Flasz On Film

Synopsis: A bumbling cop Frank Drebin Jr. inherits his father’s knack for chaotic heroics when a tech billionaire’s sinister plot threatens humanity. As Drebin stumbles through bank robberies, nightclub brawls, and even a showdown at a New Year’s MMA match, his over-the-top policing collides with romance, slapstick mayhem, and the fate of the world. 

Let’s be frank here: Leslie Nielsen was an uncounterfeitable presence. His deadpan was unlike any other deadpan, effortless and straight and capable of elevating any predicament to comedic heights. In particular, his performance as Frank Drebin in the Naked Gun series and the Police Squad! TV show remains inimitable.  

However, the idea of producing a modern spoof comedy that resurrects the very specific microgenre of parody replete with sight gags, non sequiturs, popcultural references and elements of physical comedy and almost completely devoid of aspirations to serious blockbusterism has been long overdue. And it’s no surprise that this modern reinvention of the Zucker-Zucker-Abrahams classic would come courtesy of the SNL alum Akiva Schaffer, who has previously directed Hot Rod and the wildly underrated Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping among others, and Seth MacFarlane as the other creative driver.  

The biggest challenge in bringing The Naked Gun in front of contemporary audiences, especially after decades of abortive attempts, at least one of which involved Leslie Nielsen himself before he passed away, was the casting of the lead role because, as I remarked just a few inches above this paragraph, Leslie Nielsen is irreplaceable. Therefore, what the filmmakers needed to do was to understand the kind of energy the actor who was to play the character of Frank Drebin Jr. would bring to the table. You can’t count on Nielsen-esque deadpan that gives Takeshi Kitano a run for his money, but you can rely on Liam Neeson’s caché as the uber-serious hero of action movies for dads and that if he were to play it straight while executing on a script rife with slapstick and crass humour, he’d come close enough to capturing the vibe of the series and make it a success. Which he did.  

The Naked Gun, which also stars Paul Walter Hauser as Drebin’s sidekick and Pam Anderson as the Priscilla Presley-esque femme fatale is a resoundingly successful reinvention of the series and a truly formidable comedy that might just remind you what used to be funny when the SNL crowd, the Zucker-Zucker-Abrahams trio and Mike Myers alongside others ruled the roost. It’s exactly what you’d expect from a laugh-a-minute comedy: a never-ending parade of gags, skits, one-liners and absurdly crass scenarios that also happens to ride the line of good taste with great precision.  

Neeson understood the assignment perfectly, as did everyone else around him. His seriousness is very well undercut by the stupidity of the many scenarios he’s in and the entire movie looks therefore as though it was light on plot, yet it clearly rests on its machinations because a spoof of a police procedural with noir vibes still requires the genre elements to be there in order to lampoon them. The movie is fun and brisk in the way it takes the mick out of some of the biggest blockbusters of our time, like The Dark Knight and the Mission: Impossible series, while playing its cards with a straight face. In fact, it almost feels refreshing to see that The Naked Gun flies rather close to the Austin Powers series when it comes to comedic sensibilities and taste, as it indicates that after the last couple of years of playing it safe and treading lightly so as not to upset those professionally offended and perpetually online, it might be OK to laugh at stuff the way we used to laugh at stuff way back in the day.  

It’s honestly hard to recommend this in any other way than a fun time at the movies, because The Naked Gun carries absolutely zero messaging and does not aim to do anything but provide the kind of entertainment the makers of the original series were after in the olden days. Neeson is fun and self-aware in his self-seriousness. Pam Anderson has a handful of truly bonkers moments and by every other measure, the movie as a whole adds up to a thoroughly enjoyable experience for those who used to like old-school SNL antics and long for the kind of no-strings-attached comedy not for the easily offended the original Naked Gun and others in this space always delivered on.