Reviews for The Naked Gun are coming in, and critics are high on the reboot starring Liam Neeson. With 62 reviews collected on Rotten Tomatoes as of this writing, the comedy film boasts and impressive 95% score. No critics consensus has been published yet, but a glance over the reviews indicates that critics enjoy The Naked Gun‘s non-stop barrage of funny jokes, hailing it as an entertaining return for the dying spoof genre. Many like that it feels like a true homage to the original films from the ’80s and ’90s, encapsulating the same style and tone as the Leslie Nielsen era. The performances from stars like Neeson and Pamela Anderson were highlighted in several reviews.
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If The Naked Gun maintains its current 95% score, it will set a new record for the franchise. The original TV series Police Squad! has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 91%. As for the films, The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! earned the best reception with an 88% score. The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear and The Naked Gun 33 1/2: The Final Insult came in at 76% and 65%, respectively.
Opening on the heels of a trio of massive studio blockbusters that dominated July, The Naked Gun has struck a chord with comedy fans throughout its marketing campaign. Promotional materials have highlighted the film’s unabashedly silly nature as The Naked Gun looks to combat comedy movie extinction by delivering plenty of laughs in the theater. Dating back to the initial trailer that premiered in April (which featured an O.J. Simpson joke), moviegoers have been optimistic The Naked Gun would be a worthwhile reboot.
Directed by Akiva Schaffer, The Naked Gun is set to hit theaters on August 1st. In addition to Neeson and Anderson, the film also stars Paul Walter Hauser, Kevin Durand, and Danny Huston. Neeson is playing Frank Drebin Jr., the son of Leslie Nielsen’s character from the original movies.
The Naked Gun may not be able to top The Fantastic Four: First Steps at the box office this weekend (First Steps is coming off a $117.6 million debut), but it should be a nice slice of counterprogramming for those looking for a reprieve from the traditional summer studio tentpoles. As many of the reviews indicate, it’s been a while since a spoof comedy was in the limelight like this, meaning there should be an appetite for something like The Naked Gun since it will feel like a breath of fresh air in theaters. That, combined with the positive reviews, means The Naked Gun could do quite well for itself. There are other high-profile titles opening in August, but nothing that’s directly targeting the same demographic.
If The Naked Gun is a box office hit as well, it could open a path for sequels. Nielsen headlined a trilogy of films, and Paramount would likely enjoy having a reliable comedy franchise they could fall back on every couple of years. It took a while for a Naked Gun reboot to finally get off the ground, but it looks like the studio went with the right creative team, and now they’re set to reap the benefits.
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