“It’s a painstaking, arduous task that seems to go on and on forever, and just when you think things are going your way, nothing happens.”
That’s Lt. Frank Drebin’s deadpan description of making love from 1991’s The Naked Gun 2 ½.
The same could be said of watching most comedy-movie reboots, which often drag on, simply reminding viewers why the originals remain superior (see 2011’s Arthur, a pale imitation of the Dudley Moore-Liza Minnelli film).
That’s not the case with The Naked Gun. Producer Seth MacFarlane (The Family Guy, Ted) and director/cowriter Akiva Schaffer (part of the Lonely Island, the comedy trio responsible for viral Saturday Night Live songs like “D— in a Box”) have captured the essence of the original 1988 film and its two sequels — starring the late Leslie Nielsen as hapless L.A. Police Squad lieutenant Frank Drebin — while updating the humor for 2025.
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In Schaffer’s delightful version, the flurry of double entendres, slapstick humor and surprise celebrity cameos remains; the cringey quips about race and disability are a thing of the past. It’s a tight 85-minute treat with gags that continue into the credits.
Nielsen’s worthy successor is Liam Neeson, an action hero who proves he has a “particular set of skills” (to borrow his famous phrase from Taken) when it comes to comedy too.
He plays Drebin’s son, Lt. Frank Drebin Jr., who becomes involved with the mysterious femme fatale Beth Davenport (an excellent Pamela Anderson) when he investigates the suspicious death of her brother.
It’s soon clear that a (completely ridiculous) conspiracy is afoot involving nefarious tech mogul Richard Cane (Danny Huston, deliciously oily), with whom Beth’s brother worked.
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Like their predecessors Nielsen and Priscilla Presley, Neeson and Anderson deliver every line and play each scene with a seriousness normally reserved for melodrama.
When the widowed Frank tells Beth that his wife died, she says, “My condolences. How did she pass?” Frank replies, “Great. Fifty yards, easy. Arm like a cannon. And then she died. So we’ll never know if she could’ve gone pro.”
Neeson’s gruff delivery amplifies the comedic moments, including Frank’s raspy-voiced musical ode to Davenport (he awkwardly rhymes “Beth” and “breasts”).
Anderson, fresh off her acclaimed turn as a faded Las Vegas entertainer in The Last Showgirl, is also game to get silly, whether she’s scatting with abandon while accompanying a jazz band or playing off Neeson with perfect timing.
“Take a chair,” Frank says to Beth, inviting her to sit in his office when they first meet. As she leaves, she takes the chair with her. Anderson, meanwhile, nearly walks off with the movie.
The Naked Gun is in theaters Aug. 1.
