The Naked Gun (2025)
Directed by Akiva Schaffer
Only one man has the particular set of skills... to lead Police Squad and save the world: Lt. Frank Drebin Jr. Following in his father's footsteps, he must solve a murder case to prevent Police Squad from closure.
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62 films that influenced The Naked Gun
What critics say influenced The Naked Gun
Not only does this film give him a chance to flex his comedic muscles – he’s essentially playing a spoof of his Taken-adjacent roles…
…watching him channel his particular brand of “Taken”-era grimness into a rubber-chicken universe is a rare kind of comedy alchemy…
Neeson’s Frank is kinda like his Taken character, but on steroids.
…his former tough guy screen persona from the Taken movies (and others) gives the role an extra edge of parody…
Playing off Neeson’s action roles in films like Taken (2008), Frank Jr. uses excessive force and a disregard for the law to get results, which jeopardizes Police Squad and puts him in the crosshairs of scheming tech billionaire Richard Cane (Danny Huston).
…since 2008’s TAKEN.
…the opening bank robbery sequence is directly inspired by The Dark Knight.
Mission: Impossible set pieces filtered through The Dark Knight‘s operatic sensibilities…
…has Frank foiling a gritty, Dark Knight–style bank robbery by posing as a tiny little schoolgirl.
…it opens on a bank heist reminiscent of Heat by way of The Dark Knight…
…what was once a straight TV cop-show spoof now also nods to the likes of Mission: Impossible and The Dark Knight.
Lorne Balfe’s score clearly references Hans Zimmer’s music from “The Dark Knight.”
…a janky, ill-thought-out plan for world domination derived from watching Matthew Vaughan’s Kingsman: The Secret Service on repeat for a month straight…
Having argued that it is closer to a genre parody it'd be remiss to ignore how closely parts of its structure are to Kingsman: The Secret Service which was itself a genre-aware film with parodic elements.
Anyone who’s seen Kingsman: The Secret Service will recognise elements of the villain’s nefarious plan right away – the parallels are numerous to the point of concern.
…hasn’t Samuel L. Jackson already tried this in ‘Kingsman’?
You might have already recognized the villain’s plot from Kingsman: The Secret Service.
…instead spoofing contemporary action tropes and films like Kingsman and Mission: Impossible with clever, unexpected twists…
…a riotously funny, sharply staged, and joyously absurd return to the Police Squad universe…
The Naked Gun is a parody of police procedurals, which predate the 1988 original…
…there has been a TV series too…
…clearing a path for an entirely new generation to get hooked on the antics of Frank Drebin and the Police Squad…
…the creative team of Jerry Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and David Zucker, who built the movie series after their cancelled Police Squad! TV show…
…a sergeant at Police Squad just like his old man…
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Naturally, not every joke lands. Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane is among the film’s producers, and when his branch of humour seeps into the fabric – namely, overexcessiveness and cutaway gags – the film nosedives from frequent chuckles to deafening silence.
…a little “Family Guy” here…
Comedian Seth MacFarlane served as producer on this film (having been attached to the script and the project for years prior to production), and I get a similar feeling of fatigue at times with his other works, most notably when Family Guy lingers on something entirely too long.
…producer Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy, Ted)…
He even had some Family Guy writers take a stab at the script early on…
…producer Seth MacFarlane (Ted, Family Guy)…
Unlike recent efforts like Happy Gilmore 2 or Don’t Look Up…
Similar to the recent Happy Gilmore 2, much of the cast appears to be Cameo City; I recognized maybe a third of them.
…just a few days after sitting through “Happy Gilmore 2” in silence on the couch at home…
Released in the same week as Happy Gilmore 2 on Netflix, it’s remarkable that this theatrical comedy wasn’t condemned to the same straight-to-streaming, flavor-of-the-week fate.
What made the original Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker films like Airplane! and The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! so effective was their commitment to parody, visual gags, and fourth-wall-breaking absurdity.
…those that don’t enjoy the comedy stylings of the original The Naked Gun trilogy or Airplane!
Just like there’s only one Airplane!, one Caddyshack, one Animal House.
As a student of the original series (plus Airplane! and Top Secret)…
…relatively fresh off the success of Airplane!
It is the sort of ‘everything but the kitchen sink’ approach that typified the Zucker-Abrams-Zucker comedies of the 1980s including Airplane!, Top Secret, and – indeed – the original Naked Gun of 1988.
But as proven by every sweaty genre parody that popped up in Scary Movie’s wake, it takes genuine wit, talent, and inspiration to make a good movie out of something this dumb.
…growing up watching the original Naked Gun trilogy, Airplane and even Scary Movie on a loop…
The genre’s popularity waned in the 2010s following a glut of Scary Movie (2000) sequels…
The Austin Powers series petered out over two decades ago, and even the horrendous Scary Movies came to a merciful end.
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Much like conservatives whined about the Lex Luthor of this summer’s other wonderfully earnest and heartfelt throwback, Superman, being oligarch-bullying…
Taking clear satirical jabs at Musk, a popular punching bag this summer, if one factors in Superman and to a lesser extent Bad Guys 2…
…reasons that make him a precursor to the rogues gallery of tech-bro villains that have lately popped up in everything from Superman to The Naked Gun…
The Pink Panther comparisons/inspiration.
…or use more past comedic IP franchises like The Pink Panther to make a quick buck…