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| Eddi Yu as DETECIVE PARK, Liam Neeson as DREBIN Jr., Paul Walter Hauser as ED HOCKEN Jr. in THE NAKED GUN |
THE NAKED GUN drops in theaters in August 2025, 31 years after the previous film hit the cinemas in 1994, and after 16 years of development hell. Luckily all of the custody battles came to an end, and viewers eager for a comedy are in for a treat. The team behind THE NAKED GUN, helmed by Akiva Schaffer, continues the series' legacy of clever-but-dumb humor, fact-paced action, and upbeat storytelling. Press screening audiences left the theater with goofy grins on their faces.
Frank Drebin Jr. (Liam Neeson) wants nothing more than to make his deceased father proud, but Police Chief Davis (CCH Pounder) doesn't always approve of his unorthodox methods. After he thwarts a bank robbery using a Mission: Impossible-esque disguise, Junior is demoted to auto collisions, a department Chief Davis hopes will inspire Drebin to play by the books. But as fate would have it, Drebin's first case involves a suicide possibly staged to cover up a murder. Drebin follows the breadcrumbs to look closer at the victim, Simon Davenport, and ensure that justice is served.
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| Liam Neeson as DREBIN, Pamela Anderson as BETH in THE NAKED GUN |
Akiva Shaffer fits right in as heir apparent of the series. Like David Zucker, the director of the first two films, Shaffer got his comedic start writing with his childhood friends Andy Samberg and Jorma Taccone under the group name The Lonely Island. So he's proficient as a collaborator and riff-er, both traits that serve anyone working in the comedy space well. Besides the humor that bursts from every cinematic frame, the mood throughout the film feels joyful and uplifting. You get the sense that the crew had a blast working together on set.
Speaking of that humor, Schaffer, along with co-writers Dan Gregor and Doug Mand, populate the runtime with an abundance of both visual and verbal gags. At first consideration, it's easy to label the comedy of this and previous films as "dumb humor." But these films require a higher level of intelligence than the Three Stooges. More akin to the style of The Marx Brothers, who poked fun at high-society, THE NAKED GUN films require appreciation of the tropes of their chosen subgenre. Police procedurals feature detectives who often walk a thin line of compliance with the law in order to hook a criminal and struggle to play by the books. Making such jokes last for a feature-length runtime is no small feat. Much of it I call "double-take humor" – not because characters do a double take, but we, the viewers, might need a second to process the joke and identify the origin. And, in addition to the all the witty wordplay, what's going on in the background of each film offers up extra humor. Blink and you'll miss it.
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| Danny Huston as RICHARD CANE, Liam Neeson as DREBIN in THE NAKED GUN |
The cast perform their roles with zest. Beside the very versatile Paul Walter Hauser (who gets to use the fighting skills he gleaned being COBRA KAI's Stingray), few of these actors have experience in comedy. Kevin Durand, CCH Pounder, and Danny Huston, all known for playing actors with gravitas, pivot to depicting humorous counterparts to the roles they often receive. Pamela Anderson, often dismissed as a dumb blonde because of her sex symbol status, is charming as the grieving sister of the deceased Simon Davenport. And, of course Liam Neeson makes use of his Taken skill set to play the lead role of Frank Drebin, Jr. Neeson narrates the action with his signature gravelly voice and intense stare, causing the punchlines to hit that much harder.
THE NAKED GUN is the type of comedy that benefits from a theatrical experience. Hearing the laughter of my fellow moviegoers proved a cathartic experience. It seems that, at the present, comedy has been relegated to streaming. Maybe this happened because, during the pandemic, people needed feel-good content they could watch at home. Perhaps THE NAKED GUN will usher in a new era of theatrical comedy. Recently I attended a sparsely-filled theater to watch the independent film, FRIENDSHIP. Like watching THE NAKED GUN, my experience of the film was greatly enhanced by listening to the laughter of the couple near me. I need those joyful moments.
Release info: Coming to theaters August 1, 2025
Final score: 4 out of 5
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