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#250 - Airplane II: The Sequel
Ken Finkelman, 1982
A space shuttle transporting passengers from Earth to a lunar colony runs into trouble when the on-board computer goes haywire.
Airplane II: The Sequel is yet another sequel to a hit comedy that fails to generate even a tenth of the amusement that its predecessor did. Having a different writer on board certainly didn't help, especially considering how many sequel sins the film commits. About the only thing the film gets right is that it gets back some (but not all) of its original actors, but that doesn't count for much as this film recycles virtually everything from the first one. The plot once again involves an aircraft losing its pilots and forcing neurotic ex-pilot Ted Stryker (Robert Hays) to take control of the situation while trying to win back Elaine (Julie Hagerty) at the same time. The main difference this time is that this film is all happening in space instead and that the main threat isn't food poisoning but instead a HAL 9000 knock-off, which you'd think would offer some serious comic potential but none of the references ever pay off. It says a lot about the kind of gags this movie has when William Shatner appears late in the film and looks into a periscope to see the Enterprise fly into view. That's it. I get more of the references here, but they don't translate to funny jokes.
When it's not flat-out recycling a lot of gags from the first film (to the point where it will flash back to the first film before immediately repeating the gag, as is the case with the hysterical woman getting slapped repeatedly) or making the kind of blandly parodic pop culture references worthy of Seltzer and Friedberg, Airplane II fails to come up with anything of worth in terms of humour. I know that I've spent most of this review unfavourably comparing it to its far more acclaimed source, but that's only fair considering how utterly derivative it is. Not even the new gags pay off - I think one got a slight chuckle out of me, but when a feature-length broad comedy only gets one chuckle out of me then it's a failure in every regard.
Ken Finkelman, 1982
A space shuttle transporting passengers from Earth to a lunar colony runs into trouble when the on-board computer goes haywire.
Airplane II: The Sequel is yet another sequel to a hit comedy that fails to generate even a tenth of the amusement that its predecessor did. Having a different writer on board certainly didn't help, especially considering how many sequel sins the film commits. About the only thing the film gets right is that it gets back some (but not all) of its original actors, but that doesn't count for much as this film recycles virtually everything from the first one. The plot once again involves an aircraft losing its pilots and forcing neurotic ex-pilot Ted Stryker (Robert Hays) to take control of the situation while trying to win back Elaine (Julie Hagerty) at the same time. The main difference this time is that this film is all happening in space instead and that the main threat isn't food poisoning but instead a HAL 9000 knock-off, which you'd think would offer some serious comic potential but none of the references ever pay off. It says a lot about the kind of gags this movie has when William Shatner appears late in the film and looks into a periscope to see the Enterprise fly into view. That's it. I get more of the references here, but they don't translate to funny jokes.
When it's not flat-out recycling a lot of gags from the first film (to the point where it will flash back to the first film before immediately repeating the gag, as is the case with the hysterical woman getting slapped repeatedly) or making the kind of blandly parodic pop culture references worthy of Seltzer and Friedberg, Airplane II fails to come up with anything of worth in terms of humour. I know that I've spent most of this review unfavourably comparing it to its far more acclaimed source, but that's only fair considering how utterly derivative it is. Not even the new gags pay off - I think one got a slight chuckle out of me, but when a feature-length broad comedy only gets one chuckle out of me then it's a failure in every regard.