21 Jump Street (2012)

After the comedy movie based on the 1970s TV show Starsky And Hutch , this is an effort in a similar vein. There is even a cameo appearance by the stars of the original 1980s TV show (Johnny Depp - Magnificent Beasts 2 ).

Schmidt (Jonah Hill - ) and Jenko (Channing Tatum - GI Joe ) went to High School together in 2005. Instead of going to college they end up as cops, and get recruited to an undercover unit led by Captain Dickson (Ice Cube - XXX2: The Next Level ). He sends them undercover as High School kids to find a drug dealer. They end up hanging out with High Schoolers like Molly Tracey ( Brie Larson ) and Eric Molson (Dave Franco - Warm Bodies ).

Although this parodies cop movies in general, and the original TV show in particular, a lot of the comedy comes from the fish-out-of-water scenario. The two protagonists were at High School themselves only seven years before their undercover assignment, and yet so much seems to have changed in that time. The easy-going life of the early Noughties has already been replaced by a tight-assed attitude of Political Correctness that has since pervaded society.

22 Jump Street (2014)

Schmidt (Jonah Hill - ) and Jenko (Channing Tatum - GI Joe ) try to bust a drug dealer named The Ghost (Peter Stormare - Armageddon ). When they fail, in hilariously spectacular fashion, they are sent back to Captain Dickson (Ice Cube - XXX2: The Next Level ) in his new HQ at 22 Jump Street. He sends them to college, investigating another drugs ring. The students there include Mercedes ( Jillian Bell ).

Once again, Schmidt is the one to get a love interest. His previous girlfriend, Molly Tracey ( Brie Larson ), does not even get a mention. However, this particular pairing has an important role in the storyline. Meanwhile, Janko befriends a football jock and they have a strangely faux-gay relationship filled with double entendres.

The end credits sequence runs through a massive number of sequel setups, each more ridiculous than the previous one. It even includes ideas for merchandising adverts and a spin-off kids cartoon show. Yes, this successfully mocks the infinite-sequel franchises, while illustrating why this series will not become a trilogy. There is also an after-credits sequence with a couple of characters from the first movie.

Crocodile Dundee (1986)

Sue ( Linda Koslowski ), an American journalist, who visits the Australian Outback. She meets a crocodile hunter, Mick Dundee (Paul Hogan - ), a white man who was raised by Aboriginal people. This carefully skirts around the old cliches of cultural appropriation and white saviourism, while allowing David Gulipil ( Walkabout ) a joke which subverts the audience's expectations. Mick even turns out to be an early Environmentalist of sorts, chasing off a gang of drunken louts who are destroying the flora and fauna.

Sue's trip through the Outback has left her so intrigued with Mick that she takes him back to New York City with her. This is the setting of the Second Act - the old-fashioned fish-out-of-water humour which plays on the rural man's poor understanding of the hi-tech modern world. After all, Mick lives in a virtual wilderness and he finds himself catapulted into the biggest and busiest city in the world - a human ant-hive.

Mick's folksy home-spun wisdom holds up well in the big city. This movie is best known for the that's not a knife scene, but there are several other scenes that illustrate how much crime there still was in Manhattan after the 1970s.

The film is not really a thriller, and the main storyline is Mick's relationship with Sue. It turns out that she is engaged to marry an annoying man, and Mick has to convince her to marry him instead.

Crocodile Dundee 2 (1988)

Mick Dundee (Paul Hogan - ) and Sue ( Linda Koslowski ) are now living together in New York City. He gets a job delivering mysterious packages for local badass Leroy Brown (Charles Dutton - Alien 3 ).

Sue's ex-husband, an American photo-journalist, is in Colombia working for the local DEA chief (Kenneth Walsh - Twin Peaks ). He takes some photos of drug kingpin shooting someone, but because it is the 1980s he has to snail-mail the film cannister to the USA. Then he is written out, like Steve Guttenberg in The Boys From Brazil.

The drug kingpin and his thugs, including Luiz Guzman ( The Bone Collector ), go to New York to retrieve the film. In the first movie, Mick took on street-level criminals - now he has to take out some well-armed hit-men.

To hide out, Mick takes Sue to his place in the Australian Outback. Yes, this movie reverses the journey of the first film. It also re-uses some of the original film's humour, specifically the outsiders' racist assumption that the Aboriginal Australians are primitives and cannibals.

