BEFORE: I worked at the NY premiere of this film last year, July 28, it was so nice of Hollywood to bring it to the theater where I work, since I'm a fan of "Star Wars" and seeing Liam Neeson in person on the blue carpet (yeah) was another nice addition to my life list. Pamela Anderson was there too, of course, also Busta Rhymes, CCH Pounder, Kevin Durand and producer Seth McFarlane. I'm not supposed to interact with the famous people, because at that time they're busy promoting the film and being interviewed, but I did e-mail some photos from the event to Weird Al later on, he was there but of course I'd met him before and I played a small part in making three of his animated music videos in the past. Clerical work for the animator, some social media promotion, stuff like that. And I got to meet him up close after a show at the Beacon Theater back in 2010.
So really this film moved to the TOP of my must-see list, I just couldn't work it in last year because I was out of Liam Neeson films, and the Doc Block had already passed, or I would have just put it between the two films with Weird Al. So Mr. Yankovic didn't make the year-end breakdown last year, sorry about that. But I made it my goal to get to this film ASAP, like in January once all the Christmas movies were out of the way. Really, if I get to this film, "The Phoenician Scheme" and "Spinal Tap II" in 2026 I will consider the year a success - that's just how I roll.
Hey, who could have figured that I would watch "Gladiator II", "Five Nights at Freddy's" and "Landscape with Invisible Hand" all in the same year? Plus films that had been hanging around on my list for YEARS, like "Norma Rae", "Deep Blue Sea" and "Monster Trucks", I was happy just to cross those off and clear up some space!
THE PLOT: Following in his father's footsteps, a detective works to solve a murder case and save his police department from closure.
AFTER: I fast-forwarded through the whole Golden Globes award show last night, and there wasn't even a MENTION of "The Naked Gun" - nominated for zero awards, really? Sometimes I think the majority of the audience and I just aren't on the same page. When it came to TV series, I don't think I'd seen ANYTHING that was nominated, not "The Bear" or "Severance" or "Adolescence" or whatever "Plur1bus" is. I don't have time for "The Studio" or "Hacks" or "The Pitt", I'm too busy still watching "Law & Order: SVU" and "Shark Tank", because when I start a show, I hang with it until the bitter end - except for "Bar Rescue", I finally realized it was wasting my time. But I'll stick with "The Simpsons" and "Bob's Burgers" until they stop making them.
Did you WATCH "The Naked Gun"? And if so, did it make you laugh? If it did, then it should be nominated for best comedy, it's as simple as that. I'll give it a score that should put it near the TOP of my comedy list, because that's all I ask for from a comedy, just be funny. And respect the movies of the past, that's not required but it's a plus. There are plenty of references here to the original three "Naked Gun" movies, which of course are based on the TV show "Police Squad" - they can't make more of those movies like they used to, but they can do something new and different that sort of feels like it's in the same vein.
Liam Neeson is not Leslie Nielsen, he never will be, but he can be similarly deadpan serious, which is hilarious in its own way, while also poking fun at the 75 action movies he's made where he played a cop or a special agent with special skills or just a guy whose car is rigged to explode if he steps out of it or takes his foot off the gas pedal. Then also remember he was in "Cold Pursuit", a film where he played a snowplow driver fighting the drug dealers who killed his son, really he got caught up in the "Mad Libs" crime films, where it was the same screenplay, again and again, they just inserted a different type of vehicle and a different dead relative in each one. Remember that he did comedy in "A Million Ways to Die in the West", the same way, being funny by playing it 100% straight. Pamela Anderson is the same way here, just keeping it cool all the way and never breaking character, somehow being totally serious goes so far it loops around and becomes funny again, as it did in the previous "Naked Gun" films.
