The Naked Gun (2025) is the long awaited fourth installment in the titular franchise that until recently I didn’t know how much I needed, but then someone on the “internets” casually mentioned that Liam Neeson (Taken) and Pamela Anderson (Baywatch, The Last Showgirl) were going to be in it, so here I am.
Liam Neeson stars as Lieutenant Frank Drebin Jr., the son of the original trilogy’s protagonist Frank Drebin Sr. (who was portrayed by the unforgettable Canadian actor Leslie Nielsen until his death in 2010), so this fourth Naked Gun movie serves as both a canonical passing of the torch for the franchise as well as a clever means of introducing audiences to the new Frank Drebin via some pseudo fourth-wall shenanigans. Even outright dubbing himself as “The New Version” while he single-handedly thwarts a bank robbery during the movie’s opening minutes,
Drebin Jr. gets the opportunity to show us what’s different about him than his dad: He’s lethally trained in martial arts (especially the stabby kind), he’s mad strong, and he loves challenging authority (a.k.a. Los Angeles Police Chief Davis, played by CCH Pounder). That’s about it.
There’s no doubt that Frank’s “particular set of skills” helped to accelerate his rise through the ranks of the LAPD, as, like his father before him, he now serves as a high-ranking Lieutenant and member of Police Squad, a special division of the LAPD. Coincidentally, Frank works directly under Police Captain Ed Hocken Jr., whose father of the same name was Drebin Sr.’s boss. Both Drebin Sr. and Hocken Sr. have passed on. Got it? Good.
PSST! Just an FYI, we won’t be talking about Officer Nordberg, because those who know…well, they know. We’ll also overlook the small detail that Drebin Jr. was born at the end of 1994’s Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult, which technically would make him a spry 31-year-old in 2025 as opposed to actor Liam Neeson’s undeniably good-looking 73 years of age! Sometimes you just gotta leave your brain at the door in order to enjoy a movie, and in the case of a Naked Gun film, that’s more than a strong suggestion; it’s an absolute requirement.
In any event, when a fatal and suspicious car crash involving a scientist employed at a local technology firm called EdenTech is initially written off by Police Squad as a suicide, but then is once again brought to Frank’s desk by the victim’s femme fatale-coded sister named Beth, (Anderson), Frank is inevitably drawn into a precarious plot that could endanger the lives of millions.
“Sometimes you just gotta leave your brain at the door in order to enjoy a movie, and in the case of a Naked Gun film, that’s more than a strong suggestion; it’s an absolute requirement.”
Having missed out on the original Police Squad! television show when it premiered on account of being too young, but being fortunate enough to have grown up with The Naked Gun films during my teenage and young adulthood years, I’ve always looked upon franchise co-creators David Zucker, Jim Abrahams and Jerry Zucker’s comedic send-ups of police procedurals with awe, reverence, and of course, plenty of side-splitting laughter.
The cadence of sight-gags, pratfalls, slapstick and non-sequiturs in a typical ZAZ Naked Gun was near relentless; rarely ever did a full 30 seconds go by without a joke either landing or building atop a previous one. But the Zucker Brothers, as they were often called, could also exercise masterful comic restraint, setting up gags that sometimes wouldn’t pay off until much later in the movie (one of my favourites from the second film, The Naked Gun 2 ½: The Smell of Fear, involving Robert Goulet comes to mind — no spoilers).
The Naked Gun (2025)’s trio of writers, Dan Gregor, Doug Mand and director-producer Akiva Schaffer (of SNL Digital Shorts and The Lonely Island) don’t quite reach that level Zucker Brothers brilliance, but in exchange they make some bold moves that push the envelope in other ways, including a lengthy musical “diversion” mid-film that would make Family Guy’s segue-writing team blush (Seth MacFarlane is a co-producer on the film so that totally tracks).
“What Gregor, Mand and Schaffer do have nailed down, however, is that classic, rapid-fire, Naked Gun pacing of dialogue and jokes.”
What Gregor, Mand and Schaffer do have nailed down, however, is that classic, rapid-fire, Naked Gun pacing of dialogue and jokes. There are sure to be viewers that will occasionally get snagged on a reference they didn’t quite understand or have it completely go over their heads (it certainly happened a few times for me), but the gags that they do get will have them rolling in the aisles.
More importantly, the writers keenly understand what I like to call the “Drebin sphere of incompetence.” Ultimately, Frank Jr. is smart yet stupid, manly yet childish, physically strong but emotionally weak, good-intentioned yet highly ignorant, and all-around oblivious to most things that don’t concern him directly. But he’s naturally charming at the same time, and people who are either close to him or become drawn into his sphere mysteriously tend to take on some of those characteristics too, even his enemies, which helps make their interactions even funnier and more plausible somehow.
As with the previous movies, the plot of The Naked Gun (2025) is straightforward and serviceable, keeping things simple while thematically taking aim at some easy targets for its big bads, namely tech corporations, self-driving EVs, and the advent of smartphones, which didn’t yet exist when the last film, The Naked Gun 33 ⅓: The Final Insult was released in theaters in 1994. There’s also a lot of violence towards phones in general…and for some reason, coffee. Perhaps it’s due to an inadequate supply of donuts?
Regarding the cast, it’s both hilarious and refreshing to see actors Neeson and Anderson playing what many would consider to be roles that are far out of their normal comfort zones, not just with the franchise’s obviously shocking and hilarious sight gags, pratfalls, slapstick, sexual innuendos and the like, but also the actors’ willingness to look completely silly even when the jokes don’t necessarily land in theatres. Both Neeson and Anderson have built earnest reputations as artists over their many years in the business, and I couldn’t help but root for them. Aside from the film’s leads, CCH Pounder as Chief Davis was easily my favourite supporting character, as her well-grounded sanity consistently holds up a mirror to Frank’s insanity.
Ok, so I Iied, we have to talk at least a tiny bit about Officer Nordberg Jr. (portrayed by actor Moses Jones), who in both the trailers and the film makes a cameo appearance in which he humorously opts to not pay respects to his deceased father, meant as a fourth-wall jab at the infamous, recently deceased actor who portrayed Nordberg Sr. in the previous Naked Gun films. While I thought the knowing jab was clever, I felt that just stopping there was a missed opportunity to introduce a “next-generation” incarnation of Nordberg that didn’t constantly need to be a victim of Frank’s carelessness, or Nordberg Sr.’s extremely bad luck.
It almost feels like there was an entire Nordberg side-story (not to mention a lot more paying work for Jones) that was left on the cutting room floor because someone was afraid to ruffle some feathers, which would truly be sad if that were the case. That’s all I’ll say on that. And finally, who says Liam Neeson doesn’t have previous comedy experience? May I point you in the direction of Sam Raimi’s early Neeson vehicle, Darkman? Or Love Actually? Dark Comedy and Rom-coms are sort of comedies, right?
In the end, The Naked Gun (2025), while not perfect, still serves as a worthy follow-up to the original trilogy featuring Leslie Nielsen. I’d be hard pressed to think of an actor who’s a better fit for the role of Frank Drebin Jr. than Liam Neeson, and his chemistry with Pamela Anderson is great, though his short scenes with CCH Pounder’s Chief Davis are even funnier. While I’ll argue that this sequel is not as good as either of the first two films, I envy those who have yet to watch any of the films in the franchise that plan on catching this one, as they’ll have the pleasure of enjoying it for the first time with fresh eyes.
