The Naked Gun
review by Bobby Blakey
In 1982 serious actor the late Leslie Nielsen hit the small screen with the spoof series Police Squad. The series only ran for one season, but in 1988 spun into the hit comedy film The Naked Gun: From the files of Police Squad. The film did well enough to spawn two sequels with Nielsen in the lad alongside George Kennedy, OJ Simpson and Priscilla Presley.
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Over the years there have been a couple of attempts to reboot the franchise but never seemed to happen until it was unexpectedly announced that Liam Neeson was taking on the role of Frank Drebin Jr. It follows in line with bringing a dramatic actor into the role and Neeson has delivered some funny stuff in his career so has the chance to pull it off. Not a lot is known other than Neeson plays the son of the original Drebin and looks to bring the same laughs.
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The film features a great supporting cast including Pamela Anderson, Paul Walter Hauser, CCH Pounder, Kevin Durand, Cody Rhodes, Liza Koshy, Eddie Yu, and Danny Huston from director Akiva Schaffer who also co-wrote with Dan Gregor & Doug Mand and Seth McFarlane producing.
As someone that is a massive fan of the franchise, I was excited to see this but also hesitant on if it would deliver. I revisited both Police Squad and all 3 original films to see if there might be any overlap jokes or anything which was enough to get me excited and ready for this new version. To say this film is funny is an understatement and not only does the franchise justice it is in a league all its own. There is no denying that this is a Police Squad film with it hitting every silly and ridiculous joke you can imagine and had me rolling.
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Both Neeson and Anderson are perfect from their chemistry to playing it straight enough to make it even funnier. Neeson’s every man serious nature is vintage Drebin and his willingness to go l in made it perfection. Anderson brings the sexy and charm while also willing to poke fun at herself and it just works so well. I loved getting to see Hauser get in on this too as he is always great but even more so here. He and Neeson have great banter and comedic timing together.
The story infuses just enough seriousness to make it cohesive but never veers too far from the absurd. There are an insane number of jokes packed in, but not only in the dialogue or by the leads, but in the credits, the props, the background signs and extras and so much more. They perfectly captured the essence of the spoof movie and the world of The Naked Gun in a way that we haven’t seen all that successfully since the original films. There is a silly running coffee gag that made me laugh every time that is just the tip of the iceberg of laugh out loud moments.
I loved this film on every level. I cannot remember the last time I laughed this hard and consistently in a film. I miss these types of films and hope this is just the beginning of quality comedy spoofs and hopefully a new Naked Gun franchise. Be sure to stay through the credits for not only a mid-credit moment that is a reverse homage to the original TV series and one at the end of the credits, but even some joked sprinkled into the credits themselves.
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In addition to the film this release offers bonus content including deleted & extended scenes, outtakes, featurettes and more. Join Police Squad on their latest case with The Naked Gun available now on digital and then on 4K, Blu-ray and DVD on November 11th from Paramount Home Entertainment.