So why did this film do so poorly compared to the original blockbuster? Well, the humour was pretty played-out so this one concentrated on the thriller plot. By the standards of the day, this was pretty generic. Remember, James Bond took on a Latin American drug lord in Licence to Kill the next year - and his own franchise went on hiatus for six years. Small wonder that the next Crocodile Dundee movie took a decade to appear.

Crocodile Dundee in L.A. (2001)

The Excellent Mr. Dundee (2020)

This is a meta story about Paul Hogan ( ), now a frail-looking old man who has retired from show-business. Well, he was already in his forties when he first played Mick Dundee thirty-five years ago. Unfortunately, the world will not let him move on from his most famous role.

A group of young film-makers pitch a new idea for the Dundee franchise, which steals an idea from Hogan's cowboy comedy Lightning Jack . When Hogan points out that a couple of blonde-haired blue-eyed people are unlikely to have a son who looks like Will Smith ( Bad Boys For Life ) he is publicly called a racist. Yes, in the most modern trope he is a victim of cancel culture. Because this is a comedy, everything he does in order to redeem himself actually makes things hilariously worse. He has to hang out with other edgy old white men, like John Cleese ( Life of Brian ) and the oscar-winner Chevy Chase ( ).

Just as the original movie had the delightfully innocent Mick Dundee find his way through the complexities of life in 1980s New York City, now Hogan has to cope with the realities of the new world. The result is a film that both tugs at the heart-strings and tickles the funny-bone at the same time.

Horrible Bosses (2011)

This is the story of three interchangeable forty-year-old white men who have middle-class jobs in Big City USA. They all have one other thing in common - they hate their jobs and they hate their bosses. They eventually work out their solution ... they must assassinate their employers!

The protagonists are bland, but the title characters make this movie memorable. Colin Farrell ( Daredevil ) and Kevin Spacey ( Superman Returns ) both played super-villains before, but the real stand-out is Jennifer Anniston as a manipulative sex addict.

The protagonists go looking for a professional crook to help them. They eventually recruit Muthafukka Jones (Jamie Foxx - Daredevil ), the token black guy of the movie. Yes, an oscar-winning actor gets relegated to a measly supporting role.

Horrible Bosses 2 (2014)

This starts with the three boring middle-class white guys again. After the events of the first movie, they were inspired to quit the jobs that they hated and to team up as business partners They are offered a great deal by Rex (Chris Pine - Star Trek ) and his father (Christoph Waltz - Green Hornet ). Of course, this is too good to be true.

When things go bad, the trio seek advice from Kevin Spacey ( Superman Returns ). Yes, for some reason they are still on speaking terms with the villain from the first film. Meanwhile, the guy from Pacific Rim is still being pursued by Jennifer Aniston . The third supporting character from the first movie, Muthafukka Jones (Jamie Foxx - Stealth ), gets dragged into the plot as well.

The trio embark on a kidnapping plan. Predictably it all goes badly wrong for them, and ends up in an exciting climax.

Hot Shots! (1991)

Hot Shots! Part Deux (1993)

Johnny English (2003)

Someone steals the British Crown Jewels. The British Secret Service calls in their best man, Johnny English (Rowan Atkinson - Never Say Never Again ) and his sidekick, Bough (Ben Miller - Molly Moon and the Incredible Book of Hypnotism ).

Our hero's investigation is dogged by a mysterious femme fatale ( Natalie Imbruglia ). The clues lead him to a creepy billionaire (John Malkovich - Hitch-Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy (2005) ). His plan is to become King of England, and then turn the country into a prison-industrial complex for other nations.

Johnny English Reborn (2011)

Johnny English (Rowan Atkinson - Never Say Never Again ) is surprisingly competent, just very unlucky. He investigates an evil conspiracy of assassins, who use a Chinese cleaning lady to bump off witnesses. His Boss ( Gillian Anderson ) and co-worker (Dominic West - The Awakening ) do not have much faith in his abilities. Luckily Bond girl Rosamund Pike does ...

The movie plays more like a UK version of Steve Carrell’s Get Smart than the previous film. Pity there is no Anne Hathaway in this one, though.

Johnny English Strikes Again (2018)

Someone hacks the British Intelligence computers and steals the NOC list. This is a classic mcguffin, previously used in Skyfall . This time it is taken to a logical conclusion - with the secret agents no longer secret, the British Secret Service must call their best men out of retirement. Charles Dance ( Game of Thrones ), Edward Fox (Day of the Jackal) and Michael Gambon ( Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince(2009) ) are on the short-list.

