It was inevitable, wasn’t it? In an era where IP is king, someone was always going to dust off the Police Squad files and try to make them print money again. Producer Seth MacFarlane is a fan of the originals—you can feel the reverence in the attempt—but loving a classic and understanding why it worked are two very different things.
On the surface, the cadence is there: the rapid-fire nonsense, the visual gags, the naked commitment to being stupid on purpose. That might sell at a pitch meeting, but the final product is a reminder that style is not the same thing as funny.
Liam Neeson as Frank Drebin Jr. is the entire gamble. The script leans hard into the grim action guy doing straight-faced stupidity. And to be fair, it’s a workable idea. Let’s be clear: I don’t care about the racist things Liam Neeson said years ago; he’s not on trial here. This movie is.
This would never top the original, but even with tempered expectations, this reboot struggles to justify its existence. If you watch the original NAKED GUN right after this one (as I did), the difference is staggering. The original took place in a world that, while absurd, had rules. It was a grounded reality where chaos happened to the characters. This movie is a cartoon. If Liam Neeson can just morph into anything he wants, why even have a film?
The casting is where it really falls apart. Leslie Nielsen and George Kennedy were infinitely more likable because their characters felt like people who existed between the jokes. Here, everyone functions as a delivery mechanism for punchlines that don’t always land. And Paul Walter Hauser—that doofus from COBRA KAI—is here to fill Kennedy’s shoes? It simply doesn’t work.
Pamela Anderson plays the “age-appropriate” romantic interest, which is a refreshing choice, but the movie wants to have it both ways. She’s in her late 50s, and we’re asked to believe she’s still turning heads like it’s 1996. I’m not saying she can’t—Pamela Anderson is Pamela Anderson—I’m saying the movie wants the credit for being age-appropriate while still selling the centerfold.
The only person who seems to understand the assignment is Danny Huston. The man knows how to play a villain, and his take on Richard Cane—a fictionalized Elon Musk—is spot on. Huston plays it straight while the world goes stupid. It makes him the standout antagonist because he’s the only one acting like this movie has a pulse.
The core problem is that the film keeps winking at the audience. The jokes feel like a Spotify playlist called “NAKED GUN TYPE HUMOR” rather than new material. Cultural references are ingredients, not jokes, and pointing out a trope isn’t the same as subverting it.
Also, I’m sorry, but if you’re only going to make one half-joke about O.J. Simpson and then tiptoe away, you’re playing it too safe. Where’s Norm Macdonald when you need him? This franchise used to run toward the uncomfortable stuff at full speed and trip over a garbage can on the way there. This version jogs, checks its phone, and asks if everyone’s okay.
And yes, I’m going to say it: for a PG-13 comedy to work, it has to be witty. This film is definitely stupid, and there’s a place for stupid comedies, but this isn’t stupid in the right way. I’m not saying there are no laughs—the funniest bit for me is the scene where he’s firing a gun because he has to use the bathroom. That’s my kind of stupid. I just wish there was more of it. Other people seemed to find it funny, but for me, the ratio just wasn't there.
Final Verdict: 46 out of 100