There are actors we grow to expect in certain roles — the action hero, the brooding detective, the no-nonsense man with a mysterious past. And then, every so often, one of them flips the script and reminds us they’ve got more up their sleeve. Enter Liam Neeson. Yes, that Liam Neeson. The king of stoic one-liners and desperate phone calls. But this time, he’s not hunting anyone — he’s cracking jokes, and quite frankly, he’s brilliant at it.
The most unexpected reboot of the year
Reviving old franchises is hardly new in Hollywood. Some work, others flop, and most sit somewhere in between. But the return of The Naked Gun? That was a curveball no one saw coming. The original run, led by the incomparable Leslie Nielsen, was pure chaos — slapstick, surreal and wonderfully silly. It’s been almost three decades since the last film, and let’s be honest, no one was exactly begging for a revival. But here it is, with a shiny new title (The Naked Gun: Save the World) and a lead actor you’d least expect.
And yet… it works. Rotten Tomatoes has it sitting pretty with a glowing 92% score, and critics are calling it one of the best comedies of the year. That’s not just good — that’s unheard of for this kind of reboot.
Liam Neeson, comedy legend in disguise?
Let’s face it, Neeson has built a late-career empire out of rugged, relentless action roles — some hits (Taken), some not-so-much (let’s not name names). For many, he’ll always be Qui-Gon Jinn, or the anguished father from Schindler’s List. Comedy? Not exactly in his usual toolbox.
And yet, as Frank Drebin Jr., the bumbling son of Nielsen’s original character, Neeson absolutely delivers. The trailer alone is packed with visual gags, pratfalls and gloriously dumb puns — and somehow, he makes it all look natural. He’s not just surviving in this new genre — he’s thriving.
Pairing him with Pamela Anderson — yes, that Pamela Anderson — is another stroke of bold casting. But it works. There’s a surprising on-screen chemistry, and more importantly, both actors seem to be having the time of their lives. That kind of energy is infectious.
Faithful to the franchise’s chaos
Fans of the original Naked Gun series can rest easy. The new instalment doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel. Instead, it embraces the same absurdist humour, the blink-and-you-miss-it one-liners, and the kind of physical comedy that feels gloriously out of sync with the era of ultra-slick CGI blockbusters.
Director Akiva Schaffer (of The Lonely Island fame) clearly knows what made the originals tick. The jokes come thick and fast, the pacing is tight, and there’s just enough plot to hold the mayhem together. It’s dumb. It’s loud. It’s occasionally ridiculous. And it’s exactly what you’d want from a Naked Gun sequel.
More of this, please
After watching the trailer — and seeing the warm response from early viewers — it’s hard not to hope this is the start of something new for Neeson. He’s done the action thing. He’s proven himself in drama. Now he’s shown he’s got impeccable comedic timing, too.
Maybe it’s time we let him trade the weapons for punchlines a bit more often. Because if The Naked Gun: Save the World proves anything, it’s that Liam Neeson is far funnier than any of us gave him credit for — and he might just be the unlikely comedy hero we didn’t know we needed.