Johnny English (Rowan Atkinson - Never Say Never Again ) is now a geography teacher in Lincolnshire. He is now reinstated, and reunited with his sidekick Bough (Ben Miller - Molly Moon and the Incredible Book of Hypnotism ). This is actually a good thing. English is a competent school-teacher, not the bumbling fool he usually is. By using old-fashioned analogue technology from the 1980s they render themselves virtually immune to their digitally-based opponent.

Our hero's investigation is dogged by a mysterious femme fatale (Bond girl Olga Kurlyenko ). The clues lead him to a creepy billionaire named Volta (Jake Lacy - Rampage (2018) ). His plan is to monopolise all the data of the G-12 nations.

Previously English's boss was Gillian Anderson , a Stella Rimmington type. Now he is responsible to the Prime Minister ( Emma Thompson ), a Teresa May type. Yes, the movie does not pass the bechdel test but at least there is no glass ceiling.

The film's humour is quite basic. Despite being highly competent when the story demands it, the protagonist is the living embodiment of Brexiteer bluster. He believes in good old-fashioned British exceptionalism, and pig-headedly sticks to his assumptions which repeadedly ends him up as the butt of comedy in slapstick situations.

Bean: The Ultimate Disaster Movie (1997)

This is the big-screen debut of Mr Bean (Rowan Atkinson - Johnny English ), a character who revived silent movie slapstick comedy on British TV in the 1990s. It turns out that the protagonist, as accident prone and mentally lacking as he might seem, actually has a day-job. He works as an attendant at the Royal National Gallery, London. The executives, including Gareth (Peter Capaldi - Lair of the White Worm ), are unable to get Mr Bean fired - so they arrange with the Chairman (Sir John Mills - ) to have him sent to the USA instead!

The invite from the USA comes at the behest of David Langley (Peter McNichol - Dragonslayer ), a curator at the Grierson Gallery in Los Angeles, California. His boss, George Grierson (Harris Yulin - Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997) ), has arranged for the gallery to display the famous American painting, Whistler's Mother. PR woman Bernice Schimmel ( Sandra Oh ) has lots of cheesy merchandise to sell in the gallery's gift shop, so they can maximize their income and subsidise the gallery's shows for the rest of the year. In other words, the painting display is vital to the gallery - and thus to Langley's career (and contuinued employment).

Langley invites Mr Bean to stay at his family home for the week. Unfortunately Mrs Langley ( Pamela Reed ) is unhappy about having an eccentric Englishman around her family, and takes her teenage kids away with her. Yes, Langley's family is at stake as well as his job. This leads on to scenes where McNichol, the erstwhile straight man of the comic duo, melts down and completely steals the whole movie from the title character.

There are a couple of thriller aspects to the story. Firstly Bean has repeated run-ins with LAPD Detective Lieutenant Brutus (Richard Gant - V: The Final Battle ). Secondly he has to outwit Elmer the security chief (Larry Drake - Darkman (1992) ) in an extended parody of the heist movie genre.

The climax is the gala unveiling of the painting, in front of the Gallery's patron - General Newton (Burt Reynolds - ). Mister Bean, famous for his awkwardness, has to make a speach!

This was directed by Mel Smith , a long-time collaborator of Atkinson's who was best known as an actor in his own right. There is also a listed appearance by Johnny Galecki ( I Know What you Did Last Summer ) as Stingo Wheelie, although his scenes seem to have been trimmed in the final cut.

Mr Bean's Holiday (2007)

Mr Bean's Holiday (2007)

Mr Bean (Rowan Atkinson - Johnny English ) is on holiday in France. In a typical comedy of errors he is mistaken for a kidnapper. He must return the alleged victim to his father, a VIP at the Cannes Film Festival.

While dodging cops and security guards, Mr Bean gate-crashes the film premiere of pretentious creator Carson Clay (Willem Dafoe - Spider-Man (2001) ).

Bean: The Ultimate Disaster Movie (1997)

Murderer's Row (1966)

The villain's plan is to build a laser weapon, somehow put it in orbit, and use it to destroy Washington DC.

The Silencers (1966)

The Ambushers (1967)

Special Agent Matt Helm (Dean Martin - ) is sent on a mission to recover a stolen prototype space-plane. He teams up with Sheila Sommers ( Janice Rule ), a female Secret Agent.

They track the villainous Quintana (Kurt Kaznar - Land of Giants ) to his secret base, which looks like a Hollywood back-lot used for wild west movies. It is guarded by a small army of henchmen who are too stupid to shoot from cover, and needlessly expose themselves to incoming fire.

