Director: Akiva Schaffer
Cast: Liam Neeson, Pamela Anderson, Paul Walter Hauser, Danny Huston, Kevin Durand
Screenplay: Dan Gregor, Doug Mand, Akiva Schaffer
85 mins. Rated PG-13 for crude sexual material, violence/bloody images and brief partial nudity.

I don’t know that there’s a comedy franchise more deserving of a resurgence than The Naked Gun. The original film is, to this viewer, the greatest comedy film of all time, and I’ll fight you in the street to defend that. The Naked Gun represents the best in the parody/spoof subgenre, which is a subgenre deserving of a comeback in its own right, and with director Akiva Schaffer (Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping) at the helm and Seth MacFarlane producing, The Naked Gun more than earns its existence, and it’s one of the funniest movies of the last several years.

Frank Drebin Jr. (Liam Neeson, Schindler’s List) has followed in his father’s footsteps by joining Police Squad alongside Ed Hocken Jr. (Paul Walter Hauser, Inside Out 2). When Frank is approached by the seductive Beth Davenport (Pamela Anderson, Borat) and asked to investigate the death of her brother who was involved with tech billionaire Richard Cane (Danny Huston, Wonder Woman), he has to team up with Beth and uncover a nefarious plot to use our own technology against us. Can he stop the crime? Can he save Police Squad? Can somebody get him a coffee?

I would presume that I’m the tough audience for a new Naked Gun film, given my years of history with the classic Leslie Nielsen films, but I’m proud to say that those concerns have been eliminated. Director Akiva Schaffer has crafted a new and extremely funny follow-up to the original films that had me laughing to the point of pain at the sheer onslaught of jokes. Laugh-a-minute gags have packed this 85 minute run time, giving it the feeling of all-killer/no-filler. I could count on one hand the moments that didn’t work. In fact, our theater was enjoying the film so much that I know there were lines and moments I missed due to the raucous laughter, which more than warrants a rewatch very soon.

In opposition to some of the more recent attempts at spoof cinema (notably the various “GENRE Movie” spinoffs of Scary Movie), which focused their energy on pop culture cameos, cliches, and mocking celebrity personalities, The Naked Gun focuses on the cop drama subgenre to mine for laughs, much like its predecessors. There’s a love here, not just for the spoof subgenre and the Leslie Nielsen films which led the way, but also for the very cop films it’s poking fun at. Schaffer’s film also updates the look and feel of The Naked Gun to reflect the changes in cop films since the 90s, with a more hardened and intensified look at policing, taking inspirations from the recent Bad Boys films and similar fare to make something that brings The Naked Gun up to present day. This is echoed by a genuinely sweet albeit silly moment early in the film when Liam Neeson’s Frank Drebin Jr. takes a moment to talk to the plaque on the wall that memorializes his father’s contributions to Police Squad. He asks his father for a sign that it’s okay for him to honor what came before while also being his own thing, something I believe MacFarlane, Schaffer, and Neeson have accomplished.

Liam Neeson is an excellent lead here. I’ve been saying for a while now, Neeson has such a dry delivery that his rare comedic performances have been standouts in a frequently entertaining career. His cameo in Ted 2 and his work in A Million Ways to Die in the West, both with Seth MacFarlane, have shown his talents in much the same way as Nielsen’s comedy works. He’s aided by a very funny Pamela Anderson and a great, though somewhat underused Paul Walter Hauser.

If The Naked Gun carries any flaw, it’s that the central plotline, particularly in its finale, was a little out of place. Now, these movies have never really been about the mystery, more about the characters as in film noir, and we always know who the bad guys are and what their plan is by the end of Act One, so this isn’t so much a surprise, more of a nitpick. I’d also like to see Ed and Nordberg Jr. Get more to do in future installments, as well as hopefully a return of the police cruiser opening titles, which were absent from this film’s opening to keep in line with this installment’s grittier flavor.

I’m so happy we’re in a year with two excellent theatrical comedies, both very different, in Friendship and The Naked Gun. I’m begging you to take some time out this weekend or very soon to seek out The Naked Gun and experience the joy of laughing so damn hard in a packed theater surrounded by strangers and celebrating the long-awaited return of the parody film. I loved The Naked Gun, and I’m looking forward to seeing it again…and again…and again.

4.5/5
-Kyle A. Goethe