After three successful films, Nielsen was so inextricably tied to the role that no one in their right mind would consider rebooting the franchise. Until now, that is.
Director Akiva Schaffer (of The Lonely Island, alongside Andy Samberg and Jorma Taccone) and his team of co-writers, Doug Mand and Dan Gregor, bring us a new case from the files of “Police Squad.” As Frank Drebin Jr., son of Nielsen’s hero, they cast Liam Neeson. You may remember him from the 1988 Justine Bateman star vehicle, “Satisfaction.”
With his gruff demeanor, and penchant for having a particular set of skills in numerous action movies and dramas, Neeson seems like an inappropriate choice for an absurdist comedy. But it helps to remember that, before the ZAZ team cast him in “Airplane,” Nielsen was mostly known for dramatic and bad guy roles.
The fun of watching “Airplane” back in 1980 was seeing serious actors make complete fools of themselves while keeping a straight face. The allure of that situation made the ZAZ movies even more hilarious. So, casting Liam Neeson continues that fine tradition of hiring people audiences wouldn’t expect to be funny.
At least that’s what the filmmakers want you to believe. If you ask me, I say they cast him because Liam Neeson sounds a lot like Leslie Nielsen. Say it with me: “Nielsen, Neeson, Neeson, Nielsen! Neeson, Nielsen, Nielsen, Neeson!”
Confusing, isn’t it?
I digress. Either I continue to do that, or I make my word count by spoiling all the gags and jokes this reboot crams into its 85-minute runtime. And I’ll do it, too, if you complain.
Journalistic integrity requires me to be serious, so like Liam Neeson, let me be Frank: Despite being so paint-by-numbers faithful to the first “Naked Gun” movie’s plot beats that you can point them out, this is still pretty damn funny. Schaffer and his team generate enough laughs for you to forgive this film’s trespasses.
“Surely, you can’t be serious!” you gasp in surprise. I am serious! And you’re quoting the wrong movie.
“The Naked Gun” begins with a nod to the Spike Lee-Denzel Washington heist movie, “Inside Man.” A bank robbery is in progress, and while there are guns and drama in the lobby, the real theft is occurring in the safe deposit box room. An unnamed robber blasts a hole in one of the drawers and steals a contraption that’s been conveniently labelled “P.L.O.T. Device.”
Meanwhile, a Girl Scout enters the bank and proceeds to take out all the other bank robbers. Turns out she’s Frank Drebin Jr. in disguise! Drebin is so brutal in his violence that the criminals sue Police Squad. The current Chief of Police Squad (CCH Pounder) yells at Drebin, interrupting a ceremony honoring the capture of his 1,000th criminal.
Turns out that the robbery has something to do with tech billionaire Richard Cane (Danny Huston). Cane’s company makes driverless cars covered with so many lights that they look like rejects from “Tron.” He’s also a stand-in for a certain person whose website’s name begins (and ends) with X.
When Cane’s top employee Sam Davenport is killed in one of Cane’s driverless cars, Police Squad closes the case as an accident. But Drebin’s mind is changed by a slinky blonde name Beth (Pamela Anderson) who may or may not be this film’s femme fatale. She is most definitely Sam’s sister, and quite possibly a love interest for Drebin. Beth thinks her brother was murdered by Cane, and she’s going to do her own investigation—and her own singing.
Convinced of Cane’s evildoing, Drebin teams up with his partner, Ed (Paul Walter Hauser), to solve the case, despite the fact that Drebin keeps getting thrown off of it due to his antics. Ed is the son of Drebin Sr.’s partner, Ed (played by George Kennedy in the original films), and Hauser and Neeson inherit a similar buddy cop chemistry from Kennedy and Nielsen.
Through my laughter, I kept noticing how neatly this film parallels its predecessor. The plot involves mind control, for starters. Both films have cold opens that highlight Drebin’s heroics. And they both have inappropriately comic romantic montages set to perky songs: In the original, the scene is set to “I’m Into Something Good” by Herman’s Hermits and features a nod to “Platoon.” This one uses “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” and has an homage to the dreadful Michael Fassbender cop mystery, “The Snowman,” that must be seen to be believed.
To his credit, Neeson remains suitably deadpan. The film makes the occasional mistake of spoofing the actor’s persona rather than cop movies, but that’s forgivable. Anderson has a goofy charm that reminds us that this isn’t her first comedy rodeo (she was on “Home Improvement,” remember?). And Huston leans into the evil that techbros do, never breaking despite the ridiculous things Cane is forced to endure.
As the old WWII ads used to say, “Was this trip really necessary?” It isn’t. However, Neeson and his partners in crime make the journey pleasant enough. The filmmakers even pay tribute to ZAZ by inserting crazy credits into the end credits scroll. (Be sure to read them!) Plus, there’s a post-credits sequence that features a well-known celebrity.
Nothing will replace the original in your hearts and minds. But you’ll still have a good time here. To paraphrase good old Frank Drebin Sr., “The Naked Gun” has real laughs — without utensils.
★★★
THE NAKED GUN
Directed by Akiva Schaffer. Written by Schaffer, Doug Mand, Dan Gregor. Starring Liam Neeson, Pamela Anderson, Paul Walter Hauser, Danny Huston, CCH Pounder. At AMC Boston Common, Landmark Kendall Square, Alamo Drafthouse Seaport, AMC Causeway, suburbs. 85 minutes. PG-13 (guns aren’t the only naked things on display)
Odie Henderson is the Boston Globe’s film critic.
