The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear - 5 stars out of 10

The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear - 5 stars out of 10

"The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear" feels very tired.  Unlike the first film in the series which is fresh and unexpected, 2 1/2 turns into the same joke over and over again.  It has a few memorable moments like the many Barbara Bush incidences, the tank, and the mariachi band, but it isn't a never-ending series of iconic comedy moments.  A lot of the comedy made me roll my eyes instead of burst into laughter.  The story was really a disappointment when compared with the Queen Elizabeth story of the first film and the prison/Oscar story of the third film.  It hones in on the stereotyped Cold War plot but doesn't do it very well.  Character-wise, this sequel really made me fall in love with Priscilla Presley.  While Leslie Nielsen's character lost some of his charm and O.J. Simpson was basically M.I.A., her character developed really nicely.  I am a huge fan of the first and third films in this series but unless you really love these characters, you can easily skip from 1 to 33 1/3 without missing anything (except for a boring 85 minutes of your life).