There is a bit of a sub-plot involving rival bidders for the stolen plane. Who would have expected that the first man on the moon would be eating chow mein?

The Wrecking Crew (1967)

This is the fourth and last film in a series of 1960s spy-movie spoofs. Special Agent Matt Helm (Dean Martin - ) is sent on a mission to recover stolen gold bullion from a man who is already unbelieveably rich. This time Helm has a new sidekick ( Sharon Tate ), who was meant to become a recurring character.

The villain's team includes a femme fatale ( Nancy Kwan ) and her henchmen - including a young clean-shaven Chuck Norris ( Expendables 2 ). Unlike his later co-star Bruce Lee, who memorably destroyed Jim Garner's office as a henchman in Marlowe (1966), Norris is not allowed an opportunity to show off his skills or display his talents.

Miss Congeniality (2000)

Gracie Hart ( Sandra Bullock ) is a female Incel who became an FBI Agent. The Bureau gets a threat from a domestic terrorist who intends to bomb the Miss America pageant. The team's newly promoted leader (Benjamin Bratt - Demolition Man (1994) ) appoints Gracie to go undercover as one of the contestants.

The contest's organisers, Candice Bergen and William Shatner ( Star Trek: TOS ), reluctantly agree to play along. They put the Feds in touch with Victor (Michael Caine - ), who gives her a full-body makeover. Gracie is happy to let her cow-orkers go undercover as homeless people, but she is unhappy about making the sacrifice of having to be glamourous.

The film has a subplot concerning Gracie's romantic relationship with her long-term cow-orker who is now her new boss.

Miss Congeniality 2: Armed And Fabulous (2005)

Gracie Hart ( Sandra Bullock ) learns the hard way that she is now too famous to do undercover or plainclothes work.

The first movie had a major subplot concerning Gracie's romance with Eric (Benjamin Bratt - Demolition Man (1994) ). Since that subplot has been tied up, the love interest character is written out. Rather than just have him mysteriously disappear, the script has him dump her and get transferred to thousands of miles away to Miami.

Ten months later, Gracie is a diva who performs publicity work for the FBI. Her reluctant bodyguard is Sam Fuller ( Regina King ), someone who shares many of the anti-social attributes that Gracie did in the first movie. The stereotypical gay male assistant is Dietrich Bader ( ).

The beauty pageant organiser (William Shatner - Star Trek: TOS ) gets kidnapped by a couple of working-class white men. The head investigator is Treat Williams ( The Phantom ), yet another straight white man. He refuses to listen to Gracie's hunches, despite her years of exemplary service as a field agent. In all fairness, Gracie is such an annoying diva that even the black woman does not believe her.

The Heat (2013)

A female FBI agent ( Sandra Bullock ) is assigned to a major case in Boston. She reluctantly teams up with an abrasive detective ( Melissa McCarthy ), and these females must outwit both male crooks and male rival cops. Not entirely like the setup for Miss Congeniality 2: Armed And Fabulous (2005) .

So why is this not Miss Congeniality 3? Well, the writer/director was Paul Feig and this is one of a series of genre parodies he did with McCarthy. She is the main comedic character while Bullock is basically the straight woman.

This is a parody of buddy cop movies such as Tango and Cash. The miss-matched cops are after a mysterious drug kingpin who has a small army of expendable thugs at his disposal. There is also a jurisdictional dispute since nobody told the FBI that the DEA were already on the case.

Naked Gun: From The Files of Police Squad (1988)

Released in 1988, this film starts in Beirut with the Ayatollah Khomeni chairing a meeting of famous dictators of the time. The Axis of Evil includes Idi Amin, Colonel Gadaffi ... and Chairman Gorbachov of the then-USSR.

Back in Los Angeles, Drebin's partner Nordberg (OJ Simpson - ) is shot while undercover on the docks. The Chief (George Kennedy - ) assigns Drebin to investigate ship-owner Ludwig (Ricardo Montalban - Star Trek: Wrath of Khan ). Ludwig's assistant ( Priscilla Presley ) becomes Drebin's love interest.

Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell Of Fear (1991)

Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult (1994)

Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell Of Fear (1991)

This is the sequel to a movie based on a TV show, so there should be no need to introduce Detective Lieutenant Frank Drebin. However, this movie's opening scene provides all the exposition necessary. Drebin attends a gala dinner at the White House, where President George H.W. Bush presents him with an award for killing a thousand drug dealers. This perfectly parodies the 1980s War-on-Drugs propaganda movies, while Drebin's klutziness creates lots of slapstick humour. After the presentation, President Bush gives a speech that encapsulates the movie's main theme. Bush is about to decide on the USA's energy policy, and is waiting for a scientist ( ) to deliver a report on the best form of energy. Will it be renewable energy, which will make America self-sustaining? Or will it be carbon fuel, which will destroy the environment?

