Naked Gun 2025 Movie Review
Nathan Swank
August 1st, 2025
I’m not sure when I saw the original 1988 NAKED GUN or its sequel NAKED GUN 2 ½ or NAKED GUN 33 ⅓. They all sort of run together to me as a kid watching them probably at too young of an age on HBO. But I can tell you that I loved every ridiculous over-the-top joke and I loved Leslie Nielson playing it completely straight. So does the new NAKED GUN 2025 bring the same comedic energy and vibe as the originals? Yeah, I think it does.
If you are unfamiliar, NAKED GUN is an absurdist comedy, preceded and perfected by 1980’s AIRPLANE! Liam Neeson plays Frank Drebin Jr., Police Squad leader, who must serve, protect, and save the world. Once proven tough guy, action hero, with plenty of dramatic roles to boot, slips into the straight comedy leading man with ease. Honestly, it is inspired casting that matches Nielson’s masterfully serious comedic delivery to perfection. Neeson and Nielson… it’s almost like it was meant to be. Paul Walter Hauser delivers another impressive comedic performance as Drebin’s partner, Ed Hocken Jr. The other phenomenal match is Pamela Anderson as Beth Davenport, who is amazing in the similar role previously played by Priscilla Presley. Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson have incredible chemistry together and have been making a beautiful are they or aren’t they an item on the promotional tour. Their adorableness together sort of makes me like the movie even better. So whatever their situation is… well done.
NAKED GUN 2025 is full of jokes, quips, and visual gags that keep flying at you for the appropriately brisk 85-minute runtime. Not all of them hit. Some are easy and some have been done before, but the tone and the fact that they just keep coming, gives an ease to the audience that simply smiling is hard to resist. I love the goofy gag of the police squad always having a coffee in their hand as it gets larger each time it’s replaced. I love the self seriousness of literal phrases or questions like, “Would you like a chair?” “No, I have plenty at home.” I love the silly rapid fire progression of a Black Eyed Peas reference. But my absolute favorite joke is probably a completely random and absurd montage involving the feelings of a snowman.
NAKED GUN 2025 is way better than it has any business being or anyone should expect. Writers Dan Gregor, Doug Mand, and Akiva Schaffer, who also directed the film, should feel proud. Neeson, Anderson, and Hauser crush the material and I hope they come back for a sequel full of more silly antics. To be clear, I’m not saying NAKED GUN 2025 is as good as the original trilogy, but it is successful in what it wants to be – a comedy that captures the same essence and spirit of humor from the original, which makes for a wonderful laugh-filled movie going experience.
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