'The Naked Gun' Hits its Target
Last week, I saw a legacy sequel that did almost everything you shouldn't do with a delayed continuation. It recycled jokes from the previous film, unsanctimoniously killed classic characters, and featured a hastily put-together plot. That movie was Happy Gilmore 2. The Naked Gun does not follow in the sad tradition that HG2 did. It does what sequels should: pay homage to the past while carving out something new. The Naked Gun refrains from tired joke repetition and a forgettable plot. Well, maybe the plot isn't all too memorable, but when has it ever been with a Naked Gun film?
Avoid watching trailers. Even the one posted in this review gives away the movie's opening. Having said that, let's talk about the already spoiled intro. The picture begins with a bank robbery. With cops surrounding outside the building, a little girl casually walks into the bank. The girl doesn't turn out to be any other small girl. In fact, it's a 73-year-old six-foot man who knows how to kick butt. The sequence humorously shows Detective Frank Drebin Jr. (Liam Neeson) easily disposing of goons. In classic Naked Gun fashion, Drebin takes a bite out of one of the guns like it's a piece of candy. The disarmament is cartoony, just like a Naked Gun film should be, immediately setting the mood for the picture.
Although funny, there are a couple of things in the opening that seemed a bit off. One is the production design. The bank resembles an actual bank, as do the remaining sets, which range from police stations to nightclubs. The original David Zucker films' charm was the fact that everything looked like a cheap set. The artificiality of the production design allowed the jokes to sync in more effectively, as the film visually conveys that everything is fake. Another thing that is off is the lack of the classic opening. It's a relief that 2025's Naked Gun isn't simply a dumping ground for previously used jokes, but the opening credits are a staple of The Naked Gun series.
You know the one. It's where we have a point-of-view shot of the police car as it transitions from the street to increasingly ridiculous scenarios that a car physically couldn't be in, such as a person's kitchen, a roller coaster, or in the trenches of the Death Star. How could the filmmakers drop the ball on that? It's the perfect opportunity to juice up the nostalgia machine while providing new, crazy scenarios for the cop car to be in. They do pay homage to the classic opening by running the intro from the first film during the closing credits. Why? It's an opening credit. Come on, guys! Outside of those two grievances. The movie is a laugh riot.
Writers Doug Mand and Dan Gregor, along with Director/Writer Akiva Schaffer, really understand the material. The movie is structured through Frank’s narration, like the original trilogy. There's also at least one repeated gag from the originals where every time Frank is driving, he drives recklessly, facing no repercussions for mowing down civilians. Drebin is a loose cannon who shoots first and asks questions later. Frank's killed so many people that he forgets who he's whacked. A gag the original did when Frank boasts about how many thugs he's gunned down. Even if some of them were innocent people playing Shakespeare in the park. TNK (2025) upgrades that joke by introducing a tiny bit of political commentary where the humor is about police killing minorities.
One joke that comes off as lame in the trailers is actually hilarious in the film itself. It involves a police body cam with an urgent need to use the bathroom after wolfing down a chili cheese dog. The bit plays like a poop gag in the previews, but in the film, it's more of a police power joke. Don't worry, the film doesn't get political. It only becomes political to the extent that the original films did.
A good comedy doesn't work unless you have good timing. Akiva Schaffer does an excellent job of timing his jokes. For as much as I love the original Naked Gun films, the third one (which wasn't directed by David Zucker) had too many rapid-fire punchlines. The new film takes its time between jokes, so each gag hits harder when the punchline arrives. Helping the humor land is a great cast that keeps the tradition of the originals alive.
What makes good comedy work is when the actors don't play it as comedy. The more serious the performers present it, the funnier it is, since the joke is that they're not in on the joke. Liam Neeson, like Leslie Nielsen, didn't start as a comedic actor. Although not in as renowned roles as Oscar Schindler, Nielsen spent most of his career playing it straight, which is exactly how he approached David Zucker's films. Although Nielsen did play the role with a measure of levity, Neeson plays the material as seriously as a heart attack, and it works wonderfully. Similarly, Pamela Anderson is a notable spiritual successor to Priscilla Presley.
Playing the role of the quasi femme fatale, Anderson ecompasses Preseley's aged sexiness with even more comedic edge than Priscilla had. If there's one weak performance in the script, it comes from Paul Walter Hauser as the son of George Kennedy's Ed Hocken. Ed Hocken Jr. doesn't get a lot of room for laughs. He played Ed, the way Kennedy portrayed the character, with no laughs. Except for a couple. He's just someone for Frank to bounce his stupidity off of. If playing such a serious character, why get a comedic actor to play him? Hauser is underutilized.
No film will ever top the original Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!, but The Naked Gun does a fine job of keeping its satirical spirit alive by delivering the biggest laughs you'll have in a long time. The Police Squad legacy hasn't lost its touch in a faithful sequel that carves its own path, allowing room for more movies to come. If any subsequent films are to be made, this is a great starting point to build upon. Frank Drebin's legacy of inadequacy lives on in a grand continuation that other comedies should take note of. Through clever dialog and gut-busting sight gags, The Naked Gun is here to stay.
On a final note, the movie is appropriately short, clocking in at just over an hour and twenty-five minutes. Perhaps sequels like Happy Gilmore 2 could learn to maintain the original film's length instead of stretching it to an additional forty minutes. In comedy, less is more. It's hard to keep people laughing for over an hour. Please keep more comedies short, like this one.
