Police Academy: Mission to Moscow (dir. Alan Metter, 1994)
Alan Metter made Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, and Back to School.
It’s been five years since the last Police Academy film. In that time Do the Right Thing has been a hit, and the Soviet Union has fallen. The Super Nintendo has hit the market. Beavis and Butt-Head have entered the lexicon, and Nirvana changed the face of rock ‘n’ roll. Screen comedy has undergone a change; no longer are audiences interested in unrealistic antics. Well, they are, but the flavor is different. Comedy these days skews toward Adam Sandler, Pauley Shore, and other lovable loser types. Kevin Smith is on the immediate horizon.
In this climate, why bring back Police Academy? I guess it’s so that the actors and filmmakers can prove that they are still working and still have comedic chops. To a large degree, they do.
Let me pause here to give some praise. David Graf, Michael Winslow, and George Gaynes are the only actors to appear in all seven Police Academy movies. Winslow is always game, and, I must admit that he can be very funny. Say what you will about the annoying legacy of the Police Academy films, Winslow managed to make a name for himself. Gaynes, while playing a slightly different version of Lassard in Part 4, manages to actually act his part throughout the course of the series, rather than just relying on cheap gags. He brings a Leslie Nielsen/Lloyd Bridges quality to his performances. He finally got top billing in part 7.
G.W. Bailey may be playing a sad character, but he manages to sell every last second of Harris. He may be a hardass onscreen, but is actually a friendly and compassionate actor who heads up a charity organization.
Leslie Easterbrook appears on most of the films, and she seems like the kind of actress I’d love to have lunch with. She knows exactly what kind of movies she’s in, and plays the part with a vicious commitment unseen in most comedies of this ilk. She’s perfectly okay with being objectified, and, in interviews, seems amused and tickled at some of the things she’s had to do. Pragmatic, flirty, professional and practical, Easterbrook is one of the stars of this series.
Leslie Easterbrook, professional
The other star belongs to the late, great David Graf, who is not only just as committed as Easterbrook, but drop-dead funny. Genial, amusing, humorous and unafraid, David Graf is always a delight. He pours himself into the role of Eugene Tackleberry with unceasing gameness and aplomb. He was a professional. Graf died of a heart attack in 2001. The world lost a comedic talent.
David Graf, 1950-2001
Also, I have to say, I love the Police Academy theme music, composed by Robert Folk. It’s a regal march that is fun and catchy.
Anyway, onto Police Academy 7. This film was actually shot it Moscow, shortly after the coup, and the settings are genuine. Also, having personally visited Moscow about the time this film came out, it gave me a sense of nostalgia. The film isn’t all that funny; indeed there are only a few moments worth a giggle, but, like part 6, managed to have a real story.
The world has been overrun by a new Russian video game called simply “The Game.” The Game is played on portable video game systems (played in the film by Nintendo Game Boys, always carefully photographed from the back, and sometimes missing their game cartridges), and home computers. How The Game is played is never made clear, but we see that it has taken the world by storm. The Game has been developed by a shady Russian super-criminal named Konstantine Konali (the stalwart Ron Perlman) who has a plan…
There is an exchange program in place, and our remaining heroes, Jones, Tackleberry and Callahan, along with Capt. Harris and Lassard, travel to Moscow to investigate. Do police actually work this way? Of course not. But I’m guessing that filming in Russia was inexpensive. The police are allowed to take along a single cadet, and a troublemaking computer hacker in the academy, Kyle Connors (Charlie Schaltter) is dragged along. I guess we need a white young man in each film, who can fall in love with a hot young thing. In short, we need a Zeppo. Kyle fills those shoes well, and gets to fall in love with a Russian cop played by Claire Forlani. Remember her?
Oh, y’know who’s in this film? Christopher Lee. What a champ. That guy’ll do anything. What a pro. Lee plays a Russian police chief who briefs our heroes, and kisses George Gaynes on the mouth. Anyway, Gaynes spends most of this film away from the main action, as he accidentally gets into a hearse rather than his taxi. He spends the film with a Russian family who are so polite, they put him up and assume he’s a long-lost relative. Lassard’s protector (Gregg Berger) has some mildly amusing scenes as he tries to hide the fact that Lassard is missing.
Konali takes a shine to the curvy and tough Callahan, and there are a few bumbled sting operations which lead to Callahan being kidnapped. Harris lurks about the margins of the film, using spy equipment. Once again, he is the butt of pranks and harm, being subjected to dog urine, and Tackleberry’s violence demonstration. There is also a trio of Russian cops in this film who have no dialogue, and who do a lot of onscreen tumbling. They do sort of mutter and chatter, but it’s clear that was added in post. It’s surreal.
Eventually our young cadet Kyle manages not only to land the girl, and take her on a date to a Russian circus, but also use his computer hacking skills to uncover Konali’s true plan for The Game. It’s not exactly Sneakers, but at least it’s a story.
I’m not exactly sure why this film was put into production. Perhaps to capture a new generation of fans. Perhaps to take advantage of a new shooting location. I’m not sure of the world was really asking for a seventh Police Academy film, so perhaps they were just trying to tap the nostalgia vein of kids who, like me, grew up watching the movies on TV and home video. It was, I’m sorry to report, a cynical moneygrab.
A Police Academy 8 was planned for release in 2001, but, because of Graf’s untimely death, the project was scrapped. Plans are, however, still afoot. According to the Internet Movie Database, Police Academy 8 will be released in 2013.
