Airplane II – The Sequel

Airplane II – The Sequel

The initial 5 or 10 minutes of “Airplane II – The Sequel” are truly hilarious, so hilarious I thought to myself perhaps this film was actually going to work. That proved to be a hope which came too soon. The fresh inspirations die away in a hurry, and “Airplane II” becomes a second rate version, rehashing the same situations and characters which made the original “Airplane” funny as can be.

Too bad, but I can’t say I wasn’t warned. Three weeks ago we received letters from a Los Angeles public relations agency advising us that their clients David Zucker, Jim Abrahams and Jerry Zucker makers of the original “Airplane” had nothing to do with the sequel.

That made sense since “Airplane,” itself, was such an insane celebration of every crazy idea anyone ever had about airplanes that you’d think they would’ve used them all up in one movie. Still, there’s always the possibility that new talent could come along with new ideas for a sequel: That is what I was counting on with “Airplane II.”

It never happens. After the movie’s opening comic burst it falls into a pattern: It recycles “Airplane.” And not only does it recycle some of the jokes (there is another one like Peter Graves’ character as the licentious perverted pilot), but it even recycles the first movie’s situations.

The only big difference this time is that instead of being aboard a passenger jet, everybody’s aboard a space shuttle bound for the moon. After its computer goes haywire and sends it hurtling through an asteroid belt on course for collision with sun during fall toward Earth orbit rendezvous (I believe asteroid belt and sun are in opposite directions, but that’s last kind question you’re supposed ask during this movie).

There was something odd about the first “Airport.” Although it spoofed itself silly from beginning to end, it somehow did manage to get a little hook into our fear of flying. At some basic level we were worried about how that airplane ever was going to get back down again, and our worry gave the movie a narrative thread from beginning to end. The original “Airport” (itself a pretty silly movie) worked partly because of what we think about airplanes.

“Airplane II” never seems quite sure whether it’s about an airport or space station. It’s all sight gags, one-liners, puns, funny signs and scatological cross-references. There is no story. I’m not saying that a film this silly needs one; but it wouldn’t have hurt.

One other difference between the two parts is that the first movie was able to exploit our associations with its stars Lloyd Bridges, Robert Stack and Peter Graves all played against their own images as only they could while “Part 2” simply hires them and has them stand around doing dumb things according script. The first movie was satire; the second is yuks.

However, if a double feature of “Airplane II -The Sequels” and a different movie you wish to watch ever materializes, I’d recommend not leaving the cinema for at least the initial 10 minutes. The jokes about the metal detectors, the check-in counter and. the passenger unloading zone are actually hilarious. Maybe ‘Airplane II’ creators ran out of funny ideas after that. Comedy is pretty tough.

Watch Airplane II – The Sequel For Free On Gomovies.