The villains of this episode are the oil barons (S.P.I.L.L.), the coal industry (S.M.O.K.E.) and the nuclear power-plant owners (K.A.B.O.O.M.). Yes, this is part of the environmentalist wave of films that came out during the first Bush Presidency. Other entries in that sub-genre include Highlander 2 . What this film does that marks itself out is that it reminds the audience that the polluting industries only existed because of massive subsidies from the US Government.

A hitman (Anthony James - Buck Rogers in the 25th Century ) has been hired by the villains. First he tries to kill the scientist, then he kidnaps the scientist so the villains can deploy a lookalike. Frank Drebin must save the day.

The B-plot is virtually the same as in the first film. Frank's love interest Jane Spencer ( Priscilla Presley ) has split up with him, and now he must woo her back. The good news is that she now works with the energy scientist, so Frank can multi-task while investigating the kidnapping. The bad news is that she has a new love interest - the head villain. Well, such coincidences are what a concise plot relies upon.

Naked Gun: From The Files of Police Squad (1988)

Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult (1994)

Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult (1994)

Frank Drebin has been married for six months. The bad news is that he is no longer a Detective Lieutenant - he retired when his kill-count hit three thousand, triple what it was in the previous film. Frank's love interest Jane Spencer ( Priscilla Presley ), now his wife, is a career woman. However, she has her own problems as a high-paid lawyer ... all the women in the courtroom have brought their children to work.

Captain Ed (George Kennedy - ) and Detective Nordberg (OJ Simpson - ) pull Frank out of retirement and send him undercover. First he investigates Tanya Peters ( Anna Nicole Smith ), who works in a sperm bank alongside a dominatrix ( Julie Strain ). Then he goes undercover in prison, as an inmate.

Arab terrorists have hired Frank's cellmate, professional bomber Rocco (Fred Ward - Remo: unarmed and Dangerous ), to stage the ultimate terror explosion. Well, this was eight years before 11th of September 2001. They break out of prison together, including at least one reference to Escape from Alcatraz, one of Fred Ward's early roles.

While Frank Drebin is dodging jail-house rape at the hands of the Big Hairy Convict (Randall Tex Cobb - ), his wife goes of a road trip and murders a rapey trucker (Marc Alaimo - Star Trek: DS9 ). This is a parody of Thelma and Louise, which like many of the references in this was popular at the time. Later in the movie there is a scene where a character is outed as trans-gendered. This is a parody of a similar scene in The Crying Game, a film about a love affair bwtween an interracial couple ... which has a pivotal scene where one of the lovers is revealed to be a pre-operative trans-gendered person. As with the scenes of attempted rape, this movie is not endorsing either rape or transphobia ... it is merely parodying films which feature them as plot points.

Naked Gun: From The Files of Police Squad (1988)

Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell Of Fear (1991)

Paul Blart: Mall Cop (2009)

Paul Blart (Kevin James - ) is a security guard in a shopping mall. His life-long dream of becoming a full-time professional police officer is unfortunately beyond his grasp.

The shopping mall is taken over by a gang of crooks. Some of the employees are taken hostage, including Blart's love interest ( Jayma Mays ). As a result, this turns into a parody of Die Hard .

Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 (2015)

This starts with the conclusion of the first movie. Paul Blart (Kevin James - ) saved the day and got the girl. He married his love interest ( Jayma Mays ), but she divorced him six days later. Well, if a character has no role in an ongoing storyline they tend to get written out pretty quickly.

Six years later, Paul is invited to attend a convention. Sort of like the setup for Police Academy 5: Miami Beach , only this one is in Las vegas. The hotel's general manager ( Daniella Alonso ) is set up as a new love interest, an idea which is quite comedic in itself.

Luckily there is a thriller storyline instead of just leaving this as a rom-com of errors. A rich villain (Neal McDonough - Arrow ) and his henchman (DB Woodside - Buffy: Season 7 ) are staying in the same hotel, and plan to conduct a heist of an art collection. Only Paul Blart can save the day!

Like all well-thought-out characters, Blart has an achilles heel - a kryptonite of sorts. His happens to be his diabetes. This leads on to a hilarious scene when we see the lengths he has to go to in order to regain his depleted blood-sugar levels.

