General audiences at multiplexes likely will not be able to tell that the dead-on spoof of a movie trailer that opens the new reboot of 80’s classic The Naked Gun is actually part of the film itself as it no doubt will have just followed 25 minutes of real trailers, but it is an inspired beginning as star Liam Neeson shows up to plead for the return of comedy to theatres, an endangered species he goes on to detail by name-checking numerous funny films of a distant past and encouraging moviegoers to support the comedy of their choice – if they can find it.
The sad thing is that it is not just a spoof. The style of LOL, hit the wall with a barrage of laugh lines for 85 minutes straight comedy has become something of a rarity in theatres where the sound of laughter can be contagious if experienced communially. Eddie Murphy and Adam Sandler are relegated to streamers these days. What’s the last comedy Jim Carrey starred in (that doesn’t include a Hedgehog)? And that brings us to this film which is clearly an homage and attempt to bring back the genre that ended 30 years ago after making dramatic actor Leslie Nielsen a household comedic name.
As the new filmmakers including director Akiva Schaffer (Hot Rod, Popstar, Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers) who also collaborated on the screenplay with Dan Gregor and Doug Mand (How I Met Your Mother) go about reinventing what the Zuckers and Jim Abrahams started with 1980’s smash Airplane which spoofed airplane disaster movies, and continued with Top Secret, and their takeoffs on TV police prodedurals, their self-professed mantra is “try to be different and original and at the same time being exactly the same.” With rapid fire gags and a game cast trying hard to play it all completely straight, this nakedly hilarious Naked Gun is a welcome return in a time where we can use a few good laughs. This one has more than a few if sight gags, literal humor, and characters short a few cards of a full deck are your idea of a good time.
Fortunately Liam Neeson, like Nielsen not exactly known for his comedic chops, signed on and knew exactly how to deliver nonsensical lines with a straight face, never trying to be “funny”. And that goes for Pamela Anderson as well who in her successful second act after getting raves for The Last Showgirl also demonstrates a flair for this kind of stuff. Neeson as Police Lt. Frank Drebin Jr. ushers her femme fatale Beth Davenport into his office with the line, “please take a chair”. Davenport answers, “Oh no thanks. I have one at home”. That Schaffer and his co-writers can keep this level of dialogue up to the point where the rather dumb plot really doesn’t matter, is a kind of badge of honor, especially when fans recall the original could hardly be improved upon. But the circa 2025 version with sight gags that land where they are intended succeeds more times than not.
What they are going for her essentially is a modern day film noir in the spirit of Bogart meets the Lethal Weapon-style cop pictures of the 90’s. The three Naked Gun pictures from 1988 thru 1994 were more spoofs of TV shows like Dragnet and in fact were later hatched from the short-lived 1982 series that first introduced us to Drebin in 1982’s Police Squad earning him a Lead Comedy Actor Emmy nomination. After the opening trailer spoof, the film tries to get its footing with a violent bank robbery where Drebin singlehandedly wipes out loads of people in dazzling fashion – no doubt an homage to the Willis and Gibson style of police work. Soon we learn he is on the case of billionaire tech maven, Richard Cane (Danny Huston) who is out to change the world in his own image. This involves his invention to rile up citizens called the “P.L.O.T. Device” (get it?) or Primmordial Law Of Toughness.
The sultry and mysterious Davenport becomes an ally as she uses her female wiles to help Drebin defeat the threat and avenge the murder of her brother. Like I said none of this matters as long as the jokes keep coming, and despite a couple of lulls, they certainly do. Best in show though is a riotous sight gag involving surveillance across the street from Drebin’s apartment where he is entertaining Davenport and making a turkey dinner. The raunchy sexual activity seemingly seen in the surveillance is not at all what is quite innocently taking place. You won’t believe what you can do visually with a scrub brush and a friendly pet dog to suggest otherwise. It’s classic and you have to wonder how Paramount still managed to get a PG13.
Neeson is so perfectly cast here, his Taken image so ingrained, that you really can’t imagine who could pull this off any better. Same goes for the gorgeous Anderson who matches him line for line in reeling off the noirish dialogue. Paul Walter Hauser as Drebin’s #2 doesn’t get as much to do, but is an ideal partner and lands laughs on his own especially as Drebin, like a new age Mr. Magoo, gets to disastrously try out an electric car. Huston plays the tech billionaire evil bit well, even suggesting a bit of Elon Musk with his over-the-top plans. In addition to the able supporting cast, there are some uncredited surprises including a bit with Dave Bautista that doesn’t really come off, and a brief but funny interrogation with Busta Rhymes.
With next week’s reboot of another blast from the past, Freakier Friday, and Happy Gilmore ruling the streamers, The Naked Gun also gives us hope Hollywood hasn’t forgotten how to laugh. It just simply has to go back in time to find its lost funny bone.
Producers are Seth MacFarlane and Erica Huggins.
Title: The Naked Gun
Distributor: Paramount
Release Date: August 1, 2025
Director: Akiva Schaffer
Screenplay: Dan Gregor & Doug Mand and Akiva Schaffer
Cast: Liam Neeson, Pamela Anderson, Paul Walter Hauser, CCH Pounder, Kevin Durand, Cody Rhodes, Liza Koshy, Eddie Yu, with Danny Huston.
Rating: PG13
Running Time: 1 hour and 25 minutes
