'The Naked Gun' review: Liam Neeson spoofs himself in zany cop reboot
Frank Drebin is back on the case. No, not that one. A new one!
With “The Naked Gun” (★★½ out of four; rated PG-13; in theaters Aug. 1), co-writer/director Akiva Schaffer dusts off the slapstick gags, one-liners and non sequiturs popularized by the makers of the “Police Squad!” TV series and “Naked Gun” movies of the 1980s and ‘90s, plus “Airplane!” before them.
It’s an ambitious move, trying to recreate a comedy style so iconic and specific. The cast all commit to the bit with 435% silliness, the old deadpan humor is still there and when the right jokes hit, they’ll leave you in literal tears, even if overall this update doesn’t arrest you as much as it tries hard to make you laugh for 85 minutes straight. (And some folks totally will.)
Another high bar for anything “Naked Gun”: finding someone to fill the goofy shoes of the legendary Leslie Nielsen. Liam Neeson gets the call here to play Frank Drebin Jr., the LA cop son of Nielsen’s original goofball, though he’s mostly spoofing his own “Taken”-inspired action-hero persona.
Alongside partner Ed Hocken Jr. (Paul Walter Hauser), Frank is one of the top cops in Police Squad, a special unit of the LAPD where there’s no end to the coffee cups. After trying to bust up a bank robbery dressed as a little girl, Frank is visited by a femme fatale-type named Beth (Pamela Anderson), whose brother was murdered. His mysterious death ties to rich electric car mogul Richard Cane (Danny Huston), and Frank and Beth partner up, going to nightclubs and an MMA event to bust up Cane’s dastardly secret plans.
There’s actually too much plot to this thing, as it gets in the way of the high-class shenanigans you want to see in a “Naked Gun” movie. Like the police cam footage when Frank eats a chili dog that does a number on his colon, for example. Or a giant ball dropping that also causes Frank to accidentally drop trou.
The new “Naked Gun” acts as a legacy sequel to the original movies, though it doesn’t make the most of that connection. Nordberg Jr. (Moses Jones) throws a knowing, self-aware glance to the camera when he looks at a picture of his dad (O.J. Simpson), but he is barely in the movie. Between that and a quick Bill Cosby wine gag, the comedy feels too safe, and at the same time, it's weirdly dated. Riffing on “Sex and the City” and the Black Eyed Peas seems more suited to the 2000s than now, a curious choice given the recent rise of topical, timely comedy.
You can’t complain about the film’s joke delivery system because the actors are on point. Neeson’s a growly delight, while Huston steals most of his scenes. Anderson continues her mini-resurgence from “The Last Showgirl” to here, where she gets in front of a microphone and has the movie’s single funniest moment. And Hauser is Neeson’s hilarious straight man and a sparkplug for the film, very much a student of the Belushi/Farley school for physical humor.
Every so often, Hollywood enjoys a film that defines its generation of comedy: “Animal House,” "There's Something About Mary," “Old School,” and “The 40-Year-Old Virgin.” Schaffer’s own underrated gem “Pop Star: Never Stop Never Stopping” should have started a revolution. Of course, the Zucker brothers’ “Airplane!” that gave way to the “Naked Gun” franchise.
But the revamp is too much of a throwback to feel original, though it's still refreshing since we don’t see many movies made like it anymore, with snappy wordplay, zany cameos and this much dedication to the absurd.
If you laughed at “Nice beaver” back in the day, “The Naked Gun” will feel like coming home again to a brand of comedy that refuses to grow up.
How to watch 'The Naked Gun' 2025
"The Naked Gun," starring Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson, is in theaters Aug. 1. The comedy is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association "for crude/sexual material, violence/bloody images and brief partial nudity." For those who want to catch up on the old "Naked Gun" films, all three are streaming on Paramount+.