True Memoirs Of An International Assassin (2016)

Police Academy (1984)

This starts with a series of title cards, explaining the story's background setting. Yes, just like the science fiction of the era, which provided exposition up front rather than in the storytelling. In this case, the newly-elected Mayor has changed the hiring practices of her city's police force. Height, weight, sex, education and physical strength will no longer be used to keep recruits out of the Academy. If this seems strangely progressive for a movie from 1984, we must remember that although it is set in the USA this was actually made in Canada.

Cary Mahoney (Steve Guttenberg - Short Circuit ) is a blue-collar everyman, a rebel without a cause who stands up against his malicious white-collar bosses. This makes him the ringleader in a series of practical jokes against the CIS-het White Male gatekeeper, Lieutenant Harris (GW Bailey - Mannequin ), who is under orders from the Commissioner to force the diverse recruits to quit.

The recruits are a diverse bunch. Karen Thompson ( Kim Catrall ) is Mahoney's love interest, although he gets a new one in every movie. There are a couple of Black guys - Larvelle Jones (Michael Winslow - Spaceballs ) has the superpower of vocal mimicry, while Moses Hightower (Bubba Smith - ) has superhuman strength. These both come in useful for slapstick comedy scenes.

Eugene Tackleberry (David Graf - Quantum Leap ) is a gun nut, back in the era when such types could be safely mocked. Nowadays, those who cannot tell the difference between portrayal and endorsement would object to a Second Amendment type as anything other than a villain. Even Lieutenant Harris thinks Tackleberry is trigger-happy. While every cop uses a police-issue .38 special, Tackleberry brings his personal .44 magnum.

This is a lot like a College Campue comedy, set at the equivalent of a military Boot Camp. Sgt Callaghan ( Leslie Easterbrook ) emphasises physical exercise and martial arts training. The legal side is mentioned, although this is not really shown on-screen. Even when the rookies are allowed to answer real-life calls, this emphasis on violence is continued. In a famous scene that made it to the trailer, Tackleberry's response to a cat stuck in a tree is to draw his sidearm and open fire!

The climax of the movie is when Commandant Lasard's incompetence lands the trainees in the middle of a riot. This is in a Hollywood version of a working class neighbourhood, which is as mixed-race as the street gangs in the Death Wish series.

Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment (1985)

Police Academy 3: Back in Training (1986)

Police Academy 4: Citizens On Patrol (1987)

Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach (1988)

Police Academy 6: City Under Siege (1989)

Police Academy 7: Mission To Moscow (1994)

Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment (1985)

The bad news is that the unnamed City has fallen victim to a crime-wave, perpetrated by a classic 1980s mixed-race street-gang led by Zed (Bobcat Goldthwait - Scrooged ). Captain Lassard (Howard Hesseman - ) asks his brother, the Academy Commandant, for reinforcements - the Class of 1984. Mahoney (Steve Gutenberg - Short Circuit ) and the others are sent to the 16th Precinct, and thrown in at the deep end.

This movie introduces a few other recurring characters. Lieutenant Mauser undermines the newcomers in the hope of getting promoted to Captain Lassard's position. Ironically, in the next movie he is running a rival police Academy in opposition to the other lassard brother. Sergeant Proctor, the clueless sidekick, becomes the regular fall guy in future movies too.

Eugene Tackleberry (David Graf - Quantum Leap ) is assigned a job as a motorbike patrol officer, partnered with Officer Kathleen Kirkland ( Colleen Camp ). The bad news is that he is a gun nut with no time for females. The good news is that they have a lot in common, and she becomes his long-term love interest ...

Mr Sweetchuck, a nerdy shopkeeper who lives in the district, is a recurring victim of Zed and the gang. Unfortunately, the Police Academy crew are even worse.

After the usual hijinks and slapstick, with lots of pranks played on Mauser and a few comedic references to famous films, they get on with the main plot. Mahoney goes undercover to join Zed's gang. It turns out that they are well dug-in at the old zoo, which means the cops have to launch a full-on assault. Yes, we get a climactic comedy-battle that mixes kung-fu with slapstick, including a rope fall by award-winning stuntman Dar Robinson.

