Returning three years on after the first installment of The Naked Gun series, Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker seem to be in a similar state of rambunctious flailing. Penned by both David Zucker and hired gun Pat Proft, The Smell of Fear is a seamless continuation from not just that last movie, but the ridiculous show that preceded the filmic versions of these characters. What does seem to be different – which could perhaps be attributed to the fact that there was some outside influence from a writer – is how densely the jokes crop up. It might be more noticeable in the early portions of the film, but each part of the frame is utilized for laughs, the background occasionally being where the craziest action is taking place.

Apart from the gag a minute approach that this flick seems to be taking aim at, some of the characters from the last film get a better feature here. O.J. Simpson, for instance, who was prostrate for the majority of the 1988 film, here still functions as the slap stick relief (from the slapstick comedy?), but gets more than his fair share of lines. And you know what? He’s not really too bad. It’s of course difficult to watch him at this late date without thinking of his various transgressions, but while he’s stuck under various vehicles, being dragged across the concrete, earthly concerns of morality seem to dematerialize.

Of course, the fact that the Juice is loose, shouldn’t take away focus from the interactions of Neisen’s Drebin character and whoever happens to be around. Neilsen, while being revitalized by this series of films appears pretty comfortable moving further away from some of the more serious stuffs that he’d been involved with. Or maybe he was just always good at dick and fart jokes. It could be both and while he won’t ever be considered a refined actor, there are moments when he doesn’t sound stiff and – well, like he’s acting.

The only problematic aspect to The Smell of Fear is how dated it must seem to viewers just now visiting it. And if you’re under the age of twenty five or so, some of (or most of) the political figures being lampooned here are gonna be a bit difficult to properly perceive. That doesn’t necessarily mean that the jokes are going to fall flat, but considering that the gentleman playing George Bush doesn’t really look like him too much, newcomers might be prone to confusion.

Regardless, what this movie does, surprisingly enough, is to lend its opinion on energy reform to viewers. Being released almost twenty years ago at this point only shows that the United States government has been anything but willing to actually explore the alternative fuels and energy sources that should be available to its citizenry. Probably, this flick won’t end up being revered as some sort of prescient, efficiency touting screed, but it’s interesting to think that amongst the boob jokes, the writers were thinking about oil and why it’s problematic in our society.