Last Updated on August 4, 2025
PLOT: Lt. Frank Drebin Jr. (Liam Neeson) runs afoul of an evil tech genius (Danny Huston) while being aided by a mysterious femme fatale (Pamela Anderson).
REVIEW: I did something I hadn’t done in a long time at the early screening of The Naked Gun I attended earlier this week — I laughed myself silly in a movie theatre. It’s been years since I’ve seen a movie this funny theatrically, and boy did I miss the sound of a theatre full of people cackling so loud I occasionally missed a joke. I’ve missed comedy, and this was a really good one.
I’ll admit, I was wary of a Naked Gun reboot. I love the original movies (even the much-maligned third), but it’s been a while since anyone did a laugh-a-minute spoof like this. That said, director Akiva Schaffer turned out to be the right guy to tackle the formula. He already made the underrated Hot Rod, Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, and the better-than-expected Chip ’n Dale: Rescue Rangers movie. He nails the tone here, embracing the kind of dumb humour that made the originals so much fun, with the occasional knowing wink at the audience that shows there’s some real smarts behind all the laughs.
Of course, the most important ingredient is the man playing Drebin: Liam Neeson. If there’s any justice, The Naked Gun will do for him what Airplane! did for Leslie Nielsen. He absolutely nails the deadpan approach — even when things get silly and stupid, he never acts like he knows he’s in a comedy. No winking at the audience. He plays it straight, and that’s what makes the jokes land so well. Neeson’s Drebin is just as violent as his dearly departed dad, and there’s even a nod to one of the darker controversies in Neeson’s real-life career — so edgy that it got gasps in the theater, followed by serious laughs. It’s a testament to how cool Neeson is that he let it stay in.
Pamela Anderson is just as good as his mysterious love interest, Beth, who — like Neeson — never acts like she’s in a comedy. She nails the tone, and her chemistry with Neeson is off the charts. There’s a hilarious love montage involving a snowman that’s bound to go viral. It’s a brilliant follow-up to her career-redefining role in The Last Showgirl.
Another inspired addition is Danny Huston as the villain — a tech guru very obviously based on Elon Musk, named Richard Cane. Huston is so well-known for playing villains in action movies that if this were a straight, non-comedy version of the same story, he’d still be cast in the same role (ditto Kevin Durand as his henchman). Huston’s even played bad guys in Liam Neeson movies like Marlowe. Paul Walter Hauser is great as Ed Hocken Jr. (son of George Kennedy’s character), and CCH Pounder seems to be having the time of her life as the police commissioner on Drebin’s ass — a goofy recurring gag with her husband really made me laugh myself silly.
Some might say The Naked Gun is stupid — and that’s exactly the point. It’s stupid like a fox, and also really funny. It’s probably the best movie of its kind since Hot Shots: Part Deux, and honestly, I think I laughed more at this than I did watching The Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult. Lorne Balfe’s score sounds like it was lifted from a legit action movie (which makes everything funnier than if it were goofy), and the whole thing wraps up in a tight 85 minutes. And if you’re a fan of The Naked Gun or Police Squad, make sure you stay until the end of the credits — there are some great callbacks.
Honestly, folks, I had more fun watching this than anything in a long time.