Frank Drebin Jr. is also accident-prone, completely clueless and unaware of his surroundings at all times, how else can you have someone drive off in an electric vehicle that's still plugged in? And OF COURSE that pulls out all the charging stations, and breaks a hole in a prison wall so that convicts can escape. OF COURSE it does. Everything's for laughs, so this film is (more or less) NITPICK POINT-proof, I can't complain about things that make no sense because it won't do any good, this whole world is always on the verge of falling apart, and if things progressed logically that just wouldn't happen. This is also a world of new technologies, like facial recognition, and impossible disguises that somehow make a six-foot tall man look like a little girl. We don't have to explain it, we only have to laugh at it. Then there's the P.L.O.T. device, which turns everyone in the area into a neanderthal-like savage, this might be a nod to the device from the original film that turned Reggie Jackson into a deadly assassin.
The new Frank Drebin also has that ability to turn anything into a weapon, like a lollipop or a gun cartridge, and that fighting skill where he gets the bad guys to shoot each other with their own guns, very helpful. But it's amplified to the point of parody, we can't really take this seriously, but also we're not supposed to. All we have to do is laugh at it, making this the kind of film we really need right now. As a bonus the villain here, played also very over-the-top by Danny Huston, is a clear reference to Elon Musk and the other tech-billionaires who are running our country or at least watching it burn while they make a profit. Self-driving electric vehicles that can be controlled remotely are turned into killing machines here, because you just KNOW they can override the GPS instructions and send your car off a bridge or something.
I don't want to give away all the jokes, because to analyze comedy is to destroy it, plus there are so many that I just don't have the space. But there are easily a thousand little gags, I had to put my phone down and actually pay attention to them all, but I'm sure I still missed a few. Consider how bad the original "Pink Panther" films got after Peter Sellers died, because Ted Wass and Roberto Benigni just weren't up to the task - things didn't get better until Steve Martin took over. They were going to reboot the "Naked Gun" franchise with Ed Helms, and I like the guy, but aiming higher with Liam Neeson proved to be a smarter move, I think.
I kind of wish they didn't need to steal gags from both "Airplane!" and the Austin Powers movies, but that's where we find ourselves these days, I guess, making a parody of the parody films is quite a bit too meta. Still it's a great effort, I laughed a lot and paid full attention, though I probably missed some of the hundred or so Easter eggs.
Directed by Akiva Schaffer (director of "Hot Rod" and "Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping")
Also starring Liam Neeson (last seen in "Music by John Williams"), Pamela Anderson (last seen in "The Last Showgirl"), Paul Walter Hauser (last seen in "The Fantastic Four: First Steps"), Danny Huston (last seen in "Boogie Woogie"), CCH Pounder (last seen in "Rustin"), Kevin Durand (last seen in "Walking Tall"), Liza Koshy (last seen in "Players"), Eddie Yu, Michael Beasley (last seen in "Reptile"), Moses Jones (last seen in "The Hate U Give"), Chase Steven Anderson (last seen in "Ride Along"), Cody Rhodes, Busta Rhymes (last seen in "Higher Learning"), Eddie DuPriest, Carl Gilliard (last seen in "Coach Carter"), Elliott Grey (last seen in "Welcome to the Rileys"), Wilbur Fitzgerald (last seen in "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret."), Justin Gaethje, Kamaru Usman, Sailor Luna Bunch, Judd Lormand (last seen in "Big George Foreman"), John Santiago (last seen in "Jackpot!"), Jennifer Bowles, Sean Freeland (last seen in "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks"), Doug Mand, Gavin Cloy, Jesse Santoyo, Lydia Castro (last seen in "Pain Hustlers"), Ulisses Gonsalves, Marc Farley (last seen in "Doctor Sleep"), Dan Black, Princess Elmore (last seen in "Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F"), Ian Kincaid, Matthew Stubstad, Vincent Lascoumes, Jason MacDonald (last seen in "The Man from Toronto"), Douglas Wittse, Danny Bonacci, Sergio Duque (last seen in "Saturday Night"), David Lengel (last seen in "Secret Headquarters"), Jordan Scott, Constance A.C. West
with cameos from Jon Anik, Michael Bisping, Bruce Buffer (last seen in "Hot Tub Time Machine 2"), John McCarthy, "Weird Al" Yankovic (last seen in "A Disturbance in the Force") and Priscilla Presley (last seen in "Barbara Walters: Tell Me Everything")
RATING: 7 out of 10 chili dogs (eaten in the same day, with terrible repercussions)
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