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The early reviews for The Naked Gun (2025) were unusually enthusiastic, with many critics calling it one of the funniest films of the year and one of the rare modern spoofs to capture the spirit of the original. That praise is not quite a unanimous declaration that it surpasses Leslie Nielsen’s trilogy. The consensus is more specific: Akiva Schaffer’s reboot delivers an exceptionally high number of jokes, Liam Neeson is perfectly cast as a solemn action hero trapped in an absurd police comedy, and Pamela Anderson gives the film a strong comic partner.
The reservations are equally clear. The plot is intentionally thin, the opening action sequence does not work as well as the central gag machine, and the jokes lose some consistency when the film moves toward its third-act resolution. The fairest verdict from the first reviews is therefore that The Naked Gun is a surprisingly successful continuation—more successful in spirit and comic rhythm than in plot construction.
What is The Naked Gun (2025) about?
Directed by Akiva Schaffer and produced by Seth MacFarlane, the 2025 film moves the franchise’s deadpan police spoof into a new generation. Liam Neeson plays Lieutenant Frank Drebin Jr., the son of Leslie Nielsen’s original character. The supporting cast includes Pamela Anderson, Paul Walter Hauser, CCH Pounder, Kevin Durand, Cody Rhodes, Liza Koshy, Eddie Yu, and Danny Huston, according to Paramount’s official film page.
The basic setup remains familiar: an earnest, remarkably incompetent police detective investigates a crime while behaving as if he is in a serious procedural. Drebin becomes involved in the death of a man connected to a self-driving car. The widow, Beth Davenport, asks him to look more closely, while a powerful technology executive—played by Danny Huston—sits at the center of the investigation.
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The story is not designed to compete with a tightly plotted detective thriller. It is a framework for visual gags, wordplay, misplaced seriousness, background jokes, and sudden departures from normal physical logic. The film even acknowledges its own thin narrative with a deliberately named “P.L.O.T. Device.”
That distinction matters. The plot is thin by design, but that does not mean every structural weakness is intentional. When the jokes are landing, the investigation is an efficient delivery system. When the comedy slows, the crime mechanics become more noticeable.
Why did critics respond so positively?
1. The joke density is the main event
The strongest point of agreement in the first reviews is the sheer volume of comedy. The film fires jokes through nearly every available channel: dialogue, editing, action, props, reaction shots, background activity, visual composition, and even the credits.
Several reviews described the movie as a near-continuous barrage of gags. Rotten Tomatoes’ first-review roundup collects descriptions of an unusually high joke-per-minute rate, while reviews cited by the roundup and by Boston.com emphasize how quickly the film moves from one comic idea to the next.
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This is important because the Naked Gun style depends less on a single great premise than on accumulation. A scene may contain an obvious joke in the foreground, a second joke in the dialogue, and a third one hidden in the background. The film rewards attention, but it does not require the viewer to pause and decode every reference before moving on.
The approximately 85-minute running time helps. The film is brisk enough that its thin story rarely has time to become oppressive, and the rapid rhythm makes weaker jokes easier to leave behind. It is not a long, elaborate comedy that asks the central premise to sustain itself for two hours. It keeps moving.
2. Liam Neeson understands the assignment
Liam Neeson is the film’s most obvious piece of casting, but the early reviews suggest that the joke is more sophisticated than simply putting a serious actor in a silly movie. Neeson brings a specific public image with him: the gravelly voice, the controlled physicality, and the solemn conviction associated with his action roles.
In this setting, that persona becomes comic material. Neeson delivers absurd lines as though they are critical intelligence, reacts to ridiculous events with professional gravity, and treats physical nonsense as an ordinary part of police work. The Atlantic’s review argues that his familiar tough-guy image makes him a natural successor to Nielsen in the role’s comic function.
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He is not merely imitating Leslie Nielsen. Nielsen’s deadpan performance grew out of the contrast between a traditionally serious leading-man presence and increasingly idiotic circumstances. Neeson creates a related contrast using the modern action hero’s solemnity. The character inherits Frank Drebin’s straight-faced incompetence, but the performance is filtered through the audience’s knowledge of Neeson as a formidable, intensely serious screen presence.
Boston.com likewise praised Neeson’s commitment. The comedy works because he does not wink at the audience or announce that a line is supposed to be funny. His seriousness is the mechanism that allows the absurdity to land.
3. Pamela Anderson gives the film a second comic center
Pamela Anderson plays Beth Davenport with a controlled, almost blank delivery that complements Neeson’s deadpan performance. She does not overplay the ridiculousness of the dialogue. Instead, she responds to it with enough composure to preserve the illusion that the characters are participating in a serious crime story.
