The Naked Gun

If you told me five years ago that the man who redefined the "aging dad with a gun" genre would be spent 85 minutes slipping on digital banana peels, I’d have assumed you’d been huffing too much theater-floor popcorn butter. Yet, here we are in 2025, and Liam Neeson has officially hung up the throat-punching mantle to step into the oversized, clumsy shoes of Frank Drebin Jr. It’s a casting choice that sounds like a fever dream born from a late-night Reddit thread, but it’s precisely the kind of "so crazy it might work" swing that contemporary cinema—currently suffocating under the weight of self-serious multiverses—desperately needed.

I watched this during a cross-country flight while the woman in the middle seat was trying to sleep, and I’m fairly certain my muffled snorting at a scene involving a tactical drone and a rogue leaf blower constitutes a formal violation of FAA regulations.

The Neeson-ance of Deadpan

The DNA of the original Naked Gun was built on the legendary deadpan of Leslie Nielsen, a man who could tell a woman her father had been "shot at a peace rally" with the same gravity he’d use to order a sandwich. Liam Neeson doesn’t try to mimic Nielsen; instead, he leans into his own "particular set of skills" persona. He plays Frank Drebin Jr. with a terrifying, granite-faced intensity that makes the surrounding absurdity ten times funnier. When he delivers a line about a murder suspect while accidentally getting his tie caught in a paper shredder, he doesn't wink at the camera. He plays it like Schindler’s List. Neeson’s face looks like it was carved out of a very serious piece of mahogany, which makes every fart joke hit like a Shakespearean tragedy.

Director Akiva Schaffer (one-third of The Lonely Island) understands that modern spoof movies usually fail because they try too hard to be "in on the joke." Here, the comedy comes from the friction between the high-stakes action aesthetic of the 2020s—gritty lighting, fast cuts, and thumping Lorne Balfe scores—and the fact that our lead character is an absolute moron. Schaffer and co-writer Dan Gregor pack the frame with background gags that demand a second viewing, a refreshing change of pace in an era where most comedies feel like they were written for people scrolling TikTok simultaneously.

A Slapstick Symphony in a CGI World

The action choreography is surprisingly robust for a film where the hero spends most of his time being a menace to public safety. There’s a foot chase through a crowded downtown area that parodies the "Parkour" era of the mid-2010s, but with a Drebin-esque twist: Neeson manages to cause more property damage than the criminal he’s chasing. The stunt work is a clever blend of practical tumbles and the kind of "seamless" CGI we’ve become accustomed to in the MCU, used here specifically to make the physics of a car crash look hilariously impossible.

Pamela Anderson is a revelation as Beth Davenport. She steps into the "Priscilla Presley" role with a self-aware grace, playing the femme fatale who is perpetually confused by Drebin’s lack of basic human logic. Paul Walter Hauser, playing the son of the original Captain Ed Hocken, is the perfect comedic foil. He brings a sweaty, desperate energy to the "Police Squad" closure subplot, grounding the nonsense just enough to give the movie a pulse. Even Danny Huston, usually reserved for "Serious Villain #4," leans into the camp as Richard Cane, a man who seems to be in a completely different, much more expensive movie.

The Legacy of the "Nice Badger"

In an industry currently obsessed with "Legacy Sequels" that treat their source material like holy scripture (I’m looking at you, Ghostbusters), The Naked Gun 2025 is a breath of fresh, slightly flatulent air. It acknowledges the past without being a slave to it. It knows that in 2025, we are drowning in IP, and the best way to honor a spoof franchise is to spoof the very idea of its return. The film treats logic with the same respect a toddler treats a sandcastle, and that’s why it works.

Is it a "masterpiece"? Of course not. It’s a mid-budget studio comedy released in an era where the mid-budget studio comedy is supposedly dead. It arrived with a modest $42 million budget and somehow clawed its way to $102 million at the box office, proving that audiences are tired of being told that "important" movies have to be three hours long and involve a blue beam in the sky. It’s a film that understands the visceral joy of a well-timed visual pun.

Ultimately, this reboot succeeds because it refuses to be cynical. It’s a "Legacy Sequel" that actually feels like it likes movies. Whether it’s the way CCH Pounder plays the Chief with a weary dignity that rivals the best of 70s police procedurals, or the way Kevin Durand shows up just to be an intimidating physical presence, everyone is committed to the bit. If you’re looking for a reason to go back to the cinema—or just a reason to stop doom-scrolling for 85 minutes—Frank Drebin Jr. is waiting. Just watch your step on the way in.