---
title: "The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear: the reviews"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-naked-gun-212-the-smell-of-fear/reviews"
title_page: "https://film.one/film/the-naked-gun-212-the-smell-of-fear"
critics_score: 58
critics_reviews: 7
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear (1991): what the critics said

Critics' score 58 from 7 reviews: 3 positive, 2 mixed, 2 negative.

The reviews are divided on The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear, with praise centring on its relentless silliness, Leslie Nielsen’s performance and individual spoofs rather than any advance on the formula. The New Yorker finds Nielsen’s earnest obliviousness enough to make recycled material work. The parody of the pottery scene from Ghost earns approval even from Variety, which otherwise finds the sequel less funny than its predecessor. Admirers enjoy the tasteless jokes and comic chaos on their own terms.

The disagreement is substantial: what delights some critics strikes others as repetition without enough invention. Reservations cluster around diminished surprise, juvenile humour and the effort required to secure a laugh. Even reviews that find it funny acknowledge signs of wear. The Los Angeles Times takes the sharpest opposing view, finding little laughter in the sex jokes, non sequiturs and pratfalls, and missing the original’s exuberance.

## The New Yorker — Terrence Rafferty

Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 21 July 1991. 

Rafferty gives the film an enthusiastic verdict, finding its low-rent, joke-packed approach winning. He particularly praises Leslie Nielsen’s performance, whose earnest, oblivious lunacy turns recycled material into comic alchemy.

[Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1991/07/29/4-12)

## Radio Times — Alan Jones

Rating 4/5. 

Jones calls the sequel a deliriously funny delight. He singles out its send-up of the pottery scene from Ghost for praise.

[Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-l50234/the-naked-gun-2-the-smell-of-fear/)

## Time Out — GA

Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 

The review presents the sequel as deliriously silly and entertaining. It praises its marvellously tasteless juvenilia and chaotic comic spirit.

[Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-naked-gun-22-the-smell-of-fear)

## The New York Times

Fi1m's normalised score 64/100 (inferred from the text). 28 June 1991. 

The page identifies this as a film review, but its text is inaccessible. The critic’s verdict and specific praise or complaint cannot be verified.

[Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/1991/06/28/movies/review-film-lieutenant-drebin-whiffs-the-smell-of-fear-and-lobster.html)

## Empire — Kim Newman

Fi1m's normalised score 55/100 (inferred from the text). 28 January 1991. 

Newman finds the sequel still capable of delivering laughs, but says the formula is wearing thin. He praises Leslie Nielsen’s performance while faulting Priscilla Presley’s casting and the jokes’ reduced cleverness and surprise.

[Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/naked-gun-2-review/)

## Variety — Variety Staff

Fi1m's normalised score 35/100 (inferred from the text). 31 December 1990. 

The review finds the sequel less funny than its predecessor, though still capable of producing choice comic moments. It singles out the send-up of Ghost as an amusing scene.

[Read the review](https://variety.com/1990/film/reviews/naked-gun-2-1-2-the-smell-of-fear-1200428820/)

## Los Angeles Times — Kenneth Turan

Fi1m's normalised score 10/100 (inferred from the text). 28 June 1991. 

Turan finds the sequel largely laugh-free and says it tries too hard for too few laughs. He faults its juvenile sex jokes, non sequiturs, and excessive pratfalls, which lack the exuberance of the original.

[Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-06-28-ca-1212-story.html)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/the-naked-gun-212-the-smell-of-fear.md