The 2025 version of the Naked Gun story is the ‘legacy’ sequel to the original trilogy shot in the 1980’s and early 1990’s, which are themselves a spin off to the original Police Squad TV series from the 1970s. It follows Liam Neeson as Frank Drebbin Jr. (the son to Leslie Nielsen’s character) who, like Nielsen, is a detective in the Los Angeles Police Department alongside Captain Ed Hocken Jr and crime novelist, and eventual love interest to Neeson, Beth Davenport, played by a resurgent Pamela Anderson. The plot revolves around a tech mogul intent on closing down the Police Squad and ‘culling’ the population.
As such, it follows the template laid down by the earlier movies: the plot and its telling are overloaded with jokes, gags and innuendos from start to finish.
This is the formula that made the original trilogy so popular. Modern re-boots tread a fine line between repeating a winning formula and signature whilst also updating the finer details for a contemporary audience. It is safe to say that this Naked Gun manages this with some aplomb, being both true to the original as well as feeling as up to date as a franchise like this could be. The return of the Zucker-Abrihams-Zucker team who worked on the original films, the TV series and the Airplane franchise (which also starred Nielsen) ensures that this legacy, the recurring jokes and the skits feel familiar yet updated. Neeson’s character monologuing out loud was Nielsen's schtick which returns as a plot device (as does Neilson’s spirit owl). This familiarity helps land this reboot.
Once again we see the central character at odds with the technology of the modern world: this time it is Neeson struggling with EV cars and smartphones. The original Naked Gun series was synonymous with comedic cameo appearances and once again, this is the case.
Modern audiences will recognise Dave Bautista, Cody Rhodes and Busta Rhymes, but, equally Naked Gun aficionados will notice series stalwart Pricilla Presley and Weird “Al’ Yankovic reprising their original characters. Topicality also returns with gags referencing recent events, comedic takes on famous names and even acknowledging its own history in a meta scene that references former sportsman OJ Simpson who was central to the original films before his convictions post third film in 1994.
Overall, all the usual madness is present— outrageous fight scenes, off-the-wall action, plot holes and logic jumps so large you could drive a bus through them. Central in this remake is the gag that Neeson should be no more than 31 years old, technically having been born in 1994 in New York as Frank Snr’s son. Despite Neeson himself being Irish and 73 years old, his character and the film is faithful to the original series and is worth watching simply for the madness alone.