The Naked Gun is the definition of a pleasant surprise. While it likely won’t convert anyone who wasn’t a fan of the franchise previously, it nonetheless offers a slick new cast, a proudly farcical barrel of laughs and an affection for its namesake that’s easy to admire.
The spoof movie has become something of a lost art, but they were all the rage in the ’80s and ’90s. One of the most prominent entries in this genre was The Naked Gun trilogy (1988-1994). Starring the formidable Leslie Nielsen as Frank Drebin, a detective who solved cases despite his own incompetence, they were a delightful bunch of films as endearing as they were shamelessly silly. Akiva Schaffer’s legacy sequel is hitting cinemas this week, and it’s a surprisingly enjoyable revisiting. Its understanding of what made the trilogy work overcomes its faults, resulting in a film that delivers consistent chuckles and even the occasional belly laugh.
Once again, based on the short-lived Police Squad comedy series, 2025’s The Naked Gun follows Drebin’s son, Frank Drebin Jr (Liam Neeson). Having followed in his father’s footsteps to become a leading officer of the Police Squad taskforce, the film begins with Drebin comically foiling a bank heist. However, the robbers’ ringleader escapes with a mysterious object literally called a P.L.O.T Device, which can seemingly cause humans to commit acts of animalistic rage. Drebin discovers that the heist is connected to a suicide case he is investigating, and so he teams up with the suicide victim’s sister, Beth (Pamela Anderson), to solve the case, consequently going up against the dangerous entrepreneur Richard Caine (Danny Huston).
Anyone who’s seen Kingsman: The Secret Service will recognise elements of the villain’s nefarious plan right away – the parallels are numerous to the point of concern. However, the film is less about the story and more about making its audience laugh as often as possible. The plots of the original trilogy were also ridiculous – they included assassinating Queen Elizabeth II at a baseball game and blowing up the Academy Awards – yet they favoured experience over narrative. 2025’s Naked Gun follows suit, embracing its inherent daftness and joy of the ridiculous. In doing so, the film, despite its derivativeness, captures a decent chunk of its predecessors’ spirit.
The original trilogy took virtually every opportunity it could to throw a joke on screen. Barely a frame went by that wasn’t chock full of one-liners, slapstick or blink-and-you-miss-it sight gags – a personal favourite of this critic being a background pole vault joke in Naked Gun 3. This film follows the same template, yielding some strong results full of gleeful giggling. One running gag highlights the challenges of being a police officer by having a miscellaneous hand pass a coffee cup to Drebin, even in situations where it is physically impossible, including one moment where Drebin is handed a coffee while in mid-air. Other sight gags include deliberate uses of mannequin parts for the more ludicrous fight scenes and a tsunami of innuendos whenever Drebin and Beth are alone together. All the while, the screenplay playfully fills as many jokes as possible between the plot-driving dialogue, all of which parody the typical police genre tropes. For example: “Do you suspect foul play?” “Of course not, a chicken couldn’t have done this”.
Modern upgrades include more overt parodies of recent thriller films, most prominently the Mission: Impossible films. One scene is a direct jab at an opening scene in Mission: Impossible – Fallout, while the bank heist at the beginning features Drebin using a mask disguise that Ethan Hunt would likely applaud. These choices perhaps date the film more than its predecessors, but they nonetheless add to the sense of jovial entertainment. All the while, the direction of Akiva Schaffer, who previously helmed 2016’s Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, ensures a breezy pace, picturesque visuals and a consistent overarching narrative. The creativity of the filmmaking comes from its need to amuse us, but the story is never obscured by the comedy.
©Paramount Pictures
Benefitting this sense of humour is how the actors play it completely straight. Many self-aware comedies of recent years have lacked staying power due to their smugness in pointing out that they’re in a comedy – Deadpool is the worst offender. Here, like the original trilogy, the characters are deadly serious in their ambitions, acting as if they’re in a drama rather than a comedy, which just makes the hijinks even funnier. The film rarely panders or condescends to the audience, feeling wholly comfortable in its own skin.
Neeson is a fitting choice to take the reins from Nielson. While he has always been a good actor, Neeson has been somewhat stuck in limbo since the Taken franchise, effectively playing variations of the same role for years. Not only does this film give him a chance to flex his comedic muscles – he’s essentially playing a spoof of his Taken-adjacent roles – but he still harbours that sense of vulnerability within the character. As much as it’s played for laughs, Drebin still wants to live by his father’s example, not just in his shadow, generating a poignant theme of paving one’s own identity. Whether sincere, cynical or delightfully aloof, Neeson embodies the role proudly, playing off of his co-stars, namely Anderson, with charismatic ease.
Naturally, not every joke lands. Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane is among the film’s producers, and when his branch of humour seeps into the fabric – namely, overexcessiveness and cutaway gags – the film nosedives from frequent chuckles to deafening silence. This includes an excruciatingly laboured body cam joke that seems to go on forever, as well as childish toilet humour and sex gags that feel out of place even for this film. Ignoring this, the more derivative sides of the narrative and the deliberately in-your-face approach to the comedy may prove too overwhelming to some. But for those who want a self-aware source of humour that isn’t smug about itself, this film offers that refreshing bout of silliness that has been missing from the comedy genre for far too long.
The Naked Gun, 2025, is the definition of a pleasant surprise. While it likely won’t convert anyone who wasn’t a fan of the franchise previously, it nonetheless offers a slick new cast, a proudly farcical barrel of laughs and an affection for its namesake that’s easy to admire. Anyone who’s been missing a good parody film need fret no longer.
The Naked Gun is showing in cinemas nationwide from August 1st.
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