July 29 (UPI) -- The Naked Gun, in theaters Friday, joins Cobra Kai, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice and Top Gun: Maverick as a fulfilling and satisfying legacy sequel. The new film faithfully captures the style of Naked Gun comedy with fresh new jokes for the modern world.
A sequel to and reboot of the film franchise starring the late Leslie Nielsen, The Naked Gun opens with a Dark Knight-style bank robbery, immediately undercut when the loot is blatantly revealed to be the Maguffin that it is. Frank Drebin Jr. (Liam Neeson), the son of Nielsen's Frank Drebin, foils the robbery, but the leader gets away with the item.
Drebin Jr. is also assigned to the automobile death of Simon Davenport, whose sister Beth (Pamela Anderson) suspects foul play. The plot has the complicated machinations of a modern-day action movie, but it is merely there to hang jokes upon, like the original film trilogy.
The original series was created by Jerry and David Zucker and Jim Abrahams in their distinct slapstick style, like Airplane! before. 2025 director Akiva Schaffer, of the Lonely Island trio, demonstrates an impeccable understanding of the rhythms and tone without simply aping Zucker/Abrahams/Zucker.
Dialogue comes at a rapid pace with deadpan jokes. Characters take questions literally and answer them as such. Meanwhile, additional jokes play in the background, and even the title screen is a new joke.
