The Naked Gun (2025) - Review 

Rating: 2 out of 5

UPON its cinematic release this revival of The Naked Gun got surprisingly good reviews. But upon actually seeing it myself, the result turned out to be unsurprisingly poor.

Liam Neeson steps into the shoes once worn by Leslie Nielsen, playing Det Lt Frank Drebin Jr, the son of Nielsen’s character, who in a telling early scene kneels before a portrait of his dad and vows to do something different but the same.

He doesn’t therefore attempt to mimic the slapstick quality of much of Nielsen’s work, nor the deadpan delivery. Rather, in keeping within the spoof within a spoof ideology, he pitches his performance somewhere between knowing and oblivious.

Needless to say, Neeson is no Nielsen - and the gulf in comedic chops is vast.

But then he’s not particularly well served by the creative team of director Akiva Schaffer and co-writers Dan Gregor and Doug Mand, who flit between the odd set piece that makes no sense (the dreadful bank heist scene that was showcased in the first trailer still makes no sense and serves as a lacklustre establishing act in the movie), ripping off better movies or delivering gags that feel strained and repetitive.

Of the films that get referenced, a villainous plot device from Kingsman: The Secret Service is blatantly recreated, as is a sleight of hand involving information extraction that’s lifted straight from one of the Mission: Impossible films. There’s even a somewhat bizarre sequence involving a snowman that seems to be channelling Jack Frost!

A visual gag that does work, involving Neeson and Pamela Anderson in manufactured sexual positions as a spy looks disbelievingly on, is borrowed from Austin Powers.

While there’s plenty of references to the original movies, whether in Easter eggs such as quick shots of a beaver, or in longer sequences such as a romantic montage.

But what the film crucially lacks, despite being able to make you laugh at odd points, is anything to make it feels fresh or original - inviting the feeling that this is a pointless, even lazy update.

As mentioned, Neeson doesn’t cover himself in much glory (he almost sleepwalks through it), while the likes of Pamela Anderson and Paul Walter Hauser, as Drebin’s partner, are given too little to do. Danny Huston, on the other hand, is often excruciatingly bad as the villain of the piece.

The fact that The Naked Gun makes you laugh at all is something of a mystery. But far from really justifying its existence, it only makes you feel guilty for doing so!

Certificate: 15

Running time: 85mins