Spy Hard (VHS)

The legacy of 1980's Airplane! has lasted a long, long time, as this dopey, 1996 comedy demonstrates. Leslie Nielsen, who has made a fortune starring in most of these intermittently inspired spoof movies, plays a secret agent whose code name is WD-40 and whose supervillain nemesis is the armless General Rancor (Andy Griffith). As the battle rages and the sight gags fly (the entrance to a hospital and sanctuary for nuns reads "Our Lady of the Never-Had-the-Pickle Convent"), WD-40 is aided by the beautiful spy 3.14 (Nicolette Sheridan). As always in these things, there are plenty of parodying references to other movies (Pulp Fiction) and tons of cameos (Fabio, Dr. Joyce Brothers, and such). The funniest stuff takes place in the first few minutes as "Weird Al" Yankovic sings the title song. Other than that, this is pretty mediocre. --Tom Keogh