“The Naked Gun” is Fully Loaded
It’s summertime, which means the smell of nostalgia almost overpowers the buttery scent of popcorn in movie theaters. The Naked Gun originated as the Police Squad! TV series in the ’80s before inspiring three films that all feature Leslie Nielsen. He plays Detective Sergeant Frank Drebin, arguably one of the worst cops ever committed to film…that is until it’s time for his son to take the reins in this year’s The Naked Gun.
Lt. Frank Drebin Jr. (Liam Neeson), like many sons in many legacy sequels, is trying to make his dad proud. He works on the same squad as his father, but hasn’t reached the same heights. Frank is presented with an opportunity to prove himself when, after stopping a bank robbery, he and his partner, Ed (Paul Walter Hauser), another son with a father to make proud, are assigned to a car crash in Malibu. A man died when his car went off a cliff, but Frank isn’t quite ready to call it suicide, especially when the dead man’s sister, Beth Davenport (Pamela Anderson), shows up at his office.
courtesy of Paramount
In the kindest way, The Naked Gun is stupid. Coming into this new installment without having seen the original films or series, but having seen the grating trailer, The Naked Gun seemed like it was an example of a franchise being trotted out to cash in on nostalgia without offering a fun cinematic experience of its own. How wrong that was. The Naked Gun is stupid, and that’s exactly what it wants to be. The bulk of the trailer is the opening sequence of the film, which then opens the doors to a series of increasingly weird scenarios. Yet none of these deranged choices feel out of place in the world that The Naked Gun has created.
Like all comedies, not every single joke lands with every single audience member, but The Naked Gun has something for everyone. You want a silly sex joke? They’ve got it. You want a series of jokes that are just a play on words? They’ve got that too. You want an absurdist montage set to Starship’s “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now?” The Naked Gun absolutely has that. It might not be a riotous time at the movies, but it is a consistent rumble of chuckles that leaves the audience lightened by the end. Even the final credits have a gag or two hidden along the way.
courtesy of Paramount
One thing’s for certain, Liam Neeson is having the time of his life. He treats Frank Drebin Jr. with the utmost seriousness, as if Frank could be making a phone call about “a very particular set of skills” at any moment. In the next breath, though, he’s talking about his regretful chili dog eating. Pamela Anderson plays an excellent femme fatale with equally odd sensibilities, a perfect companion to the weirdness of Neeson. They’re the best worst film noir couple, and Anderson and Neeson clearly revel in the opportunity to let their hair down after years of serious films.
In a time when most comedies are being dropped on a streaming service and watched alone on a phone, The Naked Gun offers a return to a type of moviegoing that has been missing. It’s a homecoming for the spoof movie, helmed by Lonely Island member Akiva Schaffer, a man who knows his way around a comedy. The Naked Gun is your summertime escape, a chance to laugh with strangers in a darkened room.
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