This version of The Naked Gun is not a reboot of the classic Leslie Nielsen franchise. Instead, it’s a legacy sequel that stays true to the spirit of the original films while introducing its own elements that offer what fans loved so much about those films.
There’s really no need to go into a plot summary because these movies are all about the verbal and visual gags, but I’ll give one anyway.
Liam Neeson takes over as Lieutenant Frank Drebin Jr., who works at Police Squad just as his iconic dad did, and manages to have the same lack of self-awareness and bumbling spirit that Nielsen had.
He investigates a plot to bring down Police Squad, and his lead in solving the case is the voluptuous Beth Davenport (Pamela Anderson). They have the same goofy chemistry Nielsen had with Priscilla Presley.
Danny Huston plays Richard Cane, a corrupt businessman who introduced something called a P.L.O.T. Device that can help carry out his agenda of bringing down Police Squad. Huston adds a lot of the same qualities that other actors playing the villains did, such as Ricardo Montalbán or Robert Goulet, and he’s a good opposition to Neeson’s fumbling Drebin Jr.
As I mentioned, the plot doesn’t matter so much as the jokes. How do they measure up? If you’re familiar with the original three, you’ll be delighted to know that the same sense of idiocy and over-the-top buffoonery is still high on display as Neeson plays it straight through and through, and most of the laughs land.
Some of the gags include Drebin Jr. driving on the sidewalks and thinking the pedestrians are in his way instead of the other way around. There are also endless moments involving Drebin Jr. consuming one cup of coffee after another, even though he never finishes the previous one. And he has a habit of breaking cell phones and giving them back to their owners after using them.
I think Neeson has entered his period of self-parody. His Taken franchise has long had its run, and I think there’s more than a wink to that persona in his depiction of Drebin Jr.
I’m not sure if a new Naked Gun was necessary, but it does capture a sense of tomfoolery that has been virtually absent in movies for quite some time. And you know what? Sometimes a movie comes along that dares to be silly without an ounce of pretension.
This version of The Naked Gun doesn’t erase what Nielsen and company did, but it’s an unapologetically stupid comedy that knows what it is and does nothing more than what it sets out to do.
