The Naked Gun (2025) Review

Title: The Naked Gun
Year: 2025
Director: Akiva Schaffer
Country: US
Language: English

The comedy team known as ZAZ, a trio that included David Zucker, Jerry Zucker, and Jim Abrahams, had a short but successful series of spoof comedies like Airplane! (1980), Top Secret! (1984) and a television series on ABC called Police Squad! (1982). The television series was so successful that they were able to make the classic Naked Gun Trilogy. This spoof comedy genre started strong, but faded in popularity with time. In the early 2000's, the genre hit rock bottom with films like Not Another Teen Movie (2001) and Meet the Spartans (2008). After a decade-or so- hiatus, audiences are ready to see the spoof make a comeback. Thus we get a Naked Gun reboot of sorts. 

Liam Neeson plays an inept cop who  investigates a recent death that appears to be a suicide, but the victim’s sister, Beth Davenport (Pamela Anderson), thinks otherwise. She’s convinced billionaire Richard Cane (Danny Huston) is behind it. 

I bought tickets to this film out of hesitancy; I was certain it couldn't compare to the original Naked Gun, and could possibly be an awful experience. Thankfully, I was wrong. Liam Neeson has great comedic timing; perhaps even better than Leslie Neilson. Naked Gun feels like more of a passing of the torch, than a cash grab for nostalgia's sake. Writers Dan Gregor, Doug Mand, and Schaffer fill the run-time with clever sight gags and fun word-play - largely avoiding references that would be out of date in a few years' time. This kind of comedy is timeless; the deadpan delivery of the absurd scenarios is quite fun. 

Seriously, Neeson - and Pam Anderson - play foundational roles that bring this film's material up a few notches in terms of my enjoyment of Naked Gun. Their chemistry is undeniable; it is no wonder that they became a couple offscreen. They both deliver their lines with such deadly seriousness; it's as if Neeson thought he was on the set of Taken.

Naked Gun captures the tone and energy of the original film, while also being careful not to be an exact copy. The plot, while a little on the nose in its Musk-esque villain, is certainly relevant to the 2020's. I was very impressed overall.