Pan and Slam

The Naked Gun

PG-13 1h 25m

• Director
  • Akiva Schaffer
• Stars
  • Liam Neeson
  • Pamela Anderson
  • Paul Walter Hauser

by Jason Koenigsberg

Finally, a comedy that captures the essence of what laughter felt like back in the 80’s and 90’s that many movies have tried to recreate and failed. The Naked Gun remake/reboot aims for silliness and hits a bullseye. It feels like a reason to rejoice for the days when studios used to make comedies like this and we all took it for granted. It is like a relic from a former era. Decades ago parodies like this were more common. Pure comedies that get a wide release and can fill a theater are extremely rare these days so hopefully The Naked Gun packs cinemas with audiences laughing together and brings back the lost art of the cinematic comedy.

It opens up with a bank robbery meant to spoof opening scene of The Dark Knight (2008). One of the main burglars blows up a safety deposit box and takes out a small item with the label P.L.O.T. device on it. This got a big laugh from the crowd and the rest of the movie followed suit with this style. Not all jokes were worthy of laughing out loud but some of the best moments involve jazz music, electric cars, and wine from Bill Cosby’s cellar. Unlike a lot of remakes and reboots, this Naked Gun did not rely on nostalgia at every turn. Only a few well timed moments were deliberately meant to be callbacks to the original. Especially clever was how it brought back Weird Al Yankovic and a cameo from Priscilla Presley, the only two stars to return from the original. Plus it was nice how they acknowledged O.J. Simpsons but that moment has been in every trailer.

Liam Neeson, known for being a serious actor and tough guy action star has fun with his onscreen persona as tough cop Frank Drebin Jr., the son of Leslie Nielsen’s character from the original, and he shows he can handle comedy as well as dramatic action fare. Pamela Anderson steps into Priscilla Presley’s shoes as the aging female lead and is just fine, so is Danny Huston as a villain reminiscent of Ricardo Montalban from the first film, and Paul Walter Hauser is underutilized but serviceable as the son of George Kennedy’s character.

The plot involves the tech billionaire trying to use the device we see in the beginning to send a signal to their owners that will unleash millions of people into a state of nature and act as wild beasts killing each other. Thankfully this movie does not get political at all and the plot is just an excuse for silliness to ensue. There are no left or right wing messages, no social commentary to be found here. Just visual gags, puns, and subsequent laughter for the most part.