A reboot of The Naked Gun has been a long time coming. Luckily, Liam Neeson has understood the assignment. Arriving three decades after the last instalment, Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult, the Irish actor takes the lead as Lt. Frank Drebin Jr, the cop son of Leslie Nielsen’s iconic Police Squad! detective, in a hilariously punchy sequel.
Co-writers Dan Gregor and Doug Mand, the team behind 2022’s magnificently meta Chip N’ Dale: Rescue Rangers, serve up a laugh-a-minute script, bursting with the sort of sight gags, non sequiturs and wordplay that made the cop parody such a defining addition to the comedy genre. Yet there’s a more hard-boiled tone, with Neeson’s Drebin introduced early as a gruff detective who violently dispatches a group of bank robbers – stealing a literal ‘plot device’ – while dressed in a schoolgirl uniform that could give Britney Spears a run for her money.
His brutal methods put him and the Police Squad in jeopardy, and as he investigates the murder of the brother of Pamela Anderson’s blonde bombshell Beth Davenport, he discovers a bigger conspiracy involving Danny Huston’s corrupt CEO. The plot isn’t that compelling, but that’s no bad thing when it’s in service to this many gags – all delivered with the utmost sincerity by the excellent cast.
Neeson’s casting was an inspired choice by executive producer Seth MacFarlane, whose Family Guy humour is keenly felt throughout the film, especially in a cutaway love sequence between Drebin and Beth that escalates hilariously when an enchanted snowman comes to life.
You’d be hard-pushed to find a funnier film this year
Anderson’s casting proves just as rousing. Alongside Neeson, her commitment to every bit shows just how suited they are to comedy, from Drebin referencing Sex and the City in a Miranda rights gag and the actor throwing himself into a whole bodycam diarrhoea scene, to Beth’s scat singing and taking Drebin’s offer of ‘take a seat’ literally.
Paul Walter Hauser, playing the son of George Kennedy’s gormless Captain Ed Hocken, and CCH Pounder, bringing her Claudette-Wyms-in-The-Shield energy to her police chief, add even more witty conviction in their supporting roles. Director Akiva Schaffer’s gusto for the ridiculous has a great track record, from Brooklyn Nine-Nine to Hot Rod, and here his deadpan direction makes the comedy sing.
In the thick of reboot culture, The Naked Gun is a prime example of filmmakers taking a nostalgic piece of cinema and making good on its legacy. It honours the humour above all, and you’d be hard-pushed to find a funnier film this year.
★★★★★
In cinemas worldwide Fri Aug 1
