The Naked Gun (2025) Movie Review - Arrested for Man’s Laughter
In all of my years of reviewing movies, I cannot remember the last time I made a review of a comedy, unless you count “Madame Web”. The thing is, reviewing comedies was never really my thing, mainly because of the decline in comedic writing over the past several years—whether it’s because of the rise of the killer of all comedy: political correctness, or filmmakers pulling the safest strategy of trying not to offend anybody and or the writers going for the lowest, talent-less form of comedy that not even a child in the womb would laugh at. Many outliers do exist, but for every hilarious exception like the satirical comedy “The Death of Stalin” or “Four Lions,” you’re going to get four more so-called ‘comedies’ that crap the bucket. Many genres are hard to execute, but comedy—in particular—is one of the hardest genres to perfect in Hollywood, because you have to not only do the basics of writing good characters and plotting, you have to keep the audience entertained with whatever type of comedy you approach them with for an hour and a half.
One of the comedy directors that used to pull it off back in the day was David Zucker. Back in the day, he hit it out of the park in the 1980s with the help of his brother, Jerry, and Jim Abrahams, making cinemas explode with laughter one parody comedy at a time. Whether it’s one of the best directorial debuts for a comedy, Airplane, or the comedy that has something to do with today’s review, The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (which was based on the 1980 television series Police Squad!) Starring one of the great dry comedic talents, Leslie Nielsen, as the dimwitted lieutenant of Police Squad, Frank Drebin, it was a film layered with funny and raunchy slapstick, visual gags, well-timed non-sequiturs and an absurd plot that could only work if given to the right kind of talents. The success of that movie conceived two more sequels, until putting the series to rest after the third installment in 1994.
With the rise of legacy sequels in Hollywood—some that are prestigious marvels in the cinematic landscape and the other is Halloween Ends, it was a bit of a surprise to see (of all things) a legacy sequel to the well acclaimed Naked Gun movies. The only question is whether or not it lives up to the legacy of those films generations ago? The truth is ladies and gentlemen, The Naked Gun (2025) is ridiculously funny and is the kind of comedy that every spoof fanatic has always dreamed of!
On patrol in the city of Los Angeles is Lieutenant Frank Drebin Jr., the son of Frank Drebin from the original Naked Gun, who is assigned to investigate a car accident of a software engineer after his over-the-top antics during a bank heist. But once he discovers a clue in connection to the bank heist from before, he suspects the software engineer’s death is linked to the wicked deeds of electric vehicle mogul Richard Cane of Edentech, who has bigger, more outlandish plans in mind. With the assistance of Capt. Ed Hocken Jr. and the sister of her murdered brother, Frank Drebin Jr., must do whatever it takes to stop Richard Cane before crap hits the fan.
One of the most ingenious facets of this film’s hilarious quality is the mind behind it. Comedy writer Akiva Schaffer is known for his outlandish comedic ideas, particularly in experiences with SNL. When branching out to make feature-length movies like the mockumentary “Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping”, he was able to take advantage of his prior advantages and bring them into the fold. When directing a spoof like this, you believe, in every second of screen-time, that he did his homework; figuring out how the original series handled its outlandish comedy. Schaffer’s direction feels incredibly inspired and feels in line with the original “Naked Gun”. Everything from the execution of the opening robbery set-piece, use of celebrity cameos, the running gag of Drebin and his partner receiving cups of coffee wherever they go, the hysterical blink-and-you’ll-miss-it visual gags, and absurd flashback sequences like one scene involving a snowman being brought to life, are all done with absolute careful consideration and never comes off as a tired sketch from SNL.
Much of Schaffer’s comedic talent as a writer is reinforced by Liam Neeson’s straight-faced, yet goofball performance that is every bit as perfect as Leslie Nielsen from generations ago. We’ve witnessed him in dramatic and action roles, but it’s not often that we see Liam Neeson as a comedic leading man. But what he has to offer, followed by Akiva Schaffer’s quick-witted writing, is one of the finest comedic performances of the entire year. His confused, wacky and serious mannerisms are off the charts and the line delivery of certain punchlines and many instances of the movie’s hilarious dialogue cannot be matched. Thank you for the casting suggestion, Seth MacFarlane.
Pamela Anderson also joins the cast and, being the spoof comedy veteran she is, is able to give a very ditsy performance of clumsy, yet flirtatious Beth Davenport. Danny Huston as the main villain is not only terrific casting in a meta sense due to him playing hundreds of villainous roles, but as a character he is every bit as charming and appropriately over-the-top as you can get, and his plans to take over the world while ushering in his own utopia for billionaires around the US is so in line with the absurdity of the spoof premise that you can’t help laugh and be along for the ride.
If there’s one significant gripe I have towards the film it’s that some of the jokes are weaker than most, and the comedy at times goes a bit far too long than it should. Just when you figure out what the punch line is, they stretch out the joke as the director thought that it was okay for the actor to improvise to try and make the already funny joke even funnier.
The Naked Gun (2025) is a return to form for the spoof-comedy sub-genre. It embraces its premise without being a juvenile sketch. It’s humorous and raunchy without being grotesque or needlessly crass. A remarkable, one-of-a-kind tribute to the glory days of a bygone era of 1980s spoof comedy made by a comedy mastermind and made better by a legendary performer. Prepare to have the laugh-filled time of your life!
RATING: 4/5
