The Naked Gun (2025) info:
Director: Akiva Schaffer
Writer: Dan Gregor, Doug Mand, and Akiva Schaffer
Starring: Liam Neeson, Pamela Anderson, Paul Walter Hauser, and Danny Huston
Hello and welcome to another week here at 1guysmindlessmoviereviews.com. We are now halfway through August and only a couple of weeks away from Labor Day, which means we are also nearing the end of summer. But, more importantly, we are nearing the end of the summer movie season. As everyone knows, the summertime is when a majority of the big-budget, top-grossing films normally get released. Once school is back in session, they lose a chunk of audience to school and school-related activities.
But we still have plenty to choose from for now, as my pick this week is the first full-on comedy movie that I’ve seen in a theater in a long time. It’s the 2025 version of “The Naked Gun”. I can’t think of the last time a comedy spoof movie was a wide release like this. But we can talk about spoof in a minute; first, we need to discuss spoilers. If you haven’t seen “The Naked Gun” yet and don’t want to be in on the joke, then head over to my website and check out some other reviews first.
Ok, so “The Naked Gun” was directed by Akiva Schaffer, whom most of you may know as one-third of Lonely Island. A lot of their work is pretty funny, so it must run in his blood. Anyone who has seen any of the three older Naked Gun films will know what to expect here, and you would be correct. This is just good old-fashioned comedy that is way funnier than it should be and over-the-top just the right amount.
The aptly named Neeson plays Frank Drebin Jr., the son of Leslie Nielsen’s Frank Drebin from the earlier flicks. He plays the role perfectly, almost as if Nielsen himself was channeled through him at times. Right from the start, the gags come at you left and right (just like the coffee cups), but not so much that you lose sight of the plot. Having most of the cast playing straight man to Neeson’s tomfoolery works well at the beginning, then having Anderson’s Beth Davenport join in the madness turns it up a notch. Ed Hocken Jr. (Hauser), Chief Davis (CCH Pounder), and Richard Cane (Huston) are there for the ride as the other two carry a majority of the film’s jokes.
It seems that Police Squad is in trouble, and Frank’s actions aren’t helping much, so he is pulled off a big case to work on traffic accidents with Ed. Of course, the first crash he investigates is somehow linked back to the big case and to Beth as well. It was Beth’s brother who died in the crash. As Frank gets deeper into the case, he also falls for Beth, and the two end up together.
“The Naked Gun” had lots of nods to the original films, but they didn’t play them scene by scene (like Happy Gilmore 2 did). Instead, they appeared to be carefully thought out and executed funnily. The best one was the love montage between Frank, Beth, and the re-animated snowman. It was absolutely brilliant, and I read in an interview that Akiva came up with it on a whim and they barely changed a single scene of it. But it did a good job of reminding me of the love montage between Nielsen and Priscilla Presley.
It wasn’t all roses and daisies, though. Some scenes ran on too long, and a couple fell somewhat flat. It’s odd to say that a movie that has a runtime of 85 minutes had parts that went too long, but a few of the jokes were drawn out for what seems to be no reason at all. Also, I didn’t really like the owl scene where he thought he was talking to his dad. It was way overdone and nothing like what I would have expected in the movie. But I think you get those in these types of films.
Overall, “The Naked Gun” was a refreshing change and a fun way to laugh for an hour and a half. It’s delightful to laugh in a full theater full of others who are also laughing. It was very funny and had nods to the old ones. I hope they can use the same characters, writers, and directors, and can make a couple more of these. The fun time I had and some great gags earn this a 7 out of 10.
This is for me this week, but now it’s your turn. Have you seen “The Naked Gun” yet? If so, what are your thoughts? Were you a fan of the old ones, or are you new to the franchise? Let me know in the comments, and I will be back next week with a film nobody will be able to guess… crap, I just gave it away, didn’t I?
Okay, going into it, I wasn’t sure how Liam Neeson would do at comedy, but then I’ve heard people thought the same about Leslie Nielsen going into the first Airplane. Gotta say, he nailed it. I saw it on Saturday, and I’m still laughing about it on Monday. Some of the voiceover lines are just priceless. They even managed to get at little dig at O.J. along the way. I grew up watching the old movies, and this is a very fitting update. They even managed to bring in the freeze-frame gag in the credits from the old Police Squad show, that the first three movies never did. I was so disappointed on seeing the outtakes, though. They did a reference to Airplane that got cut. That is truly a crime, but that’s an entirely different matter, altogether. And don’t call me Shirley.