Police Academy (1984)

Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment (1985)

Police Academy 3: Back in Training (1986)

Police Academy 4: Citizens On Patrol (1987)

Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach (1988)

Police Academy 6: City Under Siege (1989)

Police Academy 7: Mission To Moscow (1994)

Police Academy 3: Back In Training (1986)

It turns out that there are actually two police academies in the State. Lassard's rival is Commandant Mauser, who has apparently been promoted - probably a sign he took a lot of undeserved credit for catching Zed in the previous film. One of the academies will be shut down as a cost-saving measure, so there will be an unofficial contest. Lassard calls in his best team to help out.

Police Academy (1984)

Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment (1985)

Police Academy 3: Back in Training (1986)

Police Academy 4: Citizens On Patrol (1987)

Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach (1988)

Police Academy 6: City Under Siege (1989)

Police Academy 7: Mission To Moscow (1994)

Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol (1987)

Lassard has a new scheme called Citizens on Patrol, an upgraded neighbourhood watch programme which gives the participants two weeks of police training. To implement this, he involves the usual crew. A few of the previous movie's cadets - Sweetchuck, Zed and Tackleberry's brother-in-law - are full officers now so they get called in as well.

Police Academy (1984)

Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment (1985)

Police Academy 3: Back in Training (1986)

Police Academy 4: Citizens On Patrol (1987)

Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach (1988)

Police Academy 6: City Under Siege (1989)

Police Academy 7: Mission To Moscow (1994)

Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach (1988)

Captain Harris arranges for Lassard to be compulsorily retired, in the hope of taking over as Commandant of the academy. This is not guaranteed, because - as the Commissioner points out - at least Lassard has the respect of his men. As a result, Harris spends the rest of the movie trying to impress his superiors to earn this promotion.

Rene Auberjonois ( Star Trek: DS9 ) and his henchmen steal some valuable jewelry. Unfortunately his bag gets accidentally switched with Lassard's, and the boss gives Rene 24 hours to deliver the stolen gems. The crooks spend most of the movie trying to steal it back. This is the first time the series had a real villain - except for Zed in the second movie, who turned good so he could come back in the next two films.

Police Academy (1984)

Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment (1985)

Police Academy 3: Back in Training (1986)

Police Academy 4: Citizens On Patrol (1987)

Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach (1988)

Police Academy 6: City Under Siege (1989)

Police Academy 7: Mission To Moscow (1994)

Police Academy 6: City Under Siege (1989)

Police Academy (1984)

Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment (1985)

Police Academy 3: Back in Training (1986)

Police Academy 4: Citizens On Patrol (1987)

Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach (1988)

Police Academy 6: City Under Siege (1989)

Police Academy 7: Mission To Moscow (1994)

Police Academy 7: Mission To Moscow (1994)

Police Academy (1984)

Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment (1985)

Police Academy 3: Back in Training (1986)

Police Academy 4: Citizens On Patrol (1987)

Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach (1988)

Police Academy 6: City Under Siege (1989)

Ride Along (2014)

Tough police detective James (Ice Cube - XXX2: The Next Level ) reluctantly takes his brother-in-law-to-be, Ben (Kevin Hart - Jumanji: The Next Level ) on a ride-along. Not only does Kevin want to marry James' sister, he also wants to become a police officer. James wants to convince him to forget both ambitions.

James is pursuing a case against a mysterious gangster, Omar (Lawrence Fishburne - Predators (2010) ). This leads on to all the usual tropes that miss-matched buddy cops encounter, such as the shoot-outs with gangs of henchmen and the inevitable double-cross.

Ride Along 2 (2016)

Tough police detective James (Ice Cube - XXX2: The Next Level ) and his brother-in-law-to-be, Ben (Kevin Hart - Jumanji: The Next Level ), head to Miami to catch a hacker (Ken Jeong - The Hangover ).

The heroes team up with a local detective ( Olivia Munn ) to go after a millionaire smuggler (Benjamin Bratt - Demolition man ).

Central Intelligence (2016)

Kevin Hart ( Jumanji: The Next Level ) was the top atlete in his High School. He was also a decent person, once taking pity on a fat kid (Dwayne Johnston - Hobbs and Shaw (2019) ) who was victim of a horrendous bullying incident.

Twenty years later, the two meet up again. Basically it is a High School reunion, like in Grosse Point Blank .

Hart becomes a reluctant partner. The Rock is pursuing a case against a mysterious gangster. If all this sounds familiar, it is in many ways a re-tread of Hart's previous film Ride Along (2014) .

St Trinian's (2007)

In the year 2007, Anabelle Fritton ( Talulah Riley ) is the new girl at St Trinians. Headmistress Fritton (Rupert Everett - Inspector Gadget ) has her staff together - the Matron ( Celia Imrie ), the Bursar (Toby Jones Red Lights ), Beverly ( Jodie Whittaker ) and the new English teacher ( Lena Headey ). As always, it is the girls who really run the school.

