By 
The Naked Gun (2025)
The law’s reach never stretched this far.
If comedy is a tightrope, The Naked Gun (2025) doesn’t so much walk it as barrel-roll across in clown shoes while juggling anvils. This slick, 85-minute reboot of the Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker classic is loud, silly, and gleefully chaotic — packed with enough slapstick and sight gags to keep a grin glued to your face, even if it sometimes swings harder than it needs to. It’s not flawless, but it’s got enough snap, crackle, and pratfall to earn its badge.
Directed by Akiva Schaffer, Chip ’n Dale: Rescue Rangers (2022), the film hands the badge to Liam Neeson as Frank Drebin Jr., son of the legendary cop who made police work look like a contact sport with logic itself. It’s inspired casting: Neeson plays it utterly straight, leaning on that weathered gravitas. Like Leslie Nielsen before him, the straighter he delivers a line, the funnier it lands. No winks, no knowing smirk — just a man treating nonsense with the seriousness of a crime scene, which makes the absurdity pop all the more.
The plot — a stolen high-tech “P.L.O.T. Device” and a charmingly villainous tech mogul — is little more than scaffolding for what really matters: gags. And there are plenty. A recurring coffee bit escalates with glorious stupidity — cups passed like torches, tossed aside while still full, and piling up like casualties in the background. A crane gag, in which a car is hoisted away by what looks suspiciously like an arcade claw machine, spirals into glorious disaster. It’s short, wordless, and pure Naked Gun gold.
Other highlights include Drebin disguising himself as a schoolgirl to foil a bank heist, Pamela Anderson’s Beth Davenport scat-singing her way through a tense nightclub scene, and an alpine lodge escape that turns surreal when the snowman they build goes from cuddly to homicidal. It’s nonsense that could easily implode, but the cast’s total commitment keeps it airborne.
Danny Huston, Wonder Woman (2017), oozes charm and menace as Richard Cane, a villain who’s the perfect foil for Neeson’s poker-faced Drebin. Paul Walter Hauser, Richard Jewell (2019), as Drebin’s partner Captain Ed Hocken Jr., brings a goofy, affable energy that bounces nicely off Neeson’s deadpan, adding just enough clumsy warmth to the chaos. Anderson is equally game, grounding the lunacy without ever feeling like she’s wandered in from another film.
Schaffer packs the frame with blink-and-you’ll-miss-it visual jokes, background oddities, and a few sly jabs at the very idea of reboots. The production design by Bill Brzeski, The Hangover (2009), leans into a playful noir-detective aesthetic — shadowy blinds, looming skylines, and offices that look like they were built to be leaned on during monologues — giving the absurdity a surprisingly classy backdrop. Some meta moments land perfectly — including fourth-wall gags and playful digs at reboots — while others push their luck. Still, the hit-to-miss ratio stays firmly in the black. By the time the credits roll with absurd crew titles, a cheeky eye exam, and even a Netflix password, you’ll be either exhausted or still chuckling into your popcorn.
At a brisk eighty-five minutes, The Naked Gun (2025) knows when to leave the party. It’s not trying to outdo the original — it’s here to toast it, spill the drink, and then slip on the ice cube. Mission accomplished. Liam Neeson’s stoic absurdity, Paul Walter Hauser’s goofy charm, Danny Huston’s slick villainy, Pamela Anderson’s fearless fun, and a homicidal snowman you’ll never forget — this revival’s a case worth reopening. If anything, the film might just bring new meaning to the term “cold case.”
3.5 / 5 – Great
Reviewed by Stu Cachia (S-Littner)
The Naked Gun is released through Paramount Pictures Australia
