For audiences of a certain age, no one merges situational and absurdist comedy with pop culture references quite like ZAZ (David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker), the brains behind cinematic comedies Airplane! (1980), Top Secret! (1984), and The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988). While the first two are original spoof/screwball comedies, the third is a theatrical adaptation of the short-lived, six-episode television comedy Police Squad! (1982), which starred Leslie Nielsen (Forbidden Planet) as the dedicated Lt. Frank Drebin. The last time audiences saw Drebin was 1994’s Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult, though Nielsen continued his comedic reign with a variety of other David Zucker projects like Scary Movie 3 and 4. It would be nearly 31 years before Frank would return to the silver screen and that film, The Naked Gun (2025), is all about legacy with notable action/dramatic actor Liam Neeson (Rob Roy; Taken) as Frank’s son, Frank Jr., and Akiva Schaffer (Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping; Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers) carrying on the mantle as director. Neither Neeson nor Schaffer engage in mimicry, seeking to copy or conform their voice to what was; rather, actor and director manage to balance a bit of then and now to create a comedic adventure that’s both fresh and familiar.
L-R: Paul Walter Hauser as Ed Hocken Jr. and Liam Neeson as Frank Drebin Jr. in THE NAKED GUN from Paramount Pictures. © 2025 PARAMOUNT PICTURES. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
After pulling off a daring rescue during a bank heist, rather than being celebrated, Lt. Frank Drebin Jr. (Neeson) of Police Squad finds himself shunted to a different department where he picks up a car crash involving Simon Davenport (Jason MacDonald), an engineer who works for tech magnate Richard Caine (Danny Huston). When clues suggest that Simon may have been working on something big for Caine, Frank won’t stop searching for the truth until he connects all the dots and puts the bad guys behind bars.
L-R: Eddie Yu as Detective Park, Liam Neeson as Frank Drebin Jr., and Paul Walter Hauser as Ed Hocken Jr. in THE NAKED GUN from Paramount Pictures. © 2025 PARAMOUNT PICTURES. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
At first, The Naked Gun is a legacy sequel like those released in recent years. It follows the next generation of a beloved cinematic character in a new situation. Unlike Scream (2022), Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021), or even Top Gun: Maverick (2022), you don’t need to have seen the previous films in order to enjoy this one. Scripted by Dan Gregor (Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers), Doug Mand (Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers), and Schaffer (Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping), the cold open quickly establishes this world, its characters, and its rules, all of which conform to and break from reality. This is a world in which Frank Jr. can be mistaken for a Girl Scout, where cold case files are found in a commercial freezer, and suspects brought in for questioning get professional-grade photogs to pose for. Those familiar with the way Frank Sr. worked and the chaos it brought amid his usual absent mindedness or straight-line delivery are likely to come running toward a new Naked Gun film, finding themselves right at home. However, unlike other legacy films, the past isn’t as significant to the emotional core of the narrative. There’s no mystery Frank Sr. left for his son to solve, no villain to defeat, and no final mission to complete. Instead, in trading hands from Nielsen to Neeson, Junior simply inherits the rules of the world before him with the audience just going along for the ride.
L-R: Danny Huston as Ricahrd Cane and Liam Neeson as Frank Drebin Jr. in THE NAKED GUN from Paramount Pictures. © 2025 PARAMOUNT PICTURES. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
None should be surprised to learn that Neeson is incredibly natural as Junior. While his career has been memed to death thanks to Taken (2008) and he frequently stars in repetitiously-similar action dramas (Retribution; Absolution), he has also found a calling with comedy whether in larger roles (A Million Ways to Die in the West), smaller roles (The LEGO Movie), or cameos (Ted 2), sometimes walking away with the whole scene due to his special brand of dry delivery. This is the case with Neeson and Frank Jr., able to make the faux hard-boiled Lieutenant sound self-assured while also saying some of the most repugnant lines he’s likely uttered. Like Neilsen before him, Neeson strides the line between sincerity and absurdity in his performance, finding that sweet spot where anything is possible.
A scene from THE NAKED GUN from Paramount Pictures. © 2025 Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.
A significant part of the success of the film is that Schaffer understands the language of ZAZ — in both the dialogue and the visuals. Multiple jokes are coming at you at once with the frame filled with either some ridiculous bit of dialogue, someone’s physical comedy, or some aspect of the set dressing making a play for your attention. So, while you may no longer be distracted by the fifth or sixth coffee-related joke (teased in the full trailer), you might find yourself noticing some writing on the wall, or an off-hand comment someone says about a character in frame. The closer to Police Squad the audience is, the more the rules of reality bend without breaking. As part of comedy group The Lonely Island (which also includes Andy Samberg and Jorma Taccone), Schaffer has a strong resume for understanding modern comedy which enables him to infuse The Naked Gun with that sensibility, ensuring that the film evokes ZAZ without merely trying to copy. There are absolutely callbacks and even jokes with a similar structure and/or payoff: like Frank Sr. accidentally causing a car accident with his own car and leaving uniformed officers to deal with it and Junior ripping a hole in a prison testing out an electric vehicle (shown in the trailer) or Junior being partnered with an Ed (Paul Walter Hauser) who is, as one would guess, the son of the Ed played by George Kennedy (McHale’s Navy; The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!). But rather than being nothing more than callback after callback, Schaffer, alongside the screenwriters and Neeson, make sure to place their own unique stamp on things.
