As the lights went down for The Naked Gun – the ‘legacy sequel’ to the spoof cop franchise – I found myself praying: ‘Please God, let it be deliciously and relentlessly stupid or I will be heartbroken.’ I was not hopeful. I never am when it comes to a ‘legacy sequel’. What they usually mean by ‘legacy sequel’ is: a ‘reboot’. But within the first few minutes I heard a strange noise and felt a peculiar sensation and realised I was laughing. It happened quite a few times more, in fact. I was as surprised as anybody. Even though the third act drags a bit and Liam Neeson is no Leslie Nielsen (despite their pleasingly similar names), any film that has ‘Set Dressing’ listed in the end credits followed by ‘Ranch, Vinaigrette, Blue Cheese…’ gets my vote.
Reviewing this film is like reviewing a whoopee cushion
Produced by Seth McFarlane (creator of Family Guy), it’s the fourth film in the franchise and comes 31 years after the previous instalment. (Is no IP ever safe?) Neeson stars as Frank Drebin Jnr, son of the character Nielsen portrayed. He has followed his father into LA’s police squad and this apple hasn’t fallen far from the tree. (Drebin Snr was once described as ‘having a heart of gold and a brain of wood’.) He interviews a suspect: ‘You got 20 years for man’s laughter? Must have been quite a joke.’ ‘You mean manslaughter?’ (You do have to channel your inner 13-year-old.)
Reviewing this film is like reviewing a whoopee cushion. It’s not here to make us think. There are no themes to analyse. It just wants to make us happy. And if a joke doesn’t land or is familiar – ‘May I speak freely?’ ‘I prefer English’ – that doesn’t matter, as another one will be along in 15 seconds or thereabouts. Do we care about the plot? We do not. But I know I have a duty so… It opens with an armed bank robbery where the target is a gadget stored in a safe deposit box. The gadget’s intended use is not yet known but it does have ‘P.L.O.T D.EV.I.C.E’ written on it, and there was my first laugh, right there. Drebin turns up disguised as a schoolgirl, and biffs everyone while attired in a tiny kilt. He returns to headquarters where there is a portrait of his dad on one of the walls. ‘I want to be like you,’ he says to it, ‘but also completely original.’
The baddie is an Elon Musk-style villain (Danny Huston) who sits astride a tech company and wishes to take over the world. Pamela Anderson plays Drebin’s love interest and while not known for her comedy chops this is all so good-natured it brings out her funny side. (Priscilla Presley, who appeared in the first three films, features momentarily). There are some decent visual gags. I particularly liked the crane that turns up to remove a car from a lake. It’s like a giant fairground grabber; it picks the car up, then promptly drops it. You know it’s coming but it’s impossible to not laugh.
While Neeson narrates gravely and offers a deadpan performance, the gags keep on coming. That captures the spirit of the original as Drebin can never be in on the joke. He has to be oblivious to the chaos his idiocy causes. But Neeson is not a natural comedian in the way Nielsen was. It’s the beguiling innocence that’s missing, I think.
The third act drags, alas, as it’s over-reliant on slapstick. But at a snappy 85 minutes the film won’t claim too much of your time. And don’t skip the credits. There are all sorts of nuggets hiding in there.
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