The Naked Gun Returns

A reboot of The Naked Gun has been a long time coming. Luckily, Liam Neeson has understood the assignment. Arriving three decades after the last instalment, Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult, the Irish actor takes the lead as Lt. Frank Drebin Jr, the cop son of Leslie Nielsen's iconic Police Squad! detective, in a hilariously punchy sequel.

During the Leslie Nielsen years, there were essentially two Frank Drebins; the deadpan, stony-faced detective of the short-lived 1982 TV series Police Squad! giving way to a more expressive, slapstick-prone version deemed necessary for the feature-length rhythms of the first Naked Gun cinema trilogy (1988-94).

The return of The Naked Gun in 2025 enables fans to discover which traits of the above have been inherited by Liam Neeson’s Frank Drebin Jr, as he takes on the badge of his father to fight crime with healthy lashings of comedy.

Co-writers Dan Gregor and Doug Mand, the team behind 2022’s magnificently meta Chip N’ Dale: Rescue Rangers, serve up a laugh-a-minute script, bursting with the sort of sight gags, non sequiturs and wordplay that made the cop parody such a defining addition to the comedy genre.

Yet there’s a more hard-boiled tone, with Neeson’s Drebin introduced early as a gruff detective who violently dispatches a group of bank robbers – stealing a literal ‘plot device’ – while dressed in a schoolgirl uniform that could give Britney Spears a run for her money.

His brutal methods put him and the Police Squad in jeopardy, and as he investigates the murder of the brother of Pamela Anderson’s blonde bombshell Beth Davenport, he discovers a bigger conspiracy involving Danny Huston’s corrupt CEO. The plot isn’t that compelling, but that’s no bad thing when it’s in service to this many gags – all delivered with the utmost sincerity by the excellent cast.

Neeson’s casting was an inspired choice by executive producer Seth MacFarlane, whose Family Guy humour is keenly felt throughout the film, especially in a cutaway love sequence between Drebin and Beth that escalates hilariously when an enchanted snowman comes to life.

Anderson’s casting proves just as rousing. Alongside Neeson, her commitment to every bit shows just how suited they are to comedy, from Drebin referencing Sex and the City in a Miranda rights gag and the actor throwing himself into a whole bodycam diarrhoea scene, to Beth’s scat singing and taking Drebin’s offer of ‘take a seat’ literally.

Director Akiva Schaffer’s gusto for the ridiculous has a great track record, from Brooklyn Nine-Nine to Hot Rod, and here his deadpan direction makes the comedy sing.

In the thick of reboot culture, The Naked Gun is a prime example of filmmakers taking a nostalgic piece of cinema and making good on its legacy. It honours the humour above all, and you’d be hard-pushed to find a funnier film this year.