L-R: Liam Neeson as Frank Drebin Jr. and Kevin Durand as Sig Gustafson in THE NAKED GUN from Paramount Pictures. © 2025 PARAMOUNT PICTURES. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
As with the original series, The Naked Gun is nothing without a supporting cast that understands the kind of film they’re in and the energy they need to bring. Priscilla Presley understood this when she played love-interest and then wife Jane Spencer to Frank Sr., as did Kennedy as partner, and Montalban as villain; and so do Pamela Anderson as love interest Beth Davenport, Hauser as partner, and Huston as villain. The most underserved is Hauser, who really is there to set up jokes for others but gets a solid moment in the climax of the film. Huston, who has made a career off of playing villains (30 Days of Night (2007); Wonder Woman (2017); The Crow (2024), to name some recent examples), has an absolute field day here, whether playing it straight or leaning into the comedy. Whereas Montalban’s Victor was far more serious and deadly, Huston’s Richard is a Schaffer-type villain in which they bloviate more than pose to be a true danger outside of their ideas. The VIP/MVP of the film is Anderson, whom most know from her days on Baywatch and have only seen the smallest bit of her capabilities as a result. She absolutely understands the rhythm of comedy (when to pause, how to speak, when a reaction should be big or small (and how that can impact how the audience reacts)) and demonstrates a willingness to give herself over to what the scene needs. Anderson makes Beth a femme fatale with traces of David Zucker comedy we last saw via Jenny McCarthy-Wahlberg in BASEketball (1998) and Lonely Island ridiculousness — all of which do Presley proud.
Pamela Anderson as Beth Davenport in THE NAKED GUN from Paramount Pictures. © 2025 PARAMOUNT PICTURES. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
All the positivity aside, it’s worth noting that the era in which the original Police Squad stories were created and released possessed a different view of law enforcement. The original series was intended to poke fun at the popular television programs of the day and the way in which presumed loose cannons were idolized when they likely shouldn’t be. In the modern view, there’s little funny about a cop who jokes about whether or not its policy to have a body camera on or the ridiculous notion that he’s not allowed to break the law in the name of justice. At a time when we have subcontractors posing as ICE agents, one finds themselves questioning whether or not imbecilic cops are something we should take joy in. The scribes of the film even manage to make trying to address Junior’s truancy with the law a point to clarify that the Debrin way isn’t to be idolized, but it’s among a series of jokes whose setup and execution is a marvelous nesting doll of an experience, resulting in the point gets lost in the shuffle. That, plus, how can you make your lead even slightly a bad guy when it’s a spoof? In short, don’t expect logic or that The Naked Gun will, in any way, take responsibility for its LEO inspiration.
L-R: Liam Neeson as Frank Drebin Jr. and Paul Walter Hauser as Ed Hocken Jr. in THE NAKED GUN from Paramount Pictures. © 2025 PARAMOUNT PICTURES. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
When legacy sequels frequently garner the question, “who asked for this?,” The Naked Gun answers with, “who cares?”. This film isn’t beholden to what came before, not entirely, and never tries to explicitly walk its path, even with its beautiful cameos and sneaky callbacks. Time will tell if the mix of old-school screwball comedy with modern humor will carry on the same way that ZAZ did, but, for now, at least, things seem to be in good hands, not just because the cinematic romance between Frank Jr. and Beth may have transcended the screen into the real world for Neeson and Anderson (good for them both, if so), but because we could all use a little comfort cinema from time to time. Audiences deserve to laugh and The Naked Gun overflows with opportunities.
In theaters August 1st, 2025.
For more information, head to the official Paramount Pictures The Naked Gun webpage.
Final Score: 3.5 out of 5.
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Categories: Films To Watch, In Theaters, Recommendation, Reviews
Couldn’t refrain from throwing your politics into the review. Couldn’t refrain from throwing shade on ICE. Couldn’t just review the movie, eh????
In this case, it’s a real-world example from which the film draws humor: the idea that police are immune from prosecution when they themselves break the law. Like most televised/cinematic stories, Junior is portrayed as hero and, therefore, we (the audience) are more likely to let it go as we do in other, more traditional, portrayals of law enforcement. Since it’s an aspect of the narrative and a place the writers deliberately go, it’s worth exploring as part of the review.