Police Academy 6: City Under Siege

There are some witty moments, as when the straight man, Proctor, played as usual by Lance Kinsey, uses a squeaky rubber squeegie to wash a window while his partner, Harris (G. W. Bailey), holds a stethoscope to the window to eavesdrop on a conversation taking place on the other side. But most of what takes place in Police Academy 6, from the flying billiard balls to the exploding cigars, are things you have seen someplace before. [3 March 1989, p.1-17]

Director Peter Bonerz and writer Stephen J. Curwick (the latter taking his second Academy shift) both cut their teeth on TV sitcoms, and it shows. Rarely has a film cried out so desperately for a laughtrack.

Except there are all these dumb pranks even a third-grade schoolboy would be too embarrassed to commit - putting glue on chairs, making silly faces and stupid noises, setting off fireworks at the precinct house. [13 March 1989, p.5D]

Surely the nadir of the rehash genre, a string of unconnected party pieces by a cast whose world weariness would imply that they know exactly how cynical this whole venture has become.

On the plus side, POLICE ACADEMY 6 is skillfully photographed by Charles Rosher, Jr., and has a very good soundtrack, supplied by Robert Folk. Unfortunately, high production values are wasted on films this slow-paced and silly.

This is probably worse than you’d expect, even from a sequel to a sequel to a sequel to a sequel to a sequel.

This is comedy so insidious it could scarcely be less than diabolically inspired; to know these 84 minutes is to know an endless living death. [14 March 1989, p.C6]

It is painfully for me as fan of the franchise to see each movie getting weaker. This was a long time member in the worst 100 movies list on IMDb if I remember correctly. However I say this movie has also some good ideas and some nice scenes but not redeeming enough. It is again in the realm that I see the potential of the ideas, set up and script. It could be done or redone in a way that would be a good experience. I say it lacks the heart and soul of the better movies in the franchise. To clarify this: They miss the humor and quirks. All movies in the franchise were cheesy and silly to a content but it was the good kind that was enjoyable, humorous and relatable for the better ones. Here it is more like a ticking off things from a to do list without having the insight why / how these worked. As another example: The movies did often rerun on TV and do you know were it mostly ended? After Police Academy 5. This and the next (also last) sequel were barely shown. The story starts with Captain Harris who has left the academy and is in charge of the police in a city district. His district is overrun by a crime wave caused by the Wilson Heights Gang and this makes him and the higher officials look incompetent. The Governor had the idea to hire external help for him to solve the issue. Guess who the support team is that is also Captain Harris nightmare ;-). This is what I mean with potential. It is a good set up and a lot could be done with it. Sadly the story can not deliver. It never reaches the immersion and enjoyment that I was truly invested. The things I liked was the plan of the bad guys, the antagonists and a shocking moment at the end. Like I said it has a lot of unused or wasted potential. Lets go to the characters. I think they were also trapped in the roles. I wont blame them as it is still good money. The Police Academy cast was so iconic in the earlier days and I still like them here but it is not that good, refreshing or enjoyable anymore. Matt McCoy as Nick Lassard was forced into the Carey Mahoney role. He should be his own character as he is missing the mixture of genuine character and scoundrel of Steve Guttenbergs role. I still like all the characters like Bubba Smith (Moses Hightower), Michael Winslow (Larvell Jones), Leslie Easterbrock (Debbie Callahan), David Graf (Eugene Tackleberry), Marion Jones (Laverne Hooks), G. W. Bailey (Thaddeus Harris) and Lance Kinsey (Karl Proctor) to name a few. I often heard the argument that characters outlived their welcome and I say this is the movie were I grasped the meaning. Without nostalgia and the other movies I would maybe even criticize them. Overall I recommend ending at Police Academy 5 and skipping this and the next movie. It is not enjoyable nor worth remembering. As fan however I watched even the next one which is the end of the franchise and the weakest entry.