Synopsis:
Only one man has the particular set of skills…to lead Police Squad and save the world! Lt. Frank Drebin Jr. (Liam Neeson) follows in his father’s footsteps in THE NAKED GUN.
What We Thought:
If Liam Neeson starring in a comedy sounds surprising to you then you’ve never seen his cameo buying Trix cereal in Ted 2. You probably haven’t seen his video with Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant and Warwick Davis wanting to learn improvisational comedy either. I think both of those things are hilarious and had been looking forward to The Naked Gun because of it and I’m happy to report the movie is fantastic.
The Naked Gun is a soft reboot/legacy sequel combo thingy. None of the actors from the original movies/series are in it, but it’s also a sequel to those films. Neeson plays Lt. Frank Drebin Jr., son of Frank Drebin played by the late Leslie Nielsen in the films/TV series. It started in 1982 with the TV series Police Squad! and continued with three films, The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!, The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear, and Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult. Along with Neeson, other actors play the sons of characters from Police Squad/The Naked Gun. So it’s a film for a new audience and era, but also a legacy sequel very much in tone with David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker’s original works.
And that right there is the key to the film. The original works were parodies of cop procedurals with Nielsen’s Drebin getting the job done despite his own mishaps. The tone was straight-laced with sight gags, physical comedy and incredible plays on words. The 2025 film very much captures that same tone. Neeson is as straight-laced as Nielsen and gets huge laughs because of it. Whether it’s a funny poop joke, a visual sex gag or the running coffee gag throughout the film, fans of parody films will love the new edition.
Neeson grabs your attention from the very beginning like Nielsen, but the other breakout comedy star is Pamela Anderson. The former Baywatch bombshell is having a tremendous career comeback of late and she’s brilliant as the love interest/noir dame. She was fully committed to the role and has tremendous chemistry with Neeson. So much so they are now an item in real life. If Priscilla Presley was every bit Leslie Nielsen’s opposite in the original trilogy, Pam Anderson is every bit Liam Neeson’s opposite in this. They are THE couple for 2025, both on and off screen and I’m genuinely happy for both of them.
There will be people that say the first half of The Naked Gun is better than the second half and that’s true, but as a whole I still very much enjoyed the movie. It has big, over-the-top laughs and it might be the most I’ve laughed with a movie all year. For those of us who grew up on this franchise and parody films in general it is a great return to form. I expect a sequel to be greenlit and can’t wait for more to come. When you see it make sure to stay for the credits and READ the credits because there are some funny jokes within the credits themselves as well. If you enjoyed The Naked Gun trilogy, Airplane!, Scary Movie and the like then this is…
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
Directed By:
Akiva Schaffer
Cast:
Liam Neeson, Pamela Anderson, Paul Walter Hauser, CCH Pounder, Kevin Durand, Cody Rhodes, Liza Koshy, Eddie Yu, with Danny Huston
The Nerds Templar 