‘The Naked Gun’ (2025) Review — An Excessive And Exhausting Comedy That Gets It Until It Doesn’t
The Naked Gun is written by Dan Gregor, Doug Mand, and Akira Schaffer, with the latter also taking on the role of director. Gregor, Mand, and Schaffer are also the ones responsible for the Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers movie from 2022.
A homage to not only The Naked Gun franchise but also to 1990s comedy in general, the film strictly consisting of gag after gag with little breaks in between. The story is basic and barely followed — only there to help bridge the downtime from one gag to the next — and the majority of the movie rips off other big action films.
The trailer and references to characters from the other entries make this clear, but this is a legacy sequel to The Naked Gun 331/3: The Final Insult and not a reboot. Lt. Frank Drebin Jr. (Liam Neeson) is the son of Leslie Nielsen’s version of the character, but not the baby at the end of The Final Insult. It’s said that Liam Neeson’s character is a child from a relationship Frank Drebin didn’t know he fathered and is much older.
The film opens with a bank heist lifted straight out of The Dark Knight (complete with music that sounds similar to Hans Zimmer/James Newton Howard’s score). Frank takes out all the bank robbers by himself, but not before the P.L.O.T. Device is stolen, which was the real target. Drebin begins investigating the death of Simon Davenport, who worked for Edentech mastermind Richard Cane (Danny Huston).
Cane intends to use the P.L.O.T. Device to devolve humanity back to their barbaric Neanderthal ways. The rich will hunker down until the poor and mediocre all kill each other, while the wealthy can rule what remains of the world (a la Kingsman). While Frank believes Simon committed suicide, his sister Beth (Pamela Anderson) tries to convince him otherwise. Frank and Beth begin working together to thwart Cane’s plan.
Like Rescue Rangers, the comedy of The Naked Gun is extremely hit or miss. Some of the gags work incredibly well, including an infrared sequence that looks like Frank and Beth (and a dog) are committing sexual acts on each other, and a romantic montage involving a snowman that is the most outrageous part of the film.
On one hand, the comedy isn’t necessarily straightforward, but its spitfire formula is somewhat exhausting at times and feels like something that wouldn’t be as enjoyable on repeat viewings of the film. On the other hand, though, there are some aspects to the film hidden in the background; like Easter eggs that may only be caught on the second or third viewing.
There are some truly hysterical moments in The Naked Gun; Frank and Cane’s lengthy conversation on the Black Eyed Peas and Frank’s rant about TiVo to Beth are the memorable cream of a ridiculous crop.
There’s a Daffy Duck Looney Tunes short from 1948 called Daffy Dilly. A tycoon named J.B. Cubish will pay $1 million to the first person who makes him laugh. Daffy tries everything in his comedic arsenal, but nothing works until Daffy clumsily trips and falls and makes Cubish laugh hysterically. The end of the short sees Cubish throwing pie after pie at Daffy’s face while laughing uncontrollably.
The Naked Gun’s comedy is essentially throwing pie after pie at the audience and seeing what sticks or will be remembered. It just keeps piling on. Maybe you like pie, but having them thrown at your face for 80 minutes, regardless of whether they’re different flavors or not, becomes redundant, overwhelming, and overkill.
The whole point of The Naked Gun franchise is that there isn’t a structure apart from making way for the over-the-top silliness. It looks like the film was a ton of fun to make because all of the performances are just as preposterous as the rest of the film. But maybe The Naked Gun is too on the nose and captures an era of comedy that doesn’t work as well anymore.
Our attention spans may not be what they used to be, but a handful of seconds of story sandwiched between six excessive gags, a dozen absurd one-liners, and Liam Neeson choking down chili dogs so he can crap his pants for a longer period is excessive.
There are some fun and hilarious moments in The Naked Gun, but it’s a barrage of slapstick comedy with unlimited ammo regarding its ludicrous content. The film is a lot like having a thousand punchlines to one joke or one setup.
People enjoy gag reels from movies, but The Naked Gun is like 70 gag reels stitched together to make one third of a cohesive film.
NEXT: Fantasia Film Festival 2025 – ‘Stuntman’ Review — Honoring Hong Kong Cinema With Mesmerizing Drama
The Naked Gun (2025), Paramount Pictures
PROS
- Some of the comedy is hysterical.
CONS
- It's "no structure" structure gets exhausting.
- Comedy is so rapid fire that its best moments are drowned out.
- Is likely not as worthwhile with repear viewings – 33 1/3 of its charm is not knowing what comes next.
