THE NAKED GUN Review, THE BAD GUYS 2 Review — Big Fun for All
Lisa Johnson Mandell’s The Bad Guys 2 review and The Naked Gun review says the two comedies, one of them animated, usher in August with big laughs and lots of fun.
The Naked Gun Review
You need to keep your eyes wide open, think fast and stay alert, just like Frank Drebin Jr does, to fully keep up with the humor in The Naked Gun. While some of it will make you squirm and at other times it will feel ridiculous, it’s unequal parts juvenile and sophisticated, and might be just what you need to let off steam during this long, hot, frustrating summer.
Don’t analyze it too deeply, just go with it and laugh. It’s supposed to be silly, and that’s the fun of it. Did you expect to take seriously Liam Neeson as Frank Jr, following in the “Police Squad” footsteps of his dad, played by Leslie Nielsen in the original three Naked Gun movies of the late ’80’s and early ’90’s?
All these years later, Frank Jr is dead serious, just like his father, cavalierly breaking the law in order to enforce it. He’s accompanied by his hapless but dedicated partner Ed Hocken Jr (Paul Walter Hauser, and yes, his dad was played by George Kennedy in the originals). Frank Jr’s love interest is the sultry, sexy, mysterious and age appropriate Beth Davenport (Pamela Anderson, with fine comedy and scat chops), and their nemesis is a tech billionaire (today’s ubiquitously culturally acceptable villain) named Richard Cane (Danny Huston).
Broad comedy veteran, director and co-writer Akiva Schaffer, (McGruber, Palm Springs, Neighbors) has smartly kept the time down to 88-minutes. This type of flick needs not be drawn out, but kept quick and snappy, like the dialogue.
More of a g&g (giggle and grown) than an lol, the site gags are just as much fun as the word play. If your memory is good enough to compare this recent rendition to the original, you’ll likely find the comparison favorable. If you’re too young to have clocked the original, welcome to the wonderful world of over the top, crazy, slapstick humor—sans a heavy coating of irony. Give it a chance. You won’t regret it.
Rated PG-13
1 Hour, 28 minutes
The Bad Guys 2 Review
The opening credits of The Bad Guys 2 smartly begin with a calculated bang, reminding us of all the greatest animated franchises Universal and Dreamworks Animation are responsible for, including Kung Fu Panda, Shrek, How to Train Your Dragon, Madagascar and a few others. That sets the bar pretty high for this sequel.
I’m happy to say that The Bad Guys 2 are burnishing their reputation, and could be on their way to adding their efforts to that illustrious list.
Now we find gleeful felons Mr. Wolf (Sam Rockwell), Mr. Snake (Marc Maron), Mr. Shark (Craig Robinson), Mr. Piranha (Anthony Ramos) and Ms. Tarantula (Awkwafina) trying to turnover a new leaf as good guys, after getting busted for their last heist. Suffice it to say that it’s not going well for them as their resumes are, ahem, flawed.
As hard as they try try to be good, they’re not called the Bad Guys for nothing, and they’re tricked into crossing over to the dark side once again, with the very best of intentions.
One of the great and amusing strengths of this film is that co-directors Pierre Perifel (who also helmed the first installment) and JP Sans have included a good deal of content to keep the grownups entertained as well as the kids. Some of the smart and sassy humor will go right over the wee ones’ heads, and that’s just fine. But even the most mature among us are not immune to the virtues of fart jokes.
Rated PG
1 Hour 40 Minutes
If The Naked Gun review and The Bad Guys 2 review sends you sauntering to the cineplex for a good laugh or two, get times and tickets at Fandango.com.
Lisa Johnson Mandell’s The Bad Guys 2 review and The Naked Gun review says the two comedies, one of them animated, usher in August with big laughs and lots of fun.
