The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear (1991)

This isn't an half bad sequel to the entertaining "Naked Gun" (1988) with Leslie Nielsen reprising his hapless "Drebin" character. This time he teams up again with "Ed" (George Kennedy) and "Nordberg" (OJ Simpson) to try to thwart the ambitions of big business in the energy sector. To protect their control over domestic power consumption, these moguls arrange for the kidnapping of a scientist - "Dr. Mainheimer" (Richard Griffiths). He is about to publish a far reaching report extolling the viability of solar power as a cheap and available source of electricity for everyone. Things is, though, it's not just a simple kidnap - they plan to substitute this learned man with a fraud who will ensure they retain their monopolies for years to come. Can the "Police Squad" get their act together in time...? It all gets a little more precarious when we discover that "Jane" (Priscilla Presley) is the assistant to the professor - and renewing his association with her after a while sets Drebin into many a comedy tailspin. As with the first film, the humour is quick-fire, contemporary and often more Laurel & Hardy than, well, Laurel & Hardy. Griffiths was a good comedy actor, his facial expressions and his sheer size were attributes he new well how to exploit to elicit a laugh. There is loads of on screen chemistry too to enjoy here, and it's not even ninety minutes so there's not enough time to get bored by the rather formulaic plot. That last point is what drags it down. It is difficult to reinvent the wheel, and to be honest very little effort appears to have gone into making this sufficiently different from the first outing. It's just too similar, with too many punchlines you can see from space. Still, it does what it says on the tin - and it does raise a smile - just not a guffaw.

**A sequel that closely follows the initial film, although it may not be as strong.** After a predictable success with the first film, the sequel was already predictable and the public flocked to see a new dose of madness, with Leslie Nielsen in great form. When watching this film forty years after its commercial debut, it is not difficult to recognize some merit: the film has aged very well and continues to be entertaining today. I recognize that the style of humor in this film will not be to everyone's liking, as it is solidly based on “slapstick” and double meanings with a strong sexual connotation, however it is frankly more elegant and intelligent than many modern comedies of our day. The dialogues are quite idiotic, to be nice, but that also has its joke. Leslie Nielsen is the big star, and much of the film's quality is based on her participation and the inspired way in which she interprets her clumsy character. In fact, the rest of the cast doesn't interest us at all: they are there because they simply have to be. Okay, we can consider that Priscilla Presley took some extra care in the way she acted and has good enough material for the actress to work on her character successfully. Richard Griffiths also deserves positive marks, being another exceptional addition to a fairly bland supporting cast. The film's weakest point turns out to be the script: the story, created to support the film and serve as a skeleton for the avalanche of jokes created for it, is so weak that it is almost unnoticeable. After the first half of the film, I found it very difficult to remember why it all started. I really felt like the story didn't count, just the jokes and funny dialogues. This is a problem, compared to the first film, where the story told, however insane it was, was stronger and better written. The film also has good production values, including the sets, costumes and visual, special and makeup effects.

Not as good as the first time, but 'The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear' still delivers entertainment. Leslie Nielsen remains brilliant as Lieutenant Frank Drebin, such a fun character to see him play. George Kennedy and Priscilla Presley do well, while Richard Griffiths and, slightly less so, Robert Goulet are positive newcomers. I will say that I don't think the comedy is as strong in this one, the gags in particular seem a little more in your face with additional winks and nudges. Still a good time, though. Now to find out what 'Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult' had to offer...