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Ask your grandmother about fashion, and they will undoubtedly tell you that it’s cyclical. If you’re looking for any evidence, just spot me (or really any man my age) wearing shirts that haven’t seen the light of day since my father wore them back in the ’80s. Pop culture as a whole will always come back like a well-aimed boomerang as genres and styles fall in and out of favor.
Akiva Schaffer’s “The Naked Gun” slaps you in the face with this pop-culture boomerang, and you will find yourself thanking it for doing so. It revives the spoof movie with full force, ready to make dark and incredibly bizarre jokes so outlandish they leave you wondering how the hell someone even came up with them.
“The Naked Gun” stars Liam Neeson as Lieutenant Frank Drebin Jr., an oblivious and violence-prone cop who drinks enough coffee to keep Folgers in business. After a series of bungles (trust me, they are actions of pure idiocy) and strange coincidences related to a bank robbery, Drebin sets out to solve the homicide of software engineer Simon Davenport (Jason MacDonald) with the help of his partner Captain Ed Hocken Jr. (Paul Walter Hauser).
He then finds himself face-to-face with generic evil billionaire Richard Crane (Danny Huston). Along the way, Drebin falls in love with Simon’s sister Beth (Pamela Anderson), who attempts to find her brother’s killer, with and without police help. Drebin and Beth race to stop Crane from releasing a “Kingsman”-esque P.L.O.T. Device (yes, reader, it is actually called a P.L.O.T. device) that would ravage Los Angeles.
While the plot may not sound like it’s worthy of the five-star rating it earned, the real magic of the movie lies in its humor. From the opening credits until the lights turn back on, the movie fires off high-quality jokes at a pace that makes Formula 1 look slow.
This could easily grow tiresome, like a friend who won’t stop making terrible jokes despite repeated threats, but the movie manages to avoid this comedy fatigue. Every gag and joke feels well-timed and appropriate (their timing is appropriate, their humor is not). Even the movie’s O.J. Simpson joke lands without feeling forced or phony.
Some gags are brought back again and again, but each callback brings something new to the table. The humor never feels recycled, possessing a punchiness that will have you leaving the theater thankful that you chose this instead of “Together” (I want a refund, Dave Franco).
But wait, isn’t Liam Neeson that guy who threatens cold-blooded European terrorists with his particular set of acting skills? What’s he doing in a comedy? Well, the casting director deserves a raise, because Neeson delivers a spot-on performance that would have made Leslie Nielsen, the star of the original trilogy, proud. Neeson’s tough guy persona highlights the ineptitude of his character, making his idiotic actions even funnier as he does it all with a straight face.
Pamela Anderson shines as Beth, whether she is belting hilariously off-key or fighting a literal snowman brought to life (I can only hope someone would fight a snowman for me the way she does for Drebin).
Another notable performance comes from Hauser, who answers the age-old question ‘How many kids could you take in a fight?’ Despite playing a basic evil rich guy character, Danny Huston does such a brilliant job of being the smug bad guy that you want to reach through the screen to punch him (I swear his face was meant for villainous roles).
“The Naked Gun” is as refreshing as that first sip of ice-cold lemonade on a hot summer day. In a time where it feels like every new movie is just an unnecessary remake or a reboot of some beloved classic (I’m looking at you, “Roadhouse”), “The Naked Gun” manages to capture exactly what made the original trilogy so funny.
Of course, it is a nepo-baby film, piggy-backing off of the iconic “Naked Gun” trilogy featuring national treasure Leslie Nielsen and all-star running back O.J. Simpson (talk about aging poorly). The original movies were comedy-spoof gold, crammed with inappropriate and ludicrous gags. And, despite the reboot malaise that everyone and their mother is feeling, “The Naked Gun” finds its own groove while paying homage to what came before.
With a plethora of unexpected and colorful jokes that will have you glued to your seat and a hilarious cast of characters, “The Naked Gun” brings the spoof art form back to the spotlight.