The Naked Gun (2025) Paramount/Action-Comedy RT: 85 minutes Rated PG-13 (crude/sexual material, violence/bloody images, brief partial nudity) Director: Akiva Schaffer Screenplay: Dan Gregor, Doug Mand and Akiva Schaffer Music: Lorne Balfe Cinematography: Brandon Trost Release date: August 1, 2025 (US) Cast: Liam Neeson, Pamela Anderson, Paul Walter Hauser, Danny Huston, CCH Pounder, Kevin Durand, Liza Koshy, Eddy Yu, Moses Jones.
Rating: ** ½
I expected “the new version” of The Naked Gun to be terrible. The trailer did nothing for me although I did chuckle at the OJ Simpson diss. I had terrifying visions of it being like the Vacation sequel/reboot from ten years ago, unfunny to the extreme and gross to the max. I wouldn’t put it past some young filmmaker to f*** it up like that.
Thankfully, that’s not the case with The Naked Gun. It’s not terrible. It’s not all that good either. Simply put, it’s not as funny as it thinks it is. Theoretically, a lot of it should be funny. Director Akiva Schaffer (Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping) follows the same basic formula as the original Naked Gun movies (1988-94). That right there is the problem! A lot of it feels too measured, too deliberate. It lacks the rapid-fire spontaneity of the originals from Team ZAZ (Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker). The gags, of which there are many, don’t flow naturally.
The good news is The Naked Gun has a secret weapon, two of them actually. The first is Liam Neeson, the successor to the role previously played by the late Leslie Nielsen (hey, they both have the same initials!). It turns out the Taken star has comedy game. He slays it with his deadpan delivery style in the midst of all the absurdity. He plays it like he’s NOT in on the joke. Even the silliest lines come off as things he might say in one of his action films. That’s the real punchline! The other one is former Baywatch babe Pamela Anderson as the love interest and potential femme fatale. She channels the still-living Priscilla Presley (the sole surviving major cast member of the Naked Gun trilogy) by proving she’s up for anything the screenplay throws at her- e.g. a threesome with a snowman brought to life (don’t ask). If not for these two, The Naked Gun would be a bigger misfire.
The plot, as usual for these movies, is hardly important. It’s merely a thread connecting the goofy sight gags and one-liners. It has something to do with an evil tech billionaire (Huston, Yellowstone) looking to restart the world via a gadget called “P.L.O.T. Device” (okay, that’s funny) that turns people into crazed lunatics. Liam plays Lt. Frank Drebin Jr. of Police Squad, a veteran cop always trying to fill his father’s shoes. He’s a regular chip off the old block with how he handles the job. He’s this close to be kicked off the force by the Chief (Pounder, Avatar: The Way of Water) for constantly breaking the rules and playing by his own.
Frank Jr. is reassigned to traffic duty after foiling a bank robbery in his own inimitable way. He gives new meaning to disarming a suspect. His first case involves a car crash that initially looks like a suicide. That’s when Pamela, playing the victim’s sister Beth, shows up to set Frank straight. Not only is it murder, it’s somehow connected to the bad tech guy.
I’ve already spent too much time talking about something that doesn’t matter in the slightest so let’s move on other things. I’ve already stated that The Naked Gun doesn’t always work. Like with any comedy, it’s hit or miss. This one misses more than it hits, but not for lack of trying. On the contrary, it tries too hard. Schaffer, along with co-writers Dan Gregor (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) and Doug Mand (Dolittle), desperately wants to recreate the magic of Team ZAZ, the genius madmen behind the greatest movie spoof of all time, 1980’s Airplane! They also created Police Squad!, the short-lived TV series that served as the basis for The Naked Gun films. Sadly, Akiva and his guys aren’t wholly successful.
To be fair, I chuckled a few times throughout The Naked Gun. It’s amusing. It has a few cool cameos including a quickie by Ms. Presley. Yes, series mainstay Weird Al Yankovic shows up again, but not until the post-credits scene. And speaking of the credits, there are a few hidden gags among the long list of names and job titles. Some of The Naked Gun is crude. There’s a series of vulgar shadow gags out of Austin Powers. I’m glad Akiva largely avoids gross humor save for one line about a woman’s bottom and a bit involving Frank’s reaction to chili dogs. It’s mostly silly. Pamela does a scat-jazz number. Frank gets into a lot of slapstick fights. But like I said, it’s all too measured to be hilarious.
I’m not sure if I can recommend The Naked Gun, but I can say it’s not one to avoid. Like I said, it’s amusing. It’s generally good-natured as opposed to mean-spirited. It has a few sweet callbacks to the original. It’s just not the same as the OG despite all attempts to be the same. It could have much better, but it also could have been much worse. Keep your expectations low.
