THE NAKED GUN (2025)

Genre: Comedy
Director: Akiva Schaffer
Cast: Liam Neeson, Pamela Anderson, Paul Walter Hauser, CCH Pounder, Kevin Durand, Cody Rhodes, Liza Koshy, Eddie Yu, Danny Huston
Runtime: 1 hr 25 mins
Rating: NC16 (Sexual References and Violence)
Released By: UIP
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 7 August 2025

Synopsis: Only one man has the particular set of skills... to lead Police Squad and save the world! Lt. Frank Drebin Jr. (Liam Neeson) follows in his father's footsteps in THE NAKED GUN, directed by Akiva Schaffer (Saturday Night Live, Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping) and from producer Seth MacFarlane (Ted, Family Guy). 

Movie Review:

Does Liam Neeson actually look like the late Canadian comedy legend Leslie Nielsen? Apparently someone thinks so because Neeson has now been cast as the son of Frank Drebin in this reboot of The Naked Gun franchise, produced by Seth MacFarlane.

In this updated version, Neeson plays a tough but bumbling LAPD detective investigating the murder of a man whose death is tied to a shady tech billionaire, Richard Cane (Danny Huston). But let’s be honest, no one really cares about Cane’s plan to destroy humanity. This isn’t a movie about plot. This is The Naked Gun and logic takes a backseat to absurd, nonsensical humour.

To Neeson’s credit, he leans into the role with a surprisingly deft balance of stoicism and silliness. Despite the long shadow cast by Nielsen’s impeccable comic timing, Neeson’s deadpan delivery works more often than not mainly because audiences are so familiar with his gruff action-hero persona. Watching him bumble through scenes as a parody of his Taken-style roles adds a layer of meta-comedy that mostly lands.

However, director Akiva Schaffer (Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping) fails to match the inspired lunacy of the original trilogy by Jerry Zucker, Jim Abrahams and David Zucker. Their brand of rapid-fire, irreverent humour rife with slapstick and off-colour gags might be out of step with today’s “woke” sensibilities but their comedic legacy is hard to deny.

Schaffer and his team, unfortunately, play it far too safe. The jokes rarely go beyond mild chuckles, and many of the better gags are spoiled in the trailer. So yes, skip the trailer if you want any chance of being surprised. Even at a brisk 85 minutes, the film struggles to deliver consistent laughs. It relies on a string of tired visual puns, physical gags and a repetitive coffee cup joke that wears out its welcome quickly.

There are a couple of chuckles—one parodying Mission: Impossible, another lifted straight from Austin Powers but little else that stands out. There’s also a romantic subplot involving Frank Drebin Jr. and Beth Davenport (Pamela Anderson), the sister of the murder victim. Surprisingly, Anderson holds her own here, even outshining Neeson in a few scenes. Whatever baggage her past may bring, she deserves credit for her comedic presence in this role.

In the end, The Naked Gun (2025) is not clever enough to be a sharp satire nor dumb enough to embrace true absurdity. The film ends up stuck in a lukewarm middle ground neither goofy nor raunchy enough to leave a lasting impression. Perhaps MacFarlane should have brought in the original team for the reboot.

Honestly, contemporary audiences might find Johnny English funnier.

Movie Rating:

(The choice should be the original Naked Gun, Johnny English or any classic Stephen Chow comedies)

Review by Linus Tee