The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear

Starring: Leslie Nielsen, Priscilla Presley, George Kennedy, O.J. Simpson, Robert Goulet, Richard Griffiths, Zsa Zsa Gabor (cameo), "Weird Al" Yankovic (cameo)
Directed by: David Zucker
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Comedy
1991

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Lt. Frank Drebin (Leslie Nielsen) tries to discover who's behind a conspiracy to prevent the United States from adopting environmentally friendly initiatives, which will hurt the current power corporations in America.

Review:

Tim: I really did enjoy the original Naked Gun. It was a funny spoof of cop movies, and it was an enjoyable movie. A few years later, we get the sequel- The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear. They certainly get bonus points for the creative title. Unfortunately, this movie suffers from the typical sequel issues- it's not quite as funny, and not quite as effective. Still, I found myself enjoying the film. While this sequel marks a drop in quality, it's still a pretty decent film.

These movies are really all about Leslie Nielsen. I love how he just embraces the goofiness of this part. His comedic timing is quite good, and he works well at uttering nonsense while keeping a completely straight face. His energy and his willingness to go all-in is what makes these movies worth seeing. It was nice to see Priscilla Presley back, although I do not believe anyone would mistake her for a real actress. Her performance is about as bland as you would expect. O.J. Simpson had even less to do in this sequel (which might not be a bad thing, as he likely committed murder only 4 years later). I liked seeing George Kennedy here- he worked well with Nielsen. The cast as a whole is decent, but this film is really all about Nielsen.

I was impressed with how forward-thinking this film was in regards to environmental policy and the move towards alternative power sources. The movie mentions solar, wind, and other means of power, which have definitely been embraced in recent years. I like the plan to switch up the crime a bit from the original, but a bunch of environmentalists and corporate polluters don't exactly make the most thrilling villains. Call me old fashioned, but give me a crazy killer any day.

The gags in this film are decent- I did find myself laughing on occasion throughout the film. Unfortunately, the film is short on those true laugh-out-loud, memorable moments. I'm not sure if there are any scenes I would call "classic" spoof moments. The film is humorous, and the zaniness of the whole thing keeps you engaged, but it felt like the original movie was a lot funnier than this one. Some gags (like Dreblin hurting Barbara Bush) were funny at first, but milked until they stopped being funny. I would have liked to see a little more originality in some of the gags.

I do not believe The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear gets very close to the original. That is a shame, but it is somewhat expected, just by the nature of most sequels. Luckily, this film was decent enough that the franchise isn't tarnished. It suffered many of the problems we expected, but it still manages to be a fairly fun way to spend 85 minutes (and I do appreciate this film was relatively short). I thought this was a decent comedy, and I would be happy to watch the continued adventures of the hapless Lt. Dreblin.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



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