Upon hearing that The Naked Gun: from the Files of Police Squad (1988) and its sequels The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear (1991) and Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult (1994) were getting their own reworking of a sequel all these years later, simply titled The Naked Gun (2025), dare I say, it was a tad worrisome. The last decade has been kind to the action and horror genres, but not so for much else. . . with the last comedies I can remember being either liked or successful ranging all the way back to the buddy cop action comedy The Nice Guys (2016), Game Night and Tag (both 2018), and Good Boys (2019) – of course, there are a few rom/coms and other such things strewn in there, but it hasn’t been a solid stretch for the laugh factory out of Hollywood. Yet, somehow this one has dodged the current comedy killer bullet and survived the dreaded thirty plus year remake/reboot sequel.
Co-written and directed by Akiva Schaffer, the original spark of an idea actually came from the film’s producer, Seth MacFarlane – who thought it would be great seeing Liam Neeson in the Frank Drebin role. Playing Jr. To Leslie Nielsen’s Sr. from the first three films, it only makes sense that Nielsen was Canadian born and part of the British Commonwealth – as you know that an Irish accent sometimes skips a generation and hops an ocean to make its lilt of a return.
Finding a way to pay homage to the original comedy stylings of Jim Abrahams, and David and Jerry Zucker without making it a lame copycat of the classics or simply butchering the laugh out loud premise, Jr. is out to make his dead father proud by helping save Police Squad – which is in dire straits. Paired with Ed Hocken Jr. (Paul Walter Hauser playing George Kennedy’s character’s son), it runs like a quirky action comedy set in a jazzy neo-noir realm.
Meeting many friends and foes along the way, including Beth Davenport (Pamela Anderson) – whose brother has been mysteriously killed in a car accident; Richard Cane (Danny Huston) – a successful tech billionaire, and his tall ultra-threatening assistant Sig Gustafson (Kevin Durand); a sketchy Bartender (Cody Rhodes), and a cryptic Bank Robber (Busta Rhymes), to paraphrase Drebin from the trilogy-ender, ‘like a midget at a urinal, he’ll have to stay on his toes’.
Paying tribute to a beaver, a clothing gag, and some bad driving, thankfully the new Naked Gun team never loses sight of what came before, finding ways to honour the originals without ever feeling old or tired. It can most definitely be stated that not every gag works, some do fall flat (like a snowman sequence that feels more like an homage to Ted than the franchise its working within), but more often than not, the comedy works – with the writing never getting bogged down in current worries or fears. . .its one hour and twenty-five minute runtime doesn’t hurt either.
With some quick cameos from Priscilla Presley and ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic (fun fact – he has now made an appearance in all four of these comedies), they’re used in a makes sense type of way (unlike the recent Happy Gilmore 2 – as the cameos felt both overwhelming and distracting), all of this further accenting Neeson’s seriously dry delivery and sense of humour, Anderson’s go for broke quasi femme fatale (her jazzy singing is probably something never to be matched or rivaled in cinema before or again), and Huston’s counter culture baddie. It must also be noted that the villainous gadget that moves this story forward has the acronym P.L.O.T. Device – you’ve got to appreciate that.
Providing what feels like the first cinematic comedy laugh in a long time, The Naked Gun carries its legacy like a badge of honour, bringing the franchises’ eccentric style of humour into the twenty-first century. Featuring some stellar performances, a cool modern neo-noir comedy vibe, and a memorable score from Lorne Balfe, its got plenty for viewers to enjoy. So, don’t incriminate yourself by not having seen this movie, instead have a hoot returning to the world of Police Squad.