Plot: What’s it about?
The 80’s brought us some classic movies, but perhaps none more-so than the classic slapstick comedies starring Leslie Nielsen. I can vividly remember seeing The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad in theaters back in the late 80’s and, of course, laughing my ass off. Nielsen’s deadpan humor as Lt. Frank Drebin was a perfect fit and a natural progression from his role on the ill-fated TV show years earlier. This opened a new door for Nielsen, formerly a dramatic actor. Flash forward three decades and…here we are. We’ve now got Liam Neeson in the lead playing the son of Leslie Nielsen’s character and Pamela Anderson in the Priscilla Presley role (in a manner of speaking). Ironically, Anderson was offered the role played by Anna Nicole Smith in the third installment. I guess it was meant to be. Though I’m not usually a fan of remakes, reboots or sequels that come out decades later – I had high hopes for his one. It had Seth MacFarlane’s name attached to it and I’m a big fan. If they messed this up, I still had the first three.
These movies haven’t really relied on plot so much as the antics going on in the background. It’s the visual humor that makes them tick, but there is a plot line (or P.L.O.T. Device) at work. We meet Lt. Frank Drebin Jr. (Liam Neeson) and his partner Ed Hocken, Jr. (Paul Walter Hauser) as they’re investigating the death tied to a tech genius, Richard Cane (Danny Huston). The victim’s sister, Beth Davenport (Pamela Anderson), becomes involved in the case and interested in Drebin. It seems that Cane wants to unleash a radio wave that will turn the masses into primitive animals hell bent on destroying one another while he and his billionaire friends retreat to live happily ever after (sound familiar?). Of course, it’s up to Drebin and the Police Squad to ensure that doesn’t happen.
Most of what makes this work is Neeson. He’s essentially playing the same character he has in his “once a year” films that are all a riff of Taken. But Neeson plays it so deadpan that it works. There are visual gags, things you might have missed (a scene involving a stuffed beaver, for instance) and things that don’t/aren’t supposed to make sense – like the endless stream of coffee cups handed to Neeson’s character or the biggest WTF moment with the snowman montage. If you know, you know. The movie, thankfully, doesn’t take itself too seriously and that’s part of what makes it work. Take this one with a grain of salt, as that’s the only way it’s meant to be seen. While not quite on par with the Leslie Nielsen films, this one is pretty darn close. I enjoyed it and will watch it many more times.
Video: How’s it look?
The 2.39:1 AVC HD encode shows us that you don’t need a 4K disc to have a great-looking picture. All of the detail (pun fully intended) is there with bold, bright colors, rock solid definition and nice, strong contrast. With the exception of a few wrinkles, Neeson has looked the same for the last few decades, though it’s Pamela Anderson that’s nearly unrecognizable from her “bombshell” look she made famous back in the 90’s. Nevertheless, the film doesn’t suffer from anything distracting and makes for a fine visual experience.
Audio: How’s it sound?
Generally speaking, you’ve got to put out a few more bucks for the 4K offering to get the full Dolby Atmos soundtrack. Not here. The Blu-ray features the same Atmos mix found there and not that this movie needs to rely on audio, but for those that wanted the next generation audio -we’ve got it. Vocals are top notch, with Neeson’s grizzly, deep voice taking control in most every scene. Surrounds are used often and often had my head turning in every direction. Comedies aren’t really made for dynamic audio, but this one does deliver the goods.
Supplements: What are the extras?
- A Legacy of Laughter – The new cast and crew talk about this installment while telling us how much they loved the original trilogy.
- Son of a (Naked) Gun – Liam Neeson as Frank Drebin Jr., what he brought to the role and how he handled playing the character.
- On Set of a Set Within a Set that’s in a Set – If you remember Deadpool’s “breaking the fourth wall inside a fourth wall” comment, you’ll have an idea as what to expect.
- The Funny Femme Fatale – Essentially the same as Neeson’s featurette, only with Pamela Anderson as Beth Davenport.
- The Really Unusual Suspects – The ensemble cast gets to tell their stories as well.
- Dropping the Balls – The production and stunt team and the ball‑dropping finale are explored.
- Outtakes Montage – Compilation of on‑set outtakes.
- Deleted and Extended Scenes – Given the film’s short running time (85 minutes), I don’t know why at least some of these could have been included.
- WWFC Outtakes – Outtakes from the WWFC match sequence.
- Bank Fight #1 — Extended – Extended version of the Bank Fight #1 scene.
- Bank Fight #2 — Extended – Extended version of the Bank Fight #2 scene.
- Noir Opening — Alternate – Alternate noir opening sequence.
- Last Year’s Incident Joke — Alternate – Alternate joke scene.
- Cane’s Boardroom — Deleted – Deleted Cane’s Boardroom scene.
- Beth Scat — Extended – Extended Beth Scat scene.
- Frank Sees Wolf — Deleted – Deleted scene where Frank sees Wolf.
- Tivo — Alternate – Alternate Tivo scene.
- Facade Moment — Extended – Extended Facade Moment scene.
- Frank and Ed See Balls — Deleted – Deleted sequence of Frank and Ed seeing the balls.
- Skybox — Deleted – Deleted Skybox scene.
- Beth Weapons — Extended – Extended Beth Weapons scene.
- Frank Rant in Octagon — Deleted – Deleted Frank rant scene.
- Frank and Cane Under Arena — Extended – Extended sequence under the arena.
- Frank and Ed Under Arena — Deleted – Deleted under‑arena scene.
- Revenge Kill Speech — Extended – Extended Revenge Kill Speech scene.
- Gorilla Nut – An advertisement for one of the parody commercials in the film.
- Muscle Slime – Same as above.
The Bottom Line
While not quite on par with the 1988 original, it’s close. I laughed – often. Neeson plays it deadpan and Pamela Anderson makes it work as well. Great-looking and sounding and with plenty of extras to keep even the most savage fan entertained – this is a rare sequel that works.
