“The Naked Gun” Definitely Delivers the Laughs

“The Naked Gun” started making audiences laugh in theaters in 1988 with “The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad.” After the parody movie became a hit, it was followed up with two sequels: “The Naked Gun 2 ½: The Smell of Fear” (1991) and “Naked Gun 33 ⅓: The Final Insult” (1994).

After many attempts of bringing the hilarious franchise back to the big screen, the series is back to bring plenty of laughs for everyone once again in “The Naked Gun.”

Only one man has the particular set of skills - to lead the Police Squad.

Lt. Frank Drebin Jr. becomes a police officer like his legendary father and must save the police department from shutting down by solving an important case.

It seemed like it’s been forever since a really good parody movie was in theaters. And “The Naked Gun” movies are still hilarious today. Even the third movie (which is definitely the weakest of the trilogy) had some funny moments. As soon as I started seeing the hilarious trailers for this movie, I was immediately won over.

“The Naked Gun” (2025) is, by far, one of the most hilarious comedies that have recently been released. It has been some time since I laughed that hard during a recent theatrical comedy and I’m sure some of the other audience members would agree since I heard quite a few of them laughing hard and having a great time.

This new continuation of the series does an incredible job capturing the spirit of the original movies and I swear there are so many jokes and gags that there is at least one every minute. There are a couple jokes that didn’t quite land, but other than that, there is no way you can get through this comedy without laughing. 

Liam Neeson really did a great job portraying Frank Drebin Jr. Just like the previous “Naked Gun” star Leslie Nielson, Neeson knocks it out of the park with the deadpan humor and his comedic chops and timing is perfect. Even Pamela Anderson, who made

a big comeback with the indie film “The Last Showgirl,” has a few funny moments in the movie.

There are so many humorous moments scattered throughout the new comedy that they all really stand out. The opening bank robbery scene where Drebin Jr. disguises himself as a little girl has been used in all of the marketing and the entire scene is still hilarious.

Even some of the background gags are truly hysterical! There’s a background gag that reveals the police department’s cold case files are stored in a literal walk-in freezer. And, another one just popped into my head as I’m typing this - in one scene you see them hanging a “Spirit Halloween” banner on the police department building. The list of gags go on and on and all of them will have you laughing so hard, you may even miss the next joke (which happened during the showing that I attended).

“The Naked Gun” marks a truly successful return of the classic spoof/parody comedy style, which is a much-needed breath of fresh air for the comedy genre. Like I said before, the movie also captures the spirit of the original movies and it also offers something new and original, preventing it from feeling like a tired typical remake/reboot.

Cast: Liam Neeson (Frank Drebin Jr.); Pamela Anderson (Beth Davenport); Paul Walter Hauser (Ed Hocken Jr); Danny Huston (Richard Cane); CCH Pounder (Davis); Kevin Durand (Sig Gustafson); Liza Koshy (Detective Barnes); Eddie Yu (Detective Park).

Writer/director: Dan Gregor (Disney Plus original Chip ‘n’ Dale: Rescue Rangers; Disney Plus original Magic Camp; Dolittle) (writer); Doug Mand (writer); Akiva Schaffer (writer and director) (Pop Star: Never Stop Never Stopping; Chip ‘n’ Dale: Rescue Rangers).

Trivia: Development commenced in 2009 for a project initially slated as a direct to TV release featuring Leslie Nielsen. Titled “The Naked Gun 4: Rhythm of Evil,” the concept unfolded as a passing the torch narrative, with Frank Drebin mentoring a younger officer. In December 2013, Paramount Pictures announced that a reboot of the franchise was in development with Ed Helms cast in the role of Drebin. Development didn’t go much further.

In January 2021, it was announced that Seth MacFarlane had been hired to further develop the project and was officially green-lit in October 2022.

MPA; Rated PG-13 for crude/sexual material, violence/bloody images and brief partial nudity   (runtime 85 minutes).

Make sure to keep on checking my Wyoming County Press Examiner Reviews page on Facebook for updated posts about what I will be reviewing next for the paper! For the August 20 edition, I will have reviews for “Happy Gilmore 2,” “Mrs. Doubtfire” (In Memory Robin Williams), “Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind” (In Memory Robin Williams) and “War of the Worlds” (2005) (summer throwback). And when I get back from a little break, I will be playing catch up with new releases, such as “Freakier Friday,” “Weapons” and one or two others!

• Liam Neeson was 72 years-old at the time of filming, five years older than Leslie Nielsen was at the time he made his final film appearance as Frank Drebin (aged 67 at the time he filmed 'Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult').

• Development commenced in 2009 for a project initially slated as a direct-to-TV release featuring Leslie Nielsen. Titled 'The Naked Gun 4: Rhythm of Evil,' the concept unfolded as a passing-the-torch narrative, with Frank Drebin mentoring a younger police officer.

• The scene in the end credits when the cop car is driving through a house, on the sidewalk, etc. is the same scene in the original film's opening credits.

• The first Naked Gun film produced after the death of franchise co-creator Jim Abrahams in 2024.

• Third collaboration between Liam Neeson and Seth MacFarlane, after A Million Ways to Die in the West (2014) and Ted 2 (2015). Neeson also guest-starred in MacFarlane's series Family Guy (1999) and The Orville (2017).