That restraint becomes especially valuable when the film’s central relationship develops. The chemistry between Anderson and Neeson gives the comedy warmth without turning the movie into a conventional romantic subplot. The early-review roundup reports praise for the pair’s playful chemistry, while Boston.com identifies their scenes as a point where the film’s comic momentum becomes stronger.
Anderson’s performance also prevents the film from becoming a one-man exercise in Neeson self-parody. She can hold a joke in place without explaining it, which is exactly what this kind of spoof needs from its supporting players.
4. It understands the original without becoming a nostalgia checklist
The most encouraging part of the early response is that critics generally saw the film as a continuation rather than a scene-for-scene remake. The 2025 movie uses the original franchise’s comic DNA—deadpan sincerity, verbal misdirection, visual absurdity, and characters who fail to recognize how strange their world is—without requiring every scene to repeat a Leslie Nielsen routine.
Reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes describe the film as a genuine continuation and a rare reboot that understands the tone of its source. That is a more meaningful achievement than simply reproducing familiar catchphrases or recreating old set pieces.
The new film has a different comic context, a different star persona, and a more contemporary action-comedy frame. Its success comes when it uses those differences rather than apologizing for them. Neeson is not asked to become Nielsen; he is asked to make his own solemn action-star image ridiculous.
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5. The theatrical comedy context helped the film stand out
Some of the enthusiasm reflects the film itself, but some reflects what has been missing from multiplex comedy. Critics noted that broad, star-driven theatrical farces have become less common, particularly amid releases dominated by action franchises and superhero-scale spectacle.
The Atlantic treated the film’s unapologetic silliness as a welcome change from the surrounding summer blockbusters. The Associated Press offered a useful caution: scarcity can make critics overvalue a merely decent example of a neglected form. But that warning does not erase the film’s actual strengths. It is possible for The Naked Gun to benefit from a favorable moment and still be genuinely funny.
The safest interpretation of the headline claim is therefore critical, not objective. “The funniest movie of the year” describes the enthusiasm of some early reviewers. It should not be presented as a settled universal ranking.
Where the film falls short
The opening bank-robbery sequence is less convincing than the rest
The film reportedly begins with a bank-robbery sequence that several reviewers found weaker than the material that follows. Both the Associated Press and Boston.com identified the opening as a comparatively conspicuous piece of contemporary action-comedy.
The problem is not that The Naked Gun cannot include action. The original films regularly used action as a platform for absurdity. The issue is tonal: the opening reportedly looks more like modern action-comedy before the film settles into the older franchise’s more specific rhythm of procedural seriousness and background nonsense.
The middle can stall around the crime plot
A joke-heavy spoof can survive a simple story, but it cannot always survive a story that begins demanding attention without providing equally strong comic returns. Early reviews noted that the film occasionally slows in the middle as it balances the self-driving-car mystery, the technology-company conspiracy, and the stream of gags.
This is where the “thin by design” defense has limits. A minimal plot is useful when it stays out of the way. It becomes a weakness when the audience is asked to follow crime mechanics that are not as entertaining as the jokes they interrupt.
The third act is less consistently funny
The most common structural reservation concerns the ending. According to the early-review roundup, the joke rate declines somewhat when the film shifts toward action and conventional narrative resolution. Some critics felt that it peters out slightly, even while wishing there were more of it.
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That is a modest criticism rather than a claim that the finale collapses. The film’s comic batting average simply appears to dip once it has to conclude the investigation. The same transition affected many earlier spoofs: the free-form comic world is strongest before the narrative has to explain who did what and why.
Is it as funny as the original trilogy?
The first reviews do not produce a single answer. Some critics thought the new film captured the original rhythm and came close to the earlier movies’ comic force. Others found it amusing and competent but clearly below the 1988 original, The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!
Rotten Tomatoes’ roundup includes both positions, including a more restrained assessment from Variety that the new film is amusing without being as hilarious as the original, alongside reviews suggesting that it may stand with the best entries in the franchise.
The fairest comparison is to separate format from impact:
| Category | What the 2025 film does well | Where comparisons may favor the originals |
|---|---|---|
| Deadpan performance | Neeson finds a distinct comic use for his action-star persona. | Some viewers will always prefer Nielsen’s more purely comic screen identity. |
| Joke density | The film sustains a rapid stream of verbal and visual gags. | The third act is less consistent, and not every set piece reaches the original’s level. |
| Franchise tone | It understands the basic police-procedural spoof machinery. | Its action-comedy framing can feel more contemporary and less elegantly absurd. |
| Accessibility | It works without requiring detailed knowledge of Police Squad! or the trilogy. | Longtime fans may judge it against exceptionally memorable earlier sequences. |
In other words, the reboot succeeds more clearly at restoring the franchise’s method than at proving it has surpassed the original. Whether it equals the Nielsen films will depend on how much a viewer values the new cast’s energy versus the older films’ historical comic impact.
