'The Naked Gun' film review: Neeson makes Leslie Nielsen proud
Perfectly silly and unapologetically outrageous, 'The Naked Gun' (opening in theaters on Aug. 1) is comedy gold.
In short: Lt. Frank Drebin Jr (Liam Neeson) investigates a bank robbery that may be connected to a much larger plot that threatens the world. Pamela Anderson, Paul Walter Hauser, and Danny Huston also star.
This 2025 iteration of the comedy is actually the fourth film in the 'Naked Gun' series, with Neeson playing the son of Leslie Nielsen's version of Frank Drebin. But for all intents and purposes, this modern version is effectively a soft reboot of the series as Frank Drebin Jr is every bit as dim-witted and dead panned as his father. And writer-director Akiva Schaffer's update is a worthy successor to the David Zucker's original trilogy.
The one big pivot between the new Neeson movie and the Leslie Nielsen movies is this new iteration is much more an action-focused movie - which makes sense as Neeson has curated a much more action-movie aligned resume in the past decade. Whereas the original 'Police Squad!' series was more slap-stick and parody of police procedural TV shows of the '60s and '70s, this 2025 flick is really just the classic 'Naked Gun' movies but featuring more action sequences.
What Neeson and Nielsen have in common is that both created long careers in dramatic work before stepping into these comically absurd movies - which is really the core of what defines a 'Naked Gun' movie: an grounded performance of an earnest cop saying the most ridiculous things possible. And in this vein, Neeson is a perfect fit: the 'Naked Gun' world itself is cartoonish but Lt. Frank Drebin Jr is just trying to solve crimes and save the day.
Pamela Anderson's total commitment to her revenge-driven author trying to solve a family member's suspicious death elevates her from just being an attractive love interest. The script asks its actors to just jump into the unabashedly ludicrous story and Anderson proves her comedic mettle.
Honestly, it's been a very long time since any comedy has elicited so many laughs - an execution of controlled stupidity and silliness unrivaled by any other movie this year. 'The Naked Gun' balances comedic performance, hilarious gags and action sequences - all bundled in a brisk 85-minute runtime.
Final verdict: 'The Naked Gun' is a standout, laugh-out-loud comedy of 2025. It's so irreverently stupid - in all the best ways possible.
Score: 3.5/5
'The Naked Gun' opens in theaters nationwide starting Aug. 1. The animated comedy has a runtime of 85 minutes and is rated PG-13 for crude/sexual material, violence/bloody images and brief partial nudity.
