The Naked Gun
Considered to be the fourth instalment in the Naked Gun/Police Squad franchise, The Naked Gun starring Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson aims to bring slapstick comedy back to the silver screen with a bang as we see Detective Frank Drebin Jr (Neeson) follow in the footsteps of his calamitous father, to try and solve a murder case. But this case is different to the rest, and before long Drebin Jr finds himself in a race against time to save the world.
It feels like a lifetime since we have had a movie as outrageously abstract as this, created purely with the intention of making us laugh in the simplest of ways. The original Naked Gun movies starring the late great Leslie Nielsen are iconic, immortalised through their devastatingly brilliant stupidity and excellent executions, so it is no easy task for director Akiva Schaffer to harness the magic of the early films and rebirth it in a palatable modern incarnation. However, along with first-rate performances from Neeson and Pamela Anderson, he appears to have done it.
Neeson continues to show he is in fantastic nick for his age, capable of delivering powerful action sequences, riotous humour as well as the strong solemnity we know him so well for. Anderson also has brilliant comedic timing, taking on a similar love-interest role to Priscilla Presley in the original trilogy, and together the pair have excellent on-screen chemistry. Of course, the film is immensely and unashamedly self-aware, but that is the beauty of this franchise; it is pure old-school, slapstick comedy. Is some of the dialogue too on the nose? Perhaps, possibly too much, but the recurring jokes and references to earlier movies never get old. There is no way you won’t laugh out loud watching this movie.
Naturally, comedy is entirely subjective, and whether some viewers may see The Naked Gun as all downright stupid is a very real possibility, but ridiculous is what the Police Squad do best, and that is what we are here for. You must go into the cinema in the right mindset and be fully aware of what this franchise stands for, then you will have a raucously good time. It captures a style of comedy that feels increasingly lost with each passing year. In fact, before you view all the hilarious antics of this film, there is a plea from Neeson to the viewer to support cinematic comedies, because in Hollywood, the genre is slowly dying. What this heartwarming tribute to the enchanting Leslie Nielsen does is show that the genre is not going down without a fight.
Guy Lambert
The Naked Gun is released nationwide on 1st August 2025.
Watch the trailer for The Naked Gun here:
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