Another day, another entry in the ‘Vice Academy’ series, and another dip in quality.

Im going to keep this one brief, in no small part to the fact that their isnt really a whole lot to really say on this one, and in part because…well; its a bit more coherent than previous entries. But that really isnt saying much.

The plot of ‘Part 5’ picks up 3-4 months after the events of Part 4, and the Commissioners son Irwin decides to mess about with a new game ‘Virtual Reality Hooker simulator’ Which…as the name suggests, lets you engage in all the fun of hiring a sex worker from the comfort of your own home, with nothing to fear but the VR goggles strap being a bit too tight!

Unfortunately during a ‘Weird Science’ style energy surge on the house, the ‘Hooker’ Irwin creates is brought to real life, and immediately begins terrorising the town by running all the other sex workers out of business, offering ‘Sex for $5’ as per Irwins customisations. Going one further, she also begins influencing Irwins life choices, giving him mixed to bad advice that he takes into his part time job at the police station.

Meanwhile Miss Deavonshire and the Commissioners marriage is on the rocks already, as the Commissioner refuses to ‘Consummate’ the marriage. leading to tensions flaring between the two, and to complicate matters further, the mayor of the town, who was promising to ensure funding to the Vice Squad/Academy for many years to come loses her election campaign. Putting the Squad AND the Academy at VERY real risk of closure!

All these elements come to a head when Irwins digital creation decides, rather than working for Irwin, who’s a bit of a pushover. She wants to take the city over herself, get all the pimps working for her, and optimise the towns Sex work trade into one of the most streamlined operations in the country! oh yeah. and Candy and Traci are back in this one…they fool around with some guys, occasionally dump some exposition…but hey, who needs main characters in a movie right!?…r-right?!…

So; on the upside, this one DOES have a plot, and they do (tangentially) get back into doing what the ‘Vice Academy’ movies were initially set up as; I.E – Busting illicit sex work operations. But thats kind of where the pleasantries end for me on this one.

The story mainly revolves around Irwins antics, the Vice Academy girls are more or less left out in the cold on this one for the full duration, Miss Deavonshire and the Commissioners storyline is tepid at best. The humour here is D.O.A. the T&A is more outrageous than previous entries, and everything feels as plodding and incoherent as ever, if not worse.

Now; I will applaud that the film actually does have a three act plot, the last 2 films didnt have that. But thats a very VERY high level achievement here. the actual mechanisms that move us through those three acts are janky to say the least. random skits, incoherent rambling conversations, bolstered by a sound mix that drowns out most of the dialogue anyway (forcing me to use Subtitles for most of the films runtime) I still cant quite get over the fact that they bring the action back into being about what the ‘Vice Academy’ movies started off as, but more or less bench the ‘Vice Academy’ girls for the majority of the movie to do a ‘weird Science’ knock off.

Directions as mid as ever, the cine is a marked improvement over the last film, theres actually a few thoughtful creative choices in composition and they bothered to film way more cutaway material here. Im grateful at least that 95% of this film is actually in focus and pointing in the right direction…the last film failed to do that.

Performances are acceptable, not the best, but better than Part 3’s attempts. The soundtracks a bit better here too. But that really isnt saying much.

All in all? this just felt kind of aimless. it has more structure than the last 2 films. but the fine detail is REALLY absent. The humours almost non existent. and again. I cannot stress enough how BIZARRE it is for me that a series thats predominantly been centered around 2 ditzy girls freash out of the academy trying and failing in humourous ways to prove they have what it takes, has decided 5 films in to not bother with that kind of thing anymore. WILD.

Vice Academy part 5 is not a good movie, its a trace outline of a better movie missing all the nuance and definition that would have got it over the line. Its a masterful achievement that, whether you’ve seen the other films or not, you could jump into this and have NO idea what the hell is going on, or what the tone of this series is actually supposed to be…But its been achieved here!

Not one I can reccommend, even if you liked the previous movies…this one was a slog.

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/vice-academy-part-5/