Anyone who knows me at all knows two things: (1) The Golden Girls are my brand; and (2) The Naked Gun franchise inspired me and my comedy more than any other work of art. I grew up on the original trilogy, and the season of television that inspired it. I know each film by heart. Leslie Nielsen was my Harrison Ford, Bruce Willis, and Sylvester Stallone. The Zucker Brothers did more to shape my adolescence than the teachers at my school. This is all set-up to say: I have always been skeptical about a new film in the franchise. Even having director Akiva Schaffer and producer Seth MacFarlane (two creators I adore) attached couldn’t strip away my suspicion and skepticism. When Liam Neeson was added, I perked up. When Pamela Anderson was added, I perked up even more. Learning it wasn’t a reboot, per se, but a ‘legasequel’, made me more curious. Then, I saw the first extended trailer, and I got very excited very quickly. It gives me no delight to report that this reboot is just ‘good’. And ‘good’ is…good. Right?
First off: Akiva Schaffer is the perfect person to direct The Naked Gun. He clearly loves the spoof genre, which is evident in all of his previous directorial efforts; and he isn’t afraid to take wild swings. When the humor lands here, it’s belly laughs until your ribs hurt. Liam Neeson stars as Frank Drebin, Jr., a member of Police Squad who gets involved in a murder case, and with the sister of the deceased, Beth Davenport (Pamela Anderson), a true-crime author who makes up all her stories. Together, they have to stop a corrupt Elon Musk-esque billionaire (Danny Huston) from using a device that turns all human beings into wild animals. Expectedly, there is very little plot in this 85-minute movie. It’s more about the bare necessities needed to string together the jokes and sight gags and whatever the Hell that Snowman sequence is doing. The plot has never really mattered for this franchise, particularly here.
My biggest complaint about the film is that it feels like everyone involved is in on the joke. All of these actors know exactly the movie they are making, and they are responding as such. There was something about that original franchise where all of the actors felt like they just accidentally fell into this spoof genre from very serious careers. We don’t get that here. The writing is less sharp, the characters are less drawn, and the finale involves a reincarnation, Dave Bautista, and a really painful sock to the stomach. It just lacks the pizzazz of the original. I will give Schaffer and his team credit for not beating us over our heads with references to the previous films. We get a few casual throwaways, a few repeated lines, and a bizarre ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ cameo from Priscilla Presley that doesn’t really work because it requires everyone in the audience to remember who “Jane Spencer” is. I was in an audience with a lot of younger folks who very much enjoyed the film, but it was crickets for the 1.5-seconds she was on screen. The character and Presley herself deserved better than that.
While Neeson and Anderson have great chemistry together, their relationship never goes anywhere beyond the gags used therein. Say what you want about the original The Naked Gun, but the Zuckers managed to actually develop Frank and Jane beyond the gags. The ending of that film, as ridiculous as it is, carried some actual weight. Here, we never really feel the passion between the two of them, other than a passion for physical comedy. The bizarre musical sequence that comes out of nowhere is truly the highlight of the film, and Neeson and Anderson seem to be having more fun in that than anywhere else in the picture. It’s in those bizarre tangents where the film truly shines, where Schaffer feels unleashed to truly put his own spin on things. The film needed more of that.
No one wanted to love The Naked Gun more than me. But I have to settle for ‘liked’. If the film does well enough, maybe they can wow me with a sequel, but it’s going to have to be a hell of a lot smarter, and far more attentive to something besides the gags. Some of them work incredibly well. Very few, if any, fall entirely flat. But, in trying to pay respect to the franchise and chart a new course, Schaffer and his team have found a way to make The Naked Gun something it should never, ever be, and that’s ‘meh’. I had a fun time. I laughed a lot. And, for many people, that’s plenty. For a kid who quoted the original trilogy to his friends ad-nauseum, and considers Leslie Nielsen the finest comedic actor of our time – I needed more. If nothing else, it’s nice to have an honest-to-god spoof back in theatres. Surely, that has to be a good thing? Yes, it’s a good thing, and stop calling me Shirley. Yes I know that’s from a different movie. Relax, internet.
RATING: ***/***** (currently playing in theatres everywhere)
