Review (Scott McCutcheon 30/07/25)

If you are of a certain age then you probably have fond memories of Lt. Frank Drebin (Leslie Nielson) hilariously fighting crime in the Police Squad TV show. Surprisingly the show only ran for 6 episodes but its popularity was enough that it spawned three hugely successful Naked Gun films during the late 80s and early 90s.

Leslie Nielson sadly passed away in 2010 so with a comeback out of the question, and the opportunity to milk a franchise that should have died with Leslie Nielson, the baton is now passed onto his son Frank Drebin Jnr (Liam Neeson) who, like his father, is part of Police squad, a special crime fighting unit based in Los Angeles.

The Naked Gun 2025 follows the same rules as Police Squad and the three earlier films. Drebin Jnr is an idiot somehow through a mixture of good luck and outside help he normally manages to solve the case. The case in question this time sees Drebin Jnr, along with his partner, Ed Hocken Jr. (Paul Walter Hauser), investigating a bank robbery where the thieves stole a P.L.O.T. Device (it’s the Naked Gun so go with the flow). Danny Huston turns up as a tech billionaire Richard Crane, a billionaire electric-car manufacturer (you can make your own mind up on that one) who plans, by releasing a toxic gas, to return everyone in the world to their animal state.

Pamela Anderson turns up as Drebin Jnrs love interest and comic sidekick

This Naked Gun is at its best in the first half hour when it pays homage, and sticks, to the type of gags that made Police Squad so funny. Some jokes work and some don’t. A running gag where Drebin keeps getting handed oversize cups of take-out coffee becomes tiresome after a while and a scene with a living snowman just doesn’t work.

The Naked Gun might prove to be a hard sell at the local multiplexes as it’s hard to see how a young audience will connect to The Naked Gun, especially if they have very little or no knowledge of the original.

Thankfully Liam Neeson, who proves himself quite adept at comedy, makes a better fist of it than Steve Martin did when he tried to resurrect the abomination that was The Pink Panther.

 It’s might not be a patch on the original Police Squad, Leslie Neilson won’t be turning in his grave, but this modern version throws more than enough dumb jokes at the wall to guarantee that you’ll at least get a few laughs.

3/5

The Naked Gun

1h 25m

Director: Akiva Schaffer
Cast:  Liam Neeson, Pamela Anderson, Paul Walter Hauser, CCH Pounder, Kevin Durand, Cody Rhodes, Liza Koshy, Eddie Yu, with Danny Huston

UK/US Release: Cinemas 1st August 2025