The Headmistress's ex-lover, Geoffrey Thwaites (Colin Firth - ), is now the Government minister for Education. He plans to take advantage of the school's financial situation and close it down. He even arranges for his daughter ( Lucy Punch ) and her school's team to face off against the Trinians girls whenever possible.

The Head Girl, Kelly ( Gemma Arterton ), recruits the other girls - Celia ( Juno Temple ), Chelsea ( Tamsin Egerton ), Andrea ( Paloma Faith ) - to steal a valuable painting from the Ntaional Gallery in London. They have Flash Harry (Russell Brand - Four Kids And It ) to fence the painting. The trick is to get their team into the finals of a TV quiz show being presented by Stephen Fry ( ). Luckily JJ French ( Misha Barton ), the former Head Girl, is now a top PR guru.

St Trinian's 2: Legend of Fritton's Gold (2009)

In the year 1589, Captain Fritton (Rupert Everett - Inspector Gadget ) steals a treasure from Captain Pomfrey (David Tennant - Bad Samaritan ). They are both dressed as in the Eighteenth Century, but Queen Elizabeth is a more recognisable monarch than Queen Anne. This movie pays little attention to historical accuracy - somehow Fritton recorded the accurate longitude of the treasure, back in the age of Shakespeare.

In the year 2009, St Trinians is open for business again. Headmistress Fritton has her staff together - the Matron ( Celia Imrie ), the Bursar (Toby Jones Red Lights ), Beverly ( Jodie Whittaker ) and the Physics teacher ( Katherine Parkinson ). As always, it is the girls who really run the school.

Pomfrey's descendant is after the long-lost treasure. Anabelle Fritton ( Talulah Riley ), the newly appointed Head Girl, must beat him to it. She leads the older girls - Celia ( Juno Temple ), Chelsea ( Tamsin Egerton ), Roxy ( Sarah Harding ), Bianca ( Zawe Ashton ), Zoe ( Montserrat Lombard ). The previous year's Head Girl, Kelly ( Gemma Arterton ), takes time off from her new job as a female 007 - presumably a reference to Quantum of Solace - to help out.

The Headmistress gets help from her ex-lover, Geoffrey Thwaites (Colin Firth - ). He reveals that Pomfrey is leader of a secret society, AD1 ... a group of straw-men misogynists who have been oppressing wimmen. This is not a particularly woke movie, however - it is clearly a comedy, so the misandry is for laughs.

The Third Act takes place in London, with live audiences as the girls stage a flashmob and then hijack a production of Romeo and Juliet.

Zoolander (2001)

Derek Zoolander (Ben Stiller - Tropic Thunder ) is the world's top male model. All he has to worry about is his rival, Hansel (Owen Wilson - Masterminds ).

Zoolander stumbles into a plot by top fashion designer Mugatu (Will Ferrell - Land of the Lost ). Mugatu orders his henchwoman ( Milla Jovovich ) to take care of the problem.

This film was released shortly after the destruction of the World Trade Centre in New York City, 2001. As a result, shots of the NYC skyline had to be digitally altered to remove the WTC.

Zoolander 2 (2016)

Mysterious assassins kill Justin Bieber. This incident is investigated by a secret agency run by Valentina Valencia ( Penelope Cruz ), who links it to former male model Derek Zoolander (Ben Stiller - Tropic Thunder ). He and his former rival, Hansel (Owen Wilson - ), are brought out of retirement by Billy Zane ( Titanic ) to solve the crime.

The previous movie ended on a high note, with Derek getting his happy-ever-after. In order to motivate the character, the writers had to kill off his wife Matilda ( Christine Taylor ). This allows him the chance for a new love interest ... and a new damsel in distress - his estranged son.

Derek and Hansel encounter the evil DJ (Justin Theroux - Your Highness ), a former henchman of the long-imprisoned Mugatu (Will Ferrell - Land of the Lost ). Yes, it is obvious who the villain is. His henchwoman, Katinka ( Milla Jovovich ), is officially MIA - but she still makes an appearance in the film.

The one thing that cheapens this movie is the numerous cameo appearances of celebrities playing themselves. The one with Susan Boyle is an update on the Weird Al Yankovich one in Naked Gun 2 1/2 , but the appearance of Neil Degrasse Tyson is inexplicable - certainly compared to the time he played himself in Stargate: Atlantis .

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