Only Lt. Frank Drebin Jr. (Liam Neeson) has the particular set of skills… to lead Police Squad and save the world! He’s following in his father’s footsteps in THE NAKED GUN, directed by Akiva Schaffer (Saturday Night Live, Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping) and from producer Seth MacFarlane (Ted, Family Guy).
What We Thought:
The Naked Gun might be my favorite comedy of 2025. I had high expectations for the reboot/sequel of the famous Police Squad/The Naked Gun franchise and it delivered. Liam Neeson on paper might seem like an odd replacement for the legendary Leslie Nielsen, but if you’ve seen his comedic take in Ted 2 or a comedy video he did with Ricky Gervais then you knew he was the right man for the job.
I call it a reboot/sequel because it is a new take for a new generation, but it’s also a sequel to the Nielsen series/films. Neeson plays the son of Nielsen and a lot of other characters are the sons of the previous characters. Frank Drebin Jr. is just as clueless as his dad, but with Neeson’s deadpan delivery, he’s just as funny. It’s either the type of humor that makes you howl or makes you sit there wondering what others are laughing at. I howled.
Even though it is a reboot, it very much continues the tone of the franchise. It’s slapstick mixed with word puns mixed with sight gags and is very, very entertaining. I laughed more than I didn’t and sure the third act dies down a bit, but it’s a film I’ll watch numerous times and can’t wait for a sequel.
The big surprise though might be Pamela Anderson. The 90s bombshell channels her inner Priscilla Presley and gets huge laughs along with Neeson. The duo make a fantastic pair on-screen and off. I don’t know where this version of Pam Anderson has been hiding, but I’m glad she was found because she gets as many big laughs as the rest of the cast.
For those of us who grew up on this franchise and parody films like Airplane! and the follow up generation like Scary Movie, The Naked Gun is a great return to form. It’s probably the most I’ve laughed all year and I hope we get at least a sequel if not more. Neeson and Anderson are the couple of 2025 and the film lived up to all the expectations I had for it. The running coffee gag, the sex puns, the jokes in the end credits and everything in between hit big for me. If you weren’t sure of what to expect and missed it at theaters, pick it up on physical media.
The Nerds Templar 