The Naked Gun (2025)
The Naked Gun is an upcoming action, spoof/parody comedy, serving as a reboot to the Naked Gun franchise which started with The Naked Gun: From the Files of the Police Squad, in 1988 (Jesus! Really?) starring the irreplaceable Leslie Nielsen Frank Drebin. This was, of course, based on the 1982, six episode series Police Squad! Again, starring the irreplaceable Leslie Nielsen, and containing many of the same outstanding jokes.
Produced by satire, toilet humorist Seth Macfarlane, this completely unexpected and bewildering reboot, Leslie Nielsen stars as Frank Drebin Jr. Alongside Pamela Anderson (Barb Wire, Baywatch), Paul Walter Hauser (Cobra Kai, The Investigators), Busta Rhymes (… sigh!), and Kevin Durand (Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, Abigail). Akiva Schaffer serves as director and co-writer. His previous directing credits include: Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers, Brooklyn Nine-Nine and SNL, amongst others. Dan Gregor and Doug Mand serve as writers. Dan and Doug are both known for thier work on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Pretty Smart and Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers.
Have a look at the trailer.
Okie dokie. At this point, I’d suggest that you go and watch any trailers for films by Jim Abrahams, and David and Jerry Zucker: Airplane!, Top Secret!, Hot Shots!, Mafia!… the list goes on. Take at look at some of these classic spoof movies, and you will see what is missing from this trailer. These movies are the benchmark standard of how a parody movie should be made.
This may be just a minute-long teaser, but save for the easy O.J gag at the end, the laughs just don’t appear to be there. At least, not in my opinion. I think that Liam Neeson is a great choice for the reboot. We’ve seen him do comedy well in Life’s Too Short with Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant and Warwick Davis, and Ted 2 (opinions on the movie notwithstanding). There’s no doubt in my mind that he has the acting chops to play a straight comedic role that is necessary for movies such as this.
However…
I just found the humour to be severely lacking in this first, short glimpse. Anyone that has watched any of the classic spoof movies that I have previously mentioned know that the gags are pretty much non-stop, and it is rare that you catch every single one of them of the first watch. That is the genius of these movies. Quick fire gags (getting bored with using that word) are what make them so funny and engaging. They’re just charmingly silly.
There were dozens of missed opportunities for anyone who is familiar with this genre of movies. The Taken style fight scene could have been a lot more absurd, but instead it just came off as lacklustre and thoughtless. The fight scenes need to be as ridiculous as possible to sell them, and this snippet just wasn’t good enough. When it comes to breaking the fourth wall, look to Val Kilmer in Top Secret!, Charlie Sheen in Hot Shots!, or Robert Hayes in Airplane!. I assume that Liam Neeson’s is probably just for the trailer promo, but it just didn’t land in the correct runway, as far as I am concerned. Also, something about an old man cocking his leg and exposing his girly underwear just creeped me out a little. I’m sure it was supposed to be amusing, but it didn’t sit comfortably with me. The only amusing part of this entire trailer was the O.J reference at the end, but that’s an easy mark.
Of course, I reserve my complete opinions until I have seen it in full. That being said, as a taster of what is to come, I am not impressed. I think the magic of what made these movies special died a long time ago. Here’s hoping that I am wrong, but I’d be surprised. The tagline states ‘The law's reach never stretched this far’. Looks like the jokes are, though, and a bit too thinly for my liking.
The Naked Gun is released August 1, 2025. Let me know your thoughts.