Those big broad daft comedies have been missing from cinemas for years. Mel Brooks is almost 100 years old, Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker are now just Zucker-Zucker after the death of Jim Abrahams in 2024 and the Farrelly brothers after one of them won a Best Director Oscar for racial drama ‘Green Book’ have seen them tentatively return to comedy with films like ‘Ricky Stanicky’ which were for streaming anyway. So The Naked Gun, the 1988 film that changed the late Leslie Nielson’s career irrevocably, now sees Liam Neeson take over as the inept Lt Frank Drebin Jr son of the legend and joined by Ed Hocken jr (Paul Walter Hauser) son of same named father who was a police captain as played by the late George Kennedy. Together this reboot of the calamity cop sees Drebin causing chaos and carnage wherever he goes and the future of Police Squad in the balance. Their new case begins with the death of a driver in an errant electric car which tech billionaire Richard Cane (Danny Huston) is suspected of being involved in a plot that could eliminate the world’s population via an app. So it’s the deliriously daft Drebin who must save the day. But it’s also his infatuation with Beth Davenport (Pamela Anderson), the sister of the dead driver, that sees him doing it for her affection.
It’s not the Zucker brothers behind this reboot but instead and understandably Seth Macfarlane whose animated series ‘Family Guy’ and its often near the knuckle job that sees him as the ideal producer to bring the film back for a new generation. Directing and co-writing is Akiva Schaffer whose credits include ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’ and extensive work with The Lonely Island comedy trio that sees him embrace the sheer daftness of the original film. And to that end there’s visual jokes galore, daft one liners and quips that bombard the audience and, like the classic Z-A-Z film, ‘Airplane’, will reward multiple viewings for the jokes you inevitably miss. Not everything lands and there are jokes taken wholesale from the original film (there’s a brief nod to the beloved ‘beaver’ joke) as well as from other lesser known films (Michael Keaton’s, ‘Johnny Dangerously’ being frequently purloined). But this reboot gets the irreverent tone of the trilogy bang on and at 85 minutes it whizzes by – and like the original film there‘s gags even in the end credits crawl. As for Neeson having had a career initially as a dramatic actor before ‘Taken’ made him an action man this sees him like Nielson, play it straight with deadpan delivery and for Nielsen, also an established straight dramatic actor, impossible to ever take a straight dramatic role ever again meaning that for fans of Neeson rewatching ‘Schindler’s List’ will never be the same again.
related feature : Liam Neeson is an ‘Honest Thief’ – REVIEW
related feature : Daniel O’Reilly (Dapper Laughs) talks Bermondsey Tales, stand up comedy and being cancelled!
Here’s The Naked Gun trailer ……
