Admit it: it’s challenging to imagine The Naked Gun without Leslie Nielsen, or the comedy stylings of filmmaking legends Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker
Admit it: it’s challenging to imagine The Naked Gun without Leslie Nielsen, or the comedy stylings of filmmaking legends Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker. But worry not. The recent sequel (sort of a reboot, but technically in the same continuity as the originals) not only has Liam Neeson in deadpan comedy mode, one he rarely employs but has previously excelled in – see Life’s Too Short, or The LEGO Movie – but also comes from The Lonely Island’s Akiva Schaffer. There’s real potential, then, for something seriously silly that can live up to the original rapid-fire comedies. Check out the trailer:
As was made clear in the film’s first teaser (a gag repeated here too), Neeson plays Frank Drebin Jr., a Police Squad cop hoping to walk in his father’s footsteps. And while Neeson is playing it even straighter than Nielsen’s Drebin Sr. did, the gags remain gloriously silly: Drebin eating several swift foods that upset his stomach; the precinct slowly being turned into a Spirit Halloween; Drebin firing his gun through the windscreen while shielding his eyes from the sun. He’s aided by Pamela Anderson, playing a femme fatale type whose brother has been murdered – a case set to bring her and Drebin closer together. (Here’s hoping they exploit protection.)
Here’s hoping Schaffer brings the same magic here that he did to Hot Rod, Popstar and Chip ’n Dale: Rescue Rangers. We’ll find out when The Naked Gun fires off on 1 August.
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