Movie Details
| Title: | The Naked Gun | |
| Director: | Akiva Schaffer | |
| Year: | 2025 | |
| Genre: | Comedy | |
| Times Seen: | 1 | |
| Last Seen: | 11.23.25 |
Other Movies Seen By This Director (1)
- Hot Rod
| Date Viewed | Venue | Note |
| 11.23.25 | Internet | A modern update slash sequel to the comedy spoof series that defined a generation. I think earlier Gen X kids had Airplane, the hipsters will say Kentucky Fried Movie and the TV show Police Squad, but really it's The Naked Gun movies that gave Leslie Nielson a second career and defined a specific brand of comedy through the 90s, possibly right up till that whole "frat pack" Will Ferrell Ben Stiller Vince Vaughn crew took over in the 2000s. This one's ok. I commend the very high jokes-per-minute ratio but unfortunately I think the best stuff is in the trailer, and in some cases like the "please take a chair" gag and the "man's laughter" gag the trailer edit is better. Getting handed a coffee while driving is a classic spoofy joke, all the cops crying for their dead cop dads is classic, and the button on Nordberg I thought threaded the needle of addressing OJ Simpson in a funny way. Still, I don't remember the trailers for the OG trilogy so maybe 30 years from now Gen Delta kids will think this this is funny when they unearth a torrent seeder's hard drive from the rubble of the old world before the geo-storms and the microplastic zombie outbreak of 2032. Neeson's good, Pamela Anderson's ok. Danny Huston's on autopilot which is ok for the role. I wonder if people like him and Kevin Durand (who plays the henchman and is very funny in the infrared sexual pose scene and the mission:impossible confession scene), people with villainous faces, get tired of the typecasting or if they think it's easy money. Some casting like CCH Pounder is inspired, others like Liza Koshy feels stunt-ish. Seeing her reminded me of when whats-her-name was in Funny People for no reason. Although I see Koshy does a voice in KPop Demon Hunters so maybe she's killing it and I'm just not in her demographic. I think the best joke for me is the whole romantic getaway montage where they make a snowman. That felt more Lonely Island than Zucker brothers but it was still funny to me. I also laughed when Busta Rhymes gets sympathetic while watching Neeson's bodycam footage. Oh, and I liked the windshield gag a lot. I don't want to seem too hard on this. I was hoping it would be better but even with not all jokes landing for me, there's so many that some still got through. I also appreciate the dedication to the runtime staying under 90 minutes. No one needs a two and a half hour Naked Gun movie. |
