The Naked Gun (2025) Provides the Laughs Audiences Need

Frank Drebin Jr. will save the day, right after his last mishap.

The Naked Gun is a 2025 action-comedy sequel to the franchise, starring the late Leslie Nielsen. The story follows Frank Drebin Jr, the son of the late Lt. Frank Drebin. To prevent the Police Squad from shutting its doors, Frank follows in his father’s (bumbling) footsteps to keep crime away.

The sound of laughter in a movie theater is music to my ears. The latest Naked Gun movie revives the absurdist comedy with a full throttle of gags one minute after the other. I was laughing so much that right when I finished, I was back in hysterics. The Naked Gun reawakens a type of comedy that I didn’t think was possible anymore.

Prepare to see Liam Neeson like you’ve never seen him before. Yes, this is Liam Neeson, who has played several serious roles in Schindler’s List, Kinsey, and Love Actually. Here, he delivers a hysterical deadpan humor performance as Frank Drebin Jr.

I could tell Neeson had a ball working on this film, so he could take a break from his trademark and show audiences his comical side. As a fan of the original movies, Neeson was in when he read the film’s script, and set a rule: don’t play for comedy. He was apprehensive about doing comedy, but he sells his performance.

The Naked Gun compiles a talented team of comedic actors. Starting with Pamela Anderson, I recently watched her in The Last Showgirl. Anderson has a lot of spark, which I hope gets recognized more following The Naked Gun. As I have read, I am happy that Anderson and Neesom have had a budding romance.

This film includes the rising talent of Paul Walter Hauser, a talented actor who can do both comedy and drama. Except, one downside. Hauser is not in this film enough! Hauser deserved more scenes as Frank’s partner, Ed Hocken Jr.

Credits also include Danny Huston, CCH Pounder, Kevin Durand, Liza Koshy, Eddie Yu, and a whole ensemble of cameos.

The Naked Gun franchise is all about comedy. Not just any comedy: absurdist, nonsensical, deadpan reactions all compiled with the now underrated background humor. You have to see this movie because even the effort to describe the insane events that happen in this movie is to be witnessed on the big screen.

You have random coffees, the silliest line deliveries, and physical comedy. Oh yes, and background humor. So many things happen in the background in this movie. I could argue that some scenes were over-the-top, but that’s the definition of The Naked Gun. The film has several nods to the original movies, but adapts to modern absurdities.

The execution of The Naked Gun fell into the right hands of Akiva Schaffer. He doesn’t just imitate the flair of the original films, but makes it his own. To make sure jokes worked, Schaffer worked them out in rehearsals and planned out scenes accordingly, including stunts.

Movies don’t do comedy like this anymore. We need to bring it back. This was the first movie in a long time where audiences cackled the entire time and were even sad when the credits rolled. Everyone had the best time watching this movie.

Here are the rules: Do not take this film seriously. The Naked Gun is an absurd comedy. Enjoy it for what it is and have a great time. This is my favorite comedy of the year. See The Naked Gun while it’s in theaters because it makes for an epic movie theater experience.