The Naked Gun is an unadulterated good time, absolutely brimming with sight gags, one-liners and goofy humour. Only the most joyless would be opposed to its existence.

 

Sure, it’s a sequel, the fourth movie in a big-screen franchise that was spun-off a failed 1982 TV show, but when it comes to belly laughs comedy, The Naked Gun is all guns blazing. It’s also been 31 years since The Naked Gun 33 1/3, so that’s enough time.

 

But it’s a double standard, because of course it is. If The Naked Gun had been bad, we’d all be jumping up and down about the lack of originality left in Hollywood, but because it was great, no one minds.

It’s also very aware that it’s following a legacy, and not just because it references itself. You have to appreciate that The Naked Gun wanted to embrace why the Leslie Nielsen movies were great, and not try to “elevate” something that should be simple.

 

The original films were known for being unapologetically silly, and this sequel did not scrimp on that. It’s dumb but brilliantly dumb and in a crowded cinema, hearing all those laughs in symphony is a beautiful sound, and it’s what makes going to the movies such a delight.

 

Times are tough, don’t you want to properly switch off for 85 minutes (yes, it’s only 85 minutes, god bless), and chuckle through the repetition of a simple coffee cup gag? Don’t you want to have your inner child tickled pink?

 

Frank Drebin Jr (Liam Neeson) is the son of Nielsen’s Drebin (don’t do the maths, it doesn’t work out), and his partner is Ed Hocken Jr (Paul Walter Hauser). Frank can be a loose cannon, like disguising himself as a little schoolgirl to foil a group of bank robbers.

 

He’s not one for following orders, and his chief (CCH Pounder) takes him off the bank heist case, assigning him to collisions instead. The first case they catch seems to be the suicide of a man who drove his smart car off a cliff.

 

Not so, obviously. It’s the start of a story involving a literal P.L.O.T. (Primordial Law of Toughness) Device, a tech billionaire villain (Danny Huston) and the victim’s sister, Beth Davenport (Pamela Anderson), culminating in a showdown at the Ponzi-scheme.com Arena (a jab at the actual Crypto.com Arena).

 

The howls will keep getting louder and more frequent because for all its goofiness, The Naked Gun is actually playing a smart game.

You might not realise because you’re having such a grand old time, but The Naked Gun is expertly paced, it ramps up that joke-ratio and the elaborateness of its set-ups in line with knowing how audiences react over its runtime.

 

It’s not so rapid-fire as to be exhausting, but it never leaves you waiting, and it will save the pants-down gag for later in the movie, when you’re already buttered up.

 

It riffs on classic noir tropes (the voiceover, shadows of window blinds cast on the wall, a potential femme fatale) while casting a wide net on reference points. Highlights include Anderson’s intentionally terrible scatting and a vignette inspired by cheesy 1980s music videos.

 

Neeson is also perfect casting because he’s not a comedic actor, and the role is only funny with someone not trying to be. He plays each beat and each line of dialogue straight, as if everything were totally serious, working synchronously with all the contrasting elements around him.

Neeson and Schaffer know that you don’t need Frank to sell the joke, and use the set-up to be super literal.

 

He and Anderson have a really fun chemistry, and it’s hard not to be enamoured with the real-life plot twist of their off-screen romance.

In the past decade, broad comedies have had a tough time as a cinema proposition as audiences increasingly devalue the genre as something you can watch at home on streaming.

 

Just as with horror, it’s the collective experience that makes a comedy one of the best things to watch with lots of other people. Laughter is infectious, and it’s more visceral when you’re surrounded by others who appreciate a pratfall as much as you.

 

Do yourself a favour, don’t wait for this one. You’ll still be chuckling days later.

 

8.5/10

Bolu
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Boluwatife Adesina is a media writer and the helmer of the Downtown Review page. He’s probably in a cinema near you.