Having premiered in theaters to near universal praise, Liam Neeson’s The Naked Gun has met many people’s expectations as a reboot of Leslie Nielsen’s iconic comedy film franchise of the same name. In true Naked Gun fashion, the new movie sees Neeson playing the buffoonish Frank Drebin
This legacy sequel effectively replicates many of the elements that made the first Naked Gun movie so funny and beloved. Nevertheless, the film that started the entire franchise still retains some key qualities lacking in the reboot, still making it the best Naked Gun movie ever made.
The level of comedy in the reboot still falls behind the original
2025’s The Naked Gun thrives thanks to the leadership of two of modern comedy’s brightest minds, director Akiva Schaffer (Saturday Night Live) and producer Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy). Thanks to them, the new Naked Gun provides viewers with a large, steady supply of clever comedy. The movie even revitalizes many of the original’s best running gags (i.e., Frank’s comedic voice-overs, his bad driving, and the characters misunderstanding each other’s dialogue).
However, the original Naked Gun film is packed with even more hilarious surprises and jokes. There were some bits of comedy in the reboot that seemed a little too drawn out. There were also times where another joke could’ve been squeezed in.
The classic opening credits sequence is (mostly) missing
In its first few minutes, the new Naked Gun film broke a beloved tradition of the franchise by not featuring a new version of its classic opening credits sequence. The first three Naked Gun movies would open with a police car driving through the city and all sorts of bizarre settings, including a roller coaster, a water slide, a women’s locker room, and even a T-Rex pen at Jurassic Park.
This gag has become one of the most popular trademarks of the franchise, so it seemed like the reboot would’ve kept it going. Though the reboot does reuse the first film’s opening credits sequence at the end, it doesn’t add anything new to this running gag. It seems to appear there only to invoke the audience’s nostalgia.
Overall, it seems like the reboot missed the opportunity to create some incredible new laughs by bringing back this iconic gag. At least we still have Stewie’s homage to this sequence in Family Guy.
The first Naked Gun film has no age
The Naked Gun reboot sets itself apart from previous films by having its story take place in 2020s America. It’s tailored for a specific era, given the inclusion of the Internet and electric cars in the narrative.
While the original Naked Gun is set in the 1980s, there is a timeless aura to its story and humor that still appeals to modern audiences. The story hardly feels old-fashioned, and the jokes haven’t aged a day. Though the world’s opinion of star O.J. Simpson has changed a lot, it’s even more hilarious and enjoyable to see him getting hurt left and right as Officer Nordberg.
The reboot is missing the iconic original score
Nothing beats composer Ira Newborn’s musical score for the 1988 film. Whenever one hears the trumpets and saxophone play in the film’s music, they would immediately know they were listening to the sounds of the original Naked Gun.
Meanwhile, the reboot doesn’t draw from the franchise’s iconic score until the end credits start to roll. Though this also helps the new film distinguish itself from its predecessor, the score ends up being far less memorable. On the plus side, Neeson does record a hilarious, rambling love song to Pamela Anderson’s character, which audiences can hear during the credits.
Nielsen still surpasses Neeson as Frank Drebin
Liam Neeson did a fantastic job playing the role of Frank Drebin’s son in the Naked Gun reboot. The actor gives a hysterical performance thanks to his deadpan delivery and his character’s dimwitted antics, which successfully invoke Nielsen’s own character from the original Naked Gun movies.
However, Nielsen still carries an “everyman” aura that makes his character even more hilarious and compelling. Neeson is well known for portraying vengeful, ultraviolent action heroes in movies like Taken, and that persona shines through in his performance as Frank Drebin Jr.
In the end, Schaffer and MacFarlane’s The Naked Gun did a fine job forging its own identity as a comedy film while living up to its predecessors. The reboot features an excellent brand of comedy and quick wit that should appeal to veteran Naked Gun fans, as well as newcomers to the franchise. The movie doesn’t reach the high caliber of the first Naked Gun, but it still sets a very good example for the franchise going forward.
