The Naked Gun (2025) – Movie Review
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Reviewed by Joy Parris-So they made another Naked Gun movie. I know, I know – nobody asked for it, and frankly, I went in expecting the worst. But you know what? It’s not bad. Not great, and it’s not a disaster it could have been. But it’s a lot of fun.
Liam Neeson playing Frank Drebin Jr. is honestly genius casting when you think about it. The guy’s spent the last decade being all serious and threatening in those Taken movies. Hearing him deliver completely ridiculous lines with that same intense delivery is pretty hilarious. There’s this bit where he’s genuinely angry about the Janet Jackson Super Bowl thing, and it’s just… chef’s kiss.
But here’s the thing – Pamela Anderson steals this movie. I’m not even kidding. She’s playing the love interest and partner-in-crime-solving. She’s got this perfect timing. She delivers the dumbest lines like they make total sense. There’s a moment when someone asks if they can “speak freely.” She responds, “I prefer English” with a tiny, confused frown. I laughed out loud.
The plot? Eh, it’s fine. Some tech bro villain wants to destroy Los Angeles with mind control gadgets or whatever. Honestly, the story gets too complicated. The original Naked Gun movies worked best when they kept things simple and just threw joke after joke at you. This one sometimes gets caught up trying to be an actual action movie.
Paul Walter Hauser is in it as the new Ed Hocken. They don’t give him much to do. It’s a shame because the guy’s funny. Same with most of the supporting cast – they’re just kind of there.
Look, is it as good as the Leslie Nielsen ones? No way. Those are comedy gold. But it’s way better than it had any right to be. Neeson’s having a blast making fun of his tough guy image. Anderson shows that she can actually act when given decent material.
The jokes hit maybe 60% of the time instead of the 80% you’d want, and yeah, the middle drags when they’re trying to explain the villain’s master plan. But when it works, it works. Plus, it’s only 85 minutes, so even when it doesn’t work, it’s over pretty quickly.
If you liked the original movies, you’ll probably have fun with this. If you hated them, this won’t change your mind. It’s comfort food comedy – nothing revolutionary, but it’ll make you chuckle for an hour and a half.
The original Naked Gun movies remind us of something specific. They serve as a time capsule when comedy could be completely, unapologetically stupid. Leslie Nielsen would deliver the most ridiculous lines with this perfect straight face. Nobody was worried about whether every joke landed. They didn’t care if it offended someone’s third cousin. It was just pure, dumb fun. And honestly? That feels so rare these days. Most comedies now try too hard to be clever. They are so scared of stepping on toes. They forget to be funny.
The Naked Gun didn’t care. It threw everything at the wall. If 70% of it stuck, that was good enough. There’s something almost refreshing about that approach when you watch it now. Plus, Nielsen had this gift for making you laugh at the dumbest possible things. His fearless silliness hits different. It feels unique, especially when the world seems so serious all the time. And weirdly, Liam Neeson bringing that same energy full circle makes perfect sense. He has that Nielsen-level commitment. He plays it completely straight while chaos unfolds around him. It’s like watching someone who gets what made the originals special, instead of just trying to copy them.
Worth a watch if you’re in the mood for some dumb fun.
Cast: Liam Neeson, Pamela Anderson, Paul Walter Hauser, CCH Pounder, Kevin Durand, Cody Rhodes, Liza Koshy, Eddie Yu, with Danny Huston
“THE NAKED GUN” is PG-13 for crude/sexual material, violence/bloody images and brief partial nudity.
