The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear arrives with a promise: it will put the energy industry out of business, and it will do it with a man who can barely hold a badge straight. Leslie Nielsen returns as Lieutenant Frank Drebin, the bumbling officer whose incompetence is the entire engine of the film. This is the sequel to The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!, and it picks up where that movie left off, with Drebin still chasing criminals and somehow catching them anyway.
The premise is simple and absurd. The heads of coal, oil, and nuclear power want to suppress renewable energy, and Drebin stands in their way without even knowing it. Jane Spencer, played by Priscilla Presley, is separated from Drebin and working at Dr. Albert S. Meinheimer’s research institute when she spots a suspicious man named Hector Savage. That sighting sets off a chain reaction: a bomb goes off, Drebin reunites with Jane, and a villain named Quentin Hapsburg, played by Robert Goulet, plots to sabotage the president’s energy speech.
Trailer, via YouTube Movies.
Drebin’s Worst Day
Drebin’s day is a parade of bad luck. He meets Jane’s new boyfriend, Hapsburg, and becomes jealous. He visits a blues bar with his boss, Ed Hocken, played by George Kennedy, only to have Jane show up and argue with him. He chases Savage, who leads him to a house where Drebin drives a SWAT tank through the wall and crashes into the city zoo, letting the animals escape. Throughout it all, Drebin remains utterly unaware that he is being used as a pawn by the very people he is trying to catch.
The film leans heavily on physical comedy and sight gags. Drebin trips, falls, and crashes with a gracelessness that is meant to be funny. The timing is often precise, and the audience is supposed to laugh at Drebin’s inability to get out of his own way. The problem is that the humor rarely extends beyond his clumsiness. When the jokes depend entirely on his failure, the film starts to feel repetitive.
Hapsburg’s Plan
Hapsburg is the villain of the piece, and his scheme is clever in theory. He wants to change the speech that Dr. Meinheimer is scheduled to deliver at the White House, where President George H. W. Bush has announced that the country’s energy policy will follow Meinheimer’s recommendations. Hapsburg introduces Earl Hacker, played by Richard Griffiths, a dead ringer for Dr. Meinheimer who will deliver a speech recommending more fossil fuels instead.
The setup is strong. The execution is less so. The film spends more time on Drebin’s antics than on the actual stakes of the energy plot. The result is that the political angle feels thin next to the slapstick, and the film’s central conflict gets lost in the chaos.
Cameos and Cast
The supporting cast is full of familiar faces. O. J. Simpson plays Nordberg, and his presence is a strange one. The film also features Zsa Zsa Gabor and Mel Tormé as themselves, along with a host of other cameos. Gina Mastrogiacomo plays the sex shop worker, and “Weird Al” Yankovic appears as a criminal at the police station. The Chicago Bears players are portrayed by Lee Terri, Claude Jay McLin, Manny Perry, and Alex Zimmerman.
The cameo density is a selling point for the film, but it also dilutes the focus. With so many names popping up, the main story can feel crowded. The film is a comedy, but it is also a sequel that asks the audience to remember the previous entry. Some viewers will need a refresher on who Drebin is and why he matters.
The Reviews
Critics were divided on the film’s quality. Some praised it as a worthy successor to the first entry, while others found it inferior. The film’s success was undeniable. It grossed $192 million against a budget of $23 million, making it the most commercially successful of the series. That number tells you everything you need to know about how audiences responded.
The critical split is telling. A film that earns that kind of money can still be dismissed by some critics. The film’s defenders argued that it maintained the tone of the original, while its detractors felt that the jokes had grown stale. The truth likely sits somewhere in between. The film is funny, but it is not as sharp as its predecessor.
Where It Falls Short
The film’s biggest weakness is its pacing. At 85 minutes, it is short, but it moves so fast that it never settles into a rhythm. The jokes pile on top of each other, and the story skips over exposition in favor of spectacle. This is a comedy that wants to be a chase, and the chase never lets up.
There is also a structural issue. The film sets up a conspiracy involving the energy industry, but it spends more time on Drebin’s personal life than on the plot itself. Jane’s separation from Drebin, her new boyfriend, and Drebin’s jealousy all take center stage when the real story should be driving the narrative forward. The result is a film that is entertaining but unsatisfying.
The Verdict
The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear is a solid comedy with a weak spine. It is funny, but it is not as clever as the film it follows. The jokes rely too heavily on Drebin’s incompetence, and the plot is overshadowed by the cameos and the spectacle. It is a sequel that delivers on the promise of more of the same, but it fails to raise the stakes.
The film is best enjoyed as a guilty pleasure. It is not a masterpiece, but it is not a failure either. It is a comedy that knows its limits and plays within them. If you see only one movie this year, you ought to get out more often — but that tagline applies to the film’s own ambitions as much as to its audience.
“If you see only one movie this year… you ought to get out more often.”
The film is a reminder that sequels are a gamble. Some pay off, and some do not. This one pays off enough to justify a visit to the theater, but it leaves you wanting more of the original. The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear is a funny movie with a fatal flaw, and that flaw is its own success.
KEY FACTS
– Runtime: 85 minutes
– Gross: $192 million
– Budget: $23 million
– Score: 6.5/10
VERDICT: 6.5 of 10
Get the Notebook.
The day's best stories and every fresh verdict, in plain English, in your inbox by seven. One email a day, no more.
