Skip to main content

The Naked Gun | Review by: Benjamin Garrett

 When’s the last time a movie made you laugh so hard you almost peed your pants? The Naked Gun is unapologetically silly - a comedy that prioritizes showing its audience a hilariously good time. This legacy sequel (which might be the funniest movie of the year so far) is a pitch-perfect successor to Police Squad and the original Naked Gun trilogy. 


It would be easy to nitpick the film’s plot, because if you’re going into this expecting an engaging or innovative narrative, you’re gonna be sorely disappointed. The story essentially acts as a means of delivery for the constant onslaught of jokes and visual gags. The comedy rarely lets up, and the generic plot beats hardly matter when the entire theatre is erupting in frequent laughter. As I said, this movie prioritizes humour over everything, and I can guarantee you’re gonna laugh… like, a lot. 


In the same spirit as its predecessors, this film dares to be constantly silly, fully leaning into its distinct brand of spoof comedy. I’d say it’s dumb humour, but that would be selling the writing far too short. It takes a special kind of skillset to not only cram THIS much comedy into such a brief runtime, but to also have most of it land. No, not every joke is going to work for everyone, but when one misses the mark for you, there’s another that’ll have you howling mere seconds later. I’m sure I missed a few jokes from laughing too hard, and dozens of blink and you’ll miss it visual gags that are in nearly every frame. 


We’ve seen Neeson shine in small comedic bits before, but I had my hesitations about his ability to carry an entire (very, very silly) movie. I mean, how does one take over such an iconic role played by the incomparable Leslie Nielsen? Well, Neeson proves to be the perfect fit, with his straight-faced demeanour and gravely voice. His line delivery is perfect, especially in his dry reactions to absurd occurrences. Pamela Anderson plays hilariously and brilliantly off Neeson. It helps that the two of them share more-than-solid screen chemistry, which makes their exchanges so much funnier.


Surely, I can’t be serious when I tell you this legacy sequel is not only a worthy addition to the franchise, but also the funniest movie of the year so far. Unabashedly silly, clever, fast paced and utterly hilarious, The Naked Gun ought to be given 25 years for mans-laughter. Leslie Nielsen would be proud. 


3.5/5 


Review by: Benjamin Garrett



Popular posts from this blog

The Mandalorian Season 3 Review

  Listen, I love Star Wars. I will always love Star Wars.  The  original and prequel trilogies were a big part of my childhood, and helped shape my love of cinema. While  The   Mandalorian  isn’t among my favourites in  the  franchise, I thought it had a promising first season and a significantly stronger season two. Season three had so much potential, but a frustrating lack of focus held it back from greatness.  This show’s always had a bit of an identity crisis, but it’s never been as clear as it is here. Does it want to be a procedural-style adventure of  the  week, or tell an epic, multi-season spanning arc? Season one leaned toward  the  former, while Season two found a satisfying balance of both. Season three tries to find that balance, but  the  overarching story it wants to tell is bigger than  the  few episodes allotted to do so. There are only 8 chapters, some barely over 30 min. That’s a fair...
Read more

Boss Level Film Review

       Boss Level is a new addition to the time loop genre, with a twist. Ex-special forces officer, Roy Pulver, played by Frank Grillo, relives the same day until he dies. Every day he is hunted by assassins and when killed, he wakes up back in his bed where he started, only to have to try and survive all over again. Roy has no idea why he is stuck in this infinite time loop but he must do what he can to survive, and the longer he survives, the more he uncovers about his particular situation.  Unlike most action films that take time to build up, this film gets right into it and offers tons of non-stop combat sequences that would satisfy any lover of action films. Its erratic flow makes for some fun action scenes which come out of nowhere since Roy can expect the assassins to attack at any moment. If you play video games often and have ever been stuck on a level for hours or even days, you know the feeling of having to repeat the same thing over and over again u...
Read more

Beautiful Evening, Beautiful Day | Review by: Stefano Bove

  Four close friends and renowned filmmakers in 1959’s Yugoslavia are out to make a feature film of the war. They have a unique perspective and are able to discuss the war as decorated war veterans. Lovro, Nenad, Stevan and Ivan use film to express themselves and criticize society but that doesn’t sit well with the Yugoslavian Communist Party. As The Party steps in to control the film for propagandistic reasons, the four filmmakers fear it may be to gain insight on their sexual orientation. Emir Hadžihafizbegović is entrusted by the head of the Communist Party to oversee the films production but is also told by the party to sabotage the film by any means necessary. Emir as well as our four filmmakers are all exceptional in this film. The dynamic between these five actors is a wave of emotions as Emir hides his true intentions and the filmmakers hide their sexual orientation from the world. The film is in a gorgeous black and white and boasts absolutely stunning cinematography from ...
Read more