Before I start this review I feel the need to come clean and make an open confession: I am a huge fan of National Lampoon’s Loaded Weapon 1. I still remember seeing the film in the theater when I was 12 years old and laughing myself silly at the “Turbo Chug” gag. Loaded Weapon 1 has a nostalgic quality that borders on dogma. To write critically about it feels like blasphemy.

Harry Knowlesian anecdotes aside, lets start with a synopsis of the film. National Lampoon’s Loaded Weapon 1 hails from an era when Lampoon movies were more than teases of nudity with fabricated plots. (To properly imagine the current state of National Lampoon’s, Inc. think of a cross between Troma Entertainment and a thread-bare hooker.) Living up to the tradition of “Lampoon” Loaded Weapon 1 is a parody of action films of the late 80s and early 90s. Borrowing from franchises such as Lethal Weapon, Die Hard, and Dirty Harry the writers had a wealth of material to spoof. Loaded Weapon 1 follows burned-out, gun-crazy Sgt. Jack Colt (EmilioEstevez) and his “unlikely” partner Sgt. Wes Luger (Samuel L. Jackson) as they crack the case of the cocaine covered cookies. Their 90’s style action packed exploits bring them in contact with such comedy greats as Tim Curry, John Lovitz, Whoopi Goldberg, and William Shatner. Not to mention the mandiblicious bikini beauty Kathy Ireland.

Loaded Weapon 1 distinguishes itself from modern day parodies, and even parodies of its time, through it’s use of subtle humor. While most jokes in parodies are overblown (e.g. the entirety of Epic Movie) the writers and director of Loaded Weapon 1 manage to make some hilarious under-played gags, leaving the viewer a little off balance, playing catch-up with the humor. Instead of slapping the viewer in the face with the jokes, screaming “Get it!?”, the pace of the Loaded Weapon 1 doesn’t leave time for canned laughter. My favorite such gag is near the beginning of the film, when angst ridden Emilio is standing on the beach and flicks his cigarette butt into the surf, resulting in an unexplained pillar of the flame, presumably because of all the pollutants in the water. The suddenness and obscurity of the joke never fails to elicit a burst of laughter and a snort.

The casting in Loaded Weapon 1 is just as brilliant. Emilio Estevez plays a very obvious caricature of Mel Gibson’s Sgt. Martin Riggs from Lethal Weapon, complete with moppish coiffure. The casting here was perfect. In appearance alone, Emilio’s small frame and constant smirk make him look a bit like a kid playing Lethal Weapon in the backyard. Emilio’s embellished expressions and general hamming-it-up really make me wish he had been cast in more parody movies. I think he would have fit in well with the likes of Lloyd Bridges and Leslie Nielson. Samuel L. Jackson as the aging, overly cautious Luger is very unexpected. Though Samuel L. seems a tad awkward surrounded by such ridiculous personalities he obviously does his best to play along, and shows a hint of absurdity that I have missed in his later films. The supporting cast was perfect as well. I could spend pages praising Tim Curry’s nondescript eastern European accent, and William Shatner finally embracing his cheesiness. Lastly I need to point out how great John Lovitz was in the part of Becker (a spoof of Joe Pesci’s Leo Getz). Lovitz is a comedic genius and he is really on his game in Loaded Weapon 1.

Unfortunately there are chinks in the Loaded Weapon 1 armor. Firstly it commits the sin of spoofing a spoof. Most notably for me is the Wayne’s World reference in the end of the film. This joke has always felt like a dud to me. Even as an easily entertained 12-year-old I couldn’t see how that was anything more than a recycled joke. Also basing a spoof on the Lethal Weapon series seems a bit superfluous since the Lethal Weapon series already bordered on comedy.

My love of this movie may be a bit unwarranted. True, some jokes crash and burn, and they tried to hide the mediocrity of other jokes behind a barrage of cameos, but I am willing to stand by the quality of any movie that can make me laugh consistently for about an hour and a half. So if you’re feeling like a good laugh, and you have moderate to light endurance to stupidity , you should definitely check out National Lampoon’s Loaded Weapon 1.