It's been 31yrs since the third part of the original Naked Gun trilogy was released, aptly named
The Naked Gun 33 1/3 - The Final Insult where we were all taken in by the 'charms' of Anna-Nicole Smith and a return for Leslie Nielsen, doing what he always did best. This new re-booted 4th installments sees Liam Neeson picking up the mantle as Frank Drebin 'Jnr' and Pamela Anderson starring as femme fatale Beth Davenport, in a welcome return to screen, continuing her movie comeback following a fantastic performance in The Last Showgirl.
These films don't take much working out and anyone (over a certain age) who has seen Police Squad, the Original Naked Gun films and AirPlane all know what to expect; A script littered with innuendoes and double entendres, slapstick comedy and witty one liners but sadly, this one (for me) just didn't quite hit the mark!
The plot line is basic. Guy dies in car crash - suspected suicide, then becomes a murder investigation - who dunn'it and why - solve the case to save the department etc etc and we know very early on who the bad-guys are so don't expect any lat minute twists and turns in this one. If anything, the focus of the movie is more on the relationship between the leading two-some, and I think with a run-time of under 90 minutes (85?) it's pretty much over before you've got a chance to get your 3rd beer.
Yes, Naked Gun was definately 'of it's time' however those same jokes now appear extremely dated and probably haven't aged well in the modern era. I don't think I'm old or prudish in that statement, I get all of it and can see why they did it, but it just doesn't land like it used too.
To try and keep elements of continuity from the originals, a lot of the same gags do appear. The overly impossible disguises for Drebin and the innuendo of an evolved (and even more suggestive) Kitchen 'Shadow' scene (remember the camping trip?) both make appearances, as does the constant 'coffee on demand' and mic-drop statement on-liners but sadly, I didn't really laugh once. It all felt too staged and lacked the delivery that Nielsen had mastered. Liam Neeson isn't famed for his slapstick comedy skills, wheras Nielsen was, making it all feel just a little bit wrong.
With that said, worth mentioning that Pamela was great. Natural and gorgeous in pretty much every scene and to be fair, the whole cast made a decent rosta. Aside from Neeson and Anderson there was Paul Walter Hauser (Blackbird) as Drebins partner Ed Hocken 'Jnr', Danny Huston (X-Men) as the lead protagonist Richard Cane, CHH Pounder (Avatar / NCIS New Orleans) as Chief Davis and finally, Kevin Durand (Ballers / Real Steel) as Cane's hired muscle.
It even had cameos from WWE's Cody Rhodes and Rap legend Busta Rhymes but after the shine of a very recognisable cast - it all got very dull, very quickly.
There is no denying that this is a nostalgic trubute to the originals, and to their credit, the filmakers also haven't shyed away from some prior cast members or 'notable mentions' that let's say, haven't aged too well over time and given them a little bit of stick. You'll work out who they are if you don't already.
The movie is what it is. No Oscars just yet, but it did win the 2026 Best Comedy Movie in the Critics Choice Awards as well as an Outstanding achievement in Casting for a Big Budget Feature Comedy (I told you it was an impressive rosta!) from the Casting Society (CSA). It's also nominated in over a dozen other award catagories across magazines and a spattering of US States Critics Choice events so there is some credibility to it, even after everything I have said - so what do I know!
Finally, if one good thing does come out of this moive, it's the budding off-screen relationship of Neeson and Anderson. it's fair to say both have had traumatic and tragic love lives and if this movie brings two of hollywoods most recognisable faces togeher and genuinly creates something adorable - then good for them - and thanks to
The Naked Gun for making it happen.
(Images used in blog are sourced from IMDB, The New York Times, Odeon Cinemas, AwardsWatch, MovieWeb & Vanity Fair)
