The Naked Gun Review

The idea of a legacy sequel for The Naked Gun is inherently laughable. Yes, everything old is new again in Hollywood, but this is a film series about cramming random jokes into the frame, not long-running lore about its star character, Lt. Frank Drebin. Relaunching the franchise over 30 years later with a Drebin Jr. is, in and of itself, a dumb lark, a knowing wink at the very concept of continuity.

Or, in other words, it’s just another good bit in a funny movie. As directed by Akiva Schaffer, and written with Dan Gregor and Doug Mand, The Naked Gun makes a point of steering into this and every skid it can, making a mess in the process, and then revelling in that aftermath—before quickly moving on to the next riff. That’s true to the form of the original Zucker, Abrahams, and Zucker comedies; so too with this film’s Drebin Jr., played by Liam Neeson. Like Leslie Nielsen before him, Neeson’s hapless cop must stop a devious plot orchestrated right in front of him by the obvious villain (here it’s Danny Huston), while romancing a beautiful dame (Pamela Anderson) mixed up in things. Those are the broad strokes (the jokes get even broader). What’s important is that Neeson and Anderson understand the movie they’re in and exactly how to play their silly characters. Both bring in their pre-existing “brands”—the strait-laced tough guy and breathy bimbo—deploying them to pitch-perfect effect. Taken together, Schaffer’s film is simple enough in concept (though an achievement in execution) that it’s surprising no one thought of this idea sooner.

Now, it’s been remarked that comedy—stand-up, TV, movies, what have you—is different now, or dead. Some long for the time when culture could just revel in tasteless gags, and not care about “political correctness.” Yet here’s a gloriously dumb film that has its fun and also takes aim at some ripe and much-deserved new targets. In other words, The Naked Gun is The Stupid Movie We Need Right Now (complimentary).