FILM REVIEW: The Naked Gun

A testament to the undying love people have for juvenile humour in otherwise stressful situations Cast: Liam Neeson, Pamela Anderson, Paul W...

A testament to the undying love people have for juvenile humour in otherwise stressful situations

Cast: Liam Neeson, Pamela Anderson, Paul Walter Hauser, Danny Huston, CCH Pounder, Kevin Durand, Liza Koshy, Eddie Yu

 One can never be sure of what they feel or think about a spoof or a parody — for all you know, everything you felt was a mistake was, in fact, intentional — it makes everybody question their own thought process (one good example would be Joel Gallen’s 2001 film Not Another Teen Movie, which, as everybody might remember, was trashed by Roger Ebert). Criticizing parodies is one of the, if not the, toughest things to do — you are, more often than not, wrong.

The last genuinely enjoyable studio spoofs/parodies would probably be the 2016 Marlon Wayans starrer Fifty Shades of Black, where the oftentimes obnoxiously disgusting humor was misjudged; ever since 2016, the audience for spoofs/parodies has hibernated, showing no sign of resurgence whatsoever, and if we are to believe in miracles, then, Akiva Schaffer’s The Naked Gun just might act like a catalyst.

One of the three people in The Lonely Island, Akiva Schaffer was the directorial force behind the trio’s two and a half (see: The Lonely Island Presents: The Unauthorized Bash Brothers Experience, 2019) films, which had, more or less, to the niche it had accumulated over the years due to its SNL run, cemented him as a new and prominent force in the comedy genre (see: Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, 2016.) 

The Naked Gun takes the absurdism of 2007’s Hot Rod, and the self-awareness with a tinge of mean-spiritedness and sympathy of 2016’s Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, higher than any of his earlier films did. The Naked Gun feels like Akiva Schaffer’s love child — it’s handled with care and given the respect it deserves, whilst still having enough fun with it. It possesses the crassness of the early 2000s spoofs (see: Scary Movie, 2000) — granted, it is toned down a lot for it to earn that PG-13 rating — imbued with today’s sensibilities. 

Lieutenant Frank Drebin Jr (Liam Neeson) who has become a LAPD cop like his legendary father has to save his department from closure by solving a case which starts off as a simple bank robbery but spirals into something much more sinister.

One must truly appreciate the effort that went into this film, both on and off screen; the jokes per minute ratio is totally bonkers by today’s standards (including the innumerable hilarious visual gags), and surprisingly, most of the, if not all of the, jokes are funny — not the kind of funny where its not funny but more of cringing. Liam Neeson is absolutely excellent in the film, committing 100% to the role — it is kind of refreshing to see him in a role other than the ones he’s (in)famous for; his comic timing is on point (both visually, considering his age, and audibly). Pamela Anderson is also as good as him; she commits 100% to the role, with her comic timing being on point.

The best thing the film does is exist in the present while still feeling retro. The humour is very old-school but feels weirdly relevant and modern, and manages to say something about stardom when you’re older, and the ever-changing landscape of the medium (something similar to what Tom Cruise is doing right now); the film embraces its history while still making fun of it, drawing largely on what happened after it (see: O.J. Simpson).

By Ravit Mishra