Review: 'The Naked Gun' means well, and that's good enough

Paramount Pictures, 2025.

When we're talking about "The Naked Gun" franchise, we're on sacred ground.

The original trilogy of films - themselves based on the short-lived ABC series "Police Squad!" - are without question among my favorite comedies of all time. The first movie, 1988's "The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!" is a perfect movie. No one will be able to ever convince me otherwise. 1991's "The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear" is held just as closely to my heart. 1994's "Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult" is admittedly a step down, but still a beloved classic in my book.

OJ Simpson - the NFL star who had appeared in the series as the bumbling, injury-prone Officer Nordberg, and whom you may remember from the Trial of the Century - derailed the rumored fourth installment: "Naked Gun 4 1/4: The Second Final Insult." Add that to the list of things not to forgive OJ for.

It's now been over 30 years since we've heard from Police Squad, and i felt extreme trepidation when I heard that ZAZ - the comedy team and creators of the original trilogy (Jerry Zucker, David Zucker, and Jim Abrahams - who passed away in 2024) - was not involved in this 2025 reboot. The reins have been passed to The Lonely Island's Akiva Schaffer, who attempts to not only relaunch this beloved movie franchise, but to reinvigorate the all-but-extinct theatrical comedy.

Does he succeed? His take on "The Naked Gun" is at times laugh-out-loud funny, and feels reverent enough to the originals. It's a bit inconsistent and redundant, even at a tight 85-minute run-time. There really hasn't been anything quite like this at the movies in what feels like forever. But you can't call a movie "The Naked Gun" without inviting the inevitable comparisons to the previous films. And that's where Schaffer's film feels a bit slight.

Grade: B-

Only Priscilla Presley remains, of the original core cast. The late Leslie Nielsen (who played Lt. Frank Drebin), Capt. Ed Hocken (George Kennedy) and Mayor Barkley (Nancy Marchand) are all gone, but Police Squad is still going strong. Now there is Frank Drebin Jr. (Liam Neeson), Ed Hocken Jr. (Paul Walter Hauser) and Chief Davis (CCH Pounder, channeling the spirit of Marchand's performance). They smartly decide to leave Nordberg in the past, but not before landing one more hilarious OJ joke on the way out.

Drebin Jr. is trying to fill his daddy's shoes, and we get glimpses of a tortured, self-loathing soul beneath his hardened, serious demeanor. He definitely inherited his dad's naivety, and his penchant for providing noir-inspired voice-over.

A tech billionaire (Danny Huston) and his henchman, Sig (Kevin Durand) have stolen something literally called the P.L.O.T. Device, which gives them the power to turn everyone in the world into raging animals. Only the elite will be saved. Beth Davenport (Pamela Anderson) is involved and takes a liking to Frank, as they join forces to save the world from this dastardly threat.

The film starts strong, with Neeson fully committed to the buffoonery. It shares the DNA of the original trilogy and takes some big swings...not every gag lands, but we'd be looking through rose-colored glasses to pretend the old ones were without duds. There are some legitimately funny, clever sequences and jokes that fit well in this world. I laughed often and loud.

But the film isn't as consistently funny as I wanted it to be to call it an "instant classic." I was also a bit disappointed that - with 30+ years of movies and culture to pull from - this movie was quite short on topical humor or current observations. Neeson is all-in, but the material only serves him some of the time. Danny Huston is always an effective baddie, but his Richard Crane doesn't hold a candle to previous villains in the series.

The best "dumb" comedy is actually quite smart, but "The Naked Gun" isn't consistently as clever as I wanted it to be. Forget the original trilogy for a moment...if you hold this movie up to the recent gem "Weird: The Al Yankovic Story," this version of "The Naked Gun" is far inferior in nearly every single way.

Criticisms aside, what a refreshing breath of fresh air it is, to see a comedy like this on the big-screen. Just as Frank Drebin looks to save the world, I hope "The Naked Gun" can save movie theaters, where comedies like this are not just desired, they're needed.

Shaffer's efforts were well-intentioned, and "The Naked Gun," at the very least, may reinvigorate the spoof comedy genre. Lord knows we all could use a good laugh, and there are plenty to be found in the world of Police Squad!, where legends like Lt. Frank Drebin can quite literally live forever.

Grade: B-

Genre: Comedy, Crime.
Run Time: 1 hour 25 minutes.
Rated PG-13.

Starring: Liam Neeson, Pamela Anderson, Paul Walter Hauser, Danny Huston, Kiven Durand, CCH Pounder.

Co-Written & Directed by Akiva Schafer ("Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers," "Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping").

"The Naked Gun" is in theaters everywhere on Friday, August 1st, 2025.