Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson are irresistible in “The Naked Gun” The 2025 comedy is a worthy successor to Leslie Nielsen's comedy

The Naked Gun states it right from the start: it’s something tied to the past, but it also wants to be new and original. The film is essentially the sequel to the trilogy led by the indomitable Leslie Nielsen, itself a more successful spin-off of the TV series Police Squad!, a gem for connoisseurs but cancelled even before all its episodes had aired. A story full of comedy that eventually found its true dimension on the big screen. Over thirty years later, it’s Akiva Schaffer who takes the helm, directing and co-writing with Dan Gregor and Doug Mand, with whom he had already achieved surprisingly good results with the hybrid animation film Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers, released in 2022 directly on Disney+. A cleverly ironic and smartly adult project that didn’t forget it was (also) aimed at a younger audience.

With The Naked Gun, the trio (fittingly, Schaffer always seems to “move” in trios, being also one of the members of The Lonely Island) can definitely push the envelope further, taking advantage of the irreverent and anarchic spirit of the film series it draws from. Diving in headfirst without a parachute are two standout protagonists, a dynamic duo who fully embrace the chaotic and delightfully idiotic madness of The Naked Gun. Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson are electric and uninhibited. Two stars serving a slapstick comedy in which their casting and resulting performances are impeccable, honest, and subversive compared to the polished, serious image that Hollywood persistently tries to project. What stands out most about the new The Naked Gun is in fact its consistent continuity as a descendant of the original Lieutenant Frank Drebin. Neeson’s character, Frank Drebin Jr., is his son—and a full-on echo. Thus, Schaffer, along with his writers and cast, stays true to the promise of making the best possible use of the legacy passed on to him. The most coherent in terms of philological continuation of the genre, the tone, the sketches, and the characters populating the world of its improbable police force. Not using political incorrectness carelessly, but sharpening it so that it actually becomes kin to the three films released between 1988 and 1994, creating a direct line in perfect connection with the past, even as it remains a new story with new characters.

This is the defining trait of the 2025 The Naked Gun: it doesn’t try, as is often and understandably done, to match a product of the past with today’s context, but rather revives that exact universe with that exact perimeter and finds it a space without compromising with contemporary sensibilities. Not every product can do that. The Naked Gun can. Fans of the saga will find exactly what they’re looking for in Akiva Schaffer’s film, and those who don’t resonate with this kind of comedy probably didn’t enjoy the original films from the '80s and '90s either—or Leslie Nielsen’s work in general. It’s such a specific humor that it’s surprising how the sequel managed to respect it without sacrificing its desire for independence (as all children tend to have, after all). And we wouldn’t mind seeing Neeson and Anderson team up again. Who would’ve thought they’d make such a great team? —honestly, we did.