The Naked Gun (2025)

⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

If you’re in the mood for the silliest of slapstick nonsense, look no further than The Naked Gun (2025). Reviving one of comedy’s most beloved spoofs, the film embraces its legacy with the kind of gleeful absurdity that borders on anarchic. At its center is the famously granite-faced Liam Neeson, cast with sly brilliance as Lieutenant Frank Drebin Jr., a man tasked with cracking a case before his department shutters for good. From the very first scene, the film hurls gag after gag at the audience with unrelenting energy, setting a breathless pace that rarely lets up.

Neeson proves to be an inspired choice. His trademark stoicism becomes the perfect foil for the ridiculousness surrounding him—every misstep, pratfall, and double entendre lands harder because of his deadpan delivery. Pamela Anderson, meanwhile, matches him beat for beat as the film’s ingenue. Their unlikely chemistry anchors the chaos, and the supporting cast fires off punchlines so rapidly you could miss three jokes with a single cough. That kind of ensemble timing is a rarity, and it gives the film its infectious rhythm.

Of course, sustaining wall-to-wall absurdity is no easy feat. Like many broad comedies, The Naked Gun occasionally struggles to keep its goofy momentum fresh. Some set pieces feel recycled from the series’ glory days, and a few gags strain for laughs rather than earn them. Yet even when the comedy dips, the filmmakers find creative ways to push forward—at one point literally relying on a PLOT device (the pun is intentional, and so is the groan). Clocking in at a brisk 85 minutes, the movie never overstays its welcome.

While it may not fully reach the delirious heights of the original films, The Naked Gun (2025) succeeds by leaning into sheer silliness with absolute commitment. It’s ridiculous, uneven, and often brilliant—proof that, in the right hands, even the oldest jokes can feel joyously new again.