• Director: Akiva Schaffer
• Screenplay: Dan Gregor, Doug Mand, Akiva Schaffer
• Cast: Liam Neeson, Pamela Anderson, Paul Walter Hauser, Kevin Durand, Danny Huston
• Cinematography: Brandon Trost
• Editing: Brian Scott Olds
• Score: Lorne Balfe
• Genre: Action crime comedy
• Runtime: 85 minutes

At the close of the third ‘Naked Gun‘ film, ‘Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult‘, Lieutenant Frank Drebin (Leslie Nielsen) sires a child, a baby boy. This was in 1994, so Liam Neeson (73)’s Frank Drebin Jr. was either born way earlier or he had a paper round in Iraq. You wouldn’t immediately think Neeson is a man in his 70s. He’s imminently pivoting away from action flicks, which have comprised the bulk of his second act as a movie star. It’s a smart move; he can do comedy and he’s game for a laugh here – but Neeson is no Nielsen. Although both started their careers as serious actors (Nielsen starred in ‘Forbidden Planet‘ and ‘The Poseidon Adventure‘ while Neeson got an Oscar nomination for ‘Schindler’s List‘), Nielsen’s comedic shtick proves to be hard to emulate.

‘The Naked Gun‘ (minus the subtitle or wacky opening credits scene) has the appropriate number of visual gags and inane wordplay except none of it made me chuckle, maybe raising the odd smirk here or there. The references are outdated by two decades and the celebrity cameos – from Dave Bautista, “Weird Al” Yankovich (again) and who I believe to be Priscilla Presley (though who can tell these days) – can’t rescue it either.

We’re living in an age where there’s a strong anti-cop sentiment post-George Floyd. ‘ACAB’ is scrawled on walls in graffiti and police cars are banned from appearing in Fortnite. Officers of the law are seen as figures of distrust. Political satire has never ceased, so why can we no longer poke fun at the authorities too? They get a ribbing onscreen; their buffoonery is the target of mockery and jokes made at their expense are sanctioned. No need to hurl abuse at them. Save that for Akiva Schaffer for thinking anyone could replace Leslie Nielsen.

My rating: 5 / 10