Do you need to watch the older films first?
No. The 2025 film is designed to be understandable on its own. Its central premise—a serious police detective surrounded by absurdity—requires no special knowledge of the earlier movies, and the first reviews generally found it welcoming to newcomers.
Watching the original films first still improves the experience in two ways. It makes the inheritance from Nielsen and the Police Squad! format easier to recognize, and it gives you a direct benchmark for deciding how closely the reboot matches the older comic rhythm.
There are two sensible viewing orders:
- For newcomers: start with the 2025 film. If its style works for you, go back to The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! and continue through the trilogy.
- For franchise fans: begin with the 1988 film, then use the 2025 movie as a comparison. This makes the shift from Nielsen’s deadpan persona to Neeson’s action-star parody more apparent.
For a comparison night, the original Naked Gun trilogy is the most relevant companion viewing.
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The film opened theatrically in the United States on August 1, 2025. Paramount subsequently made it available through digital rental and purchase, Paramount+, and physical home media. Availability and pricing can vary by country and can change over time, so viewers should check their local storefront or service before planning a watch.
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Paramount announced a U.S. and Canadian Paramount+ debut for September 30, 2025, alongside access to the original trilogy on the service. That announcement is useful for confirming the planned availability, but it should not be treated as a guarantee that the title remains in every region’s current catalog.
Physical editions include 4K Ultra HD, standard Blu-ray, and DVD formats; retail coverage reported that the 4K edition includes a digital copy. Readers who prefer to own the film can check the The Naked Gun (2025) 4K Blu-ray release information before purchasing.
For streaming viewers, the relevant option is to check Paramount+ availability for The Naked Gun in your region. This is an availability reference, not a claim that a current subscription offer or affiliate arrangement applies.
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- Watch it if you enjoy: rapid-fire spoof comedy, deadpan acting, visual background jokes, absurd police procedurals, and actors who commit fully to ridiculous material.
- Watch it if you want: a short, energetic theatrical comedy rather than a complicated mystery.
- Approach it cautiously if you expect: a carefully engineered detective plot, uniformly strong jokes, or a scene-for-scene recreation of the Leslie Nielsen films.
- Skip the comparison trap: the new movie works best when judged as a continuation with its own lead performance, not only as a test of whether Neeson can become Nielsen.
Final verdict on the first reviews
The Naked Gun (2025) earned its strong early notices through commitment and volume. It does not hedge its way into being a spoof: it fills scenes with jokes, lets its stars play absurdity with complete seriousness, and understands that the original franchise’s defining contrast is not merely silly dialogue but solemn behavior inside an impossible world.
The film is not flawless. Its opening action comedy is less distinctive, its deliberately thin plot sometimes becomes a distraction, and the third act is not as joke-dense as the material that precedes it. Those caveats make “the funniest movie of the year” too broad as an objective verdict.
As a report of the first critical reaction, however, the headline is defensible. The stronger claim is that this is one of 2025’s most successful studio spoofs: a lively, accessible reboot that understands why The Naked Gun works and gives Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson enough room to make the formula feel fresh.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is The Naked Gun (2025) really the funniest movie of the year?
That was an enthusiastic description used by some early critics, not an objective or unanimous ranking. The broader consensus was that it is unusually joke-dense and one of the more successful modern theatrical spoofs, while its plot, opening, and third act drew reservations.
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No. The 2025 film can be followed on its own. Watching the original trilogy first is useful mainly if you want to compare Liam Neeson’s action-star parody with Leslie Nielsen’s original performance and identify the older franchise’s comic patterns.
Where can I watch The Naked Gun (2025)?
The film was released theatrically in the United States on August 1, 2025, and later became available through digital rental and purchase, Paramount+, and physical media. Exact availability varies by country and changes over time, so check local listings and storefronts.
What are the main criticisms of the 2025 film?
The principal criticisms are that the opening bank-robbery sequence feels less distinctive, the intentionally thin crime plot can slow the middle, and the joke consistency declines somewhat during the action-heavy third act.
The Bottom Line
Bottom line: The first reviews support calling The Naked Gun (2025) one of the funniest films of 2025, but not declaring that judgment settled. It is a high-energy, joke-packed reboot with an excellent deadpan pairing in Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson—strong enough to revive the franchise, even if it does not consistently match the original trilogy.
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