Deux is doing is not Christian, nor is it presenting a conscious, anti-violence message.  It is, though, underscoring the absurdity and unrealistic nature of the movies it is spoofing.  The two flicks it directly references are ones with one-liners in them, but little levity, certainly not straight up comedies like this one.  In some respects, this had an effect.  By seeing just how hokey some of those action blockbusters can be, it made the viewing public think twice about consuming those products.  Unfortunately, this has led to more realistic depictions of violent acts in recent years, which is not much better.  Still, from the beginning of time, God has been waging His own war for our souls.  Hopefully, a film such as this will get you to laugh a little more at life instead of taking it so seriously.  I may be grasping here, but laughter is best shared and God is in those moments.

Okay, I got a little sentimental while discussing Hot Shots! Part Deux, a movie in which a live chicken is used as an arrow.  Anyway, the material is about the same as its predecessor.  If you want a more succinct description, I would say that it is full of dad jokes on steroids.  Make of that interpretation what you will.