The Naked Gun Review: Liam Neeson, Pamela Anderson's Film Misses Its Mark But Is Goofy & Still Shoots Some Laughs
Title: The Naked Gun
Director: Akiva Schaffer
Cast: Liam Neeson, Pamela Anderson, Paul Walter Hauser, CCH Pounder, Kevin Durand, Cody Rhodes, Liza Koshy, Eddie Yu, Danny Huston
Where to Watch: Theatres
Rating: 3 stars
The Naked Gun: Review
Reviving a cult classic like The Naked Gun is a bit like bringing slapstick to a funeral — gutsy, awkward, and, when done right, oddly cathartic. Director Akiva Schaffer attempts just that, blending puns, parodies, and pop culture into a screwball cocktail that lands more as a cheeky tribute than a riotous reboot.
We follow Frank Drebin Jr. (Liam Neeson), an LAPD officer whose seriousness is only outdone by his cluelessness. Thrust into a conspiracy involving a tech billionaire and a mind-altering gas, he somehow stumbles his way through high-stakes crime with low-IQ logic. The film tosses everything from oversized coffee cups to demonic snowmen into the mix — some gags hit, others belly-flop.
However, the film lacks the manic confidence of the original. While it chuckles knowingly at the action genre and gently mocks contemporary tropes, it rarely pushes boundaries. The script manages flashes of absurdist gold, but not with enough consistency to fully match its legacy.
The Naked Gun: Actors’ Performance
Liam Neeson’s stone-faced gravitas gets a comic twist here, as he barrels through sight gags and absurd plot turns with the seriousness of a detective interrogating a mime. He’s the classic “stubborn old man who thinks he knows best,” as one exasperated character notes — and that clueless certainty fuels both the character’s charm and chaos. His timing isn’t flawless, but the incongruity is part of the joke.
The true delight is Pamela Anderson, playing crime-writer Beth Davenport with featherlight comic timing and a surprising sparkle. Whether delivering a deadpan zinger or breezing through plot absurdities, she grounds the film’s chaos with charisma. Danny Huston as the tech villain is watchable but underdeveloped, while Paul Walter Hauser, as sidekick Ed Hocken Jr., fades into the background.
The Naked Gun: Aesthetics
Visually, the film does enough to pass muster — with competent pacing, slick editing, and a few clever visual gags. The production design veers between noir pastiche and cartoon logic, and the score mostly plays it safe.
What stands out are the inventive set-pieces — a cringe-inducing dashcam sequence, a supernatural romantic interlude, and Neeson indulging in gun-nastics, from weapon disarms to wildly implausible slapstick stunts delivered with deadpan ferocity. These scenes offer flashes of the original’s anarchic spirit, though they often feel like isolated sketches rather than parts of a cohesive whole.
The Naked Gun: FPJ Verdict
Overall, this film is a mixed bag — cheeky and chaotic, but not consistently clever. Neeson’s presence adds novelty, and Anderson is a revelation, but the film never quite commits to its own madness the way its predecessors did. It tiptoes around irrelevance where it should have stormed in.
Still, in an age of over-polished reboots, there’s something refreshing about this film’s goofy bravado. It may not leave you in splits, but it will coax a chuckle or two — and for a franchise that once thrived on sheer silliness, that’s not nothing.
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