The Naked Gun (2025)

User Review

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  ScreenZealots

  4 / 10

  Liam Neeson is the one bright spot in director Akiva Schaffer‘s otherwise disappointing reboot of “The Naked Gun.” His deadpan delivery and complete commitment to absurdity prove he was the right actor to inherit the legacy of Leslie Nielsen’s iconic Lt. Frank Drebin, but even he can’t carry the film all by himself. With a script peppered with unfunny Millennial pop culture references and mostly lazy, ill-timed jokes, this is one of the biggest disappointments of the year.
  
  For the first half, it’s a promising, chuckle-filled ride with a couple of inspired gags that even had me laughing to the point of tears. But then something goes horribly wrong. The laughs evaporate, the energy dies, and the film collapses into a pit of painfully unfunny slapstick and stale parody.
  
  What starts off as a decent spoof with real comedic potential quickly devolves into a slog of cheap, juvenile humor that never lands. The story is serviceable and the tone mimics the original ridiculousness of the original films, but the second half is so lacking in wit or timing that it feels like a completely different (and far worse) movie.
  
  It’s frustrating, because this could have worked. Neeson is great, and there are flashes of brilliance in the form of creative sight gags and one-liners, but they’re buried in a script that runs out of steam far too early.
  
  Instead of revitalizing the beloved franchise, “The Naked Gun” limps to the finish line with the kind of sophomore-level comedy that makes you cringe more than laugh.
  
  By: Louisa Moore / SCREEN ZEALOTS

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