“The Naked Gun” is a non-stop joke machine

Straight-up comedies are not released in theaters anymore. If you are laughing at a movie, it is usually one packaged in another genre. Characters can say/do funny things in a drama, horror, superhero, thriller, or action movie, but that doesn't make them comedies. "The Naked Gun" is a comedy, through and through, and that makes it the most important movie released this year.

Frank Drebin Jr (Liam Neeson) gets involved in a case with world-ending implications.

This is a very stupid movie, and I mean that as a compliment. The originals were joke delivery devices, full of wordplay, sight gags, and deadpan delivery of lines. The new "Naked Gun" follows in those footsteps. There are so many jokes per minute that repeated viewings will reveal ones I missed on the first round. In one scene at the police station, a cop is seen walking out of the cold case room wearing a winter hat and gloves (see what I mean by 'stupid')

Neeson is the perfect successor to Leslie Nielsen. Neeson is incredible at delivering the most ridiculous dialogue with a completely straight face, and you believe he is serious. When I heard he was cast, I knew the movie would be worth seeing. Neeson is known for his dramatic/action roles, but he can be hilarious in interviews (and shows off that deadpan he is a master of).

Pamela Anderson has been experiencing a career renaissance lately and has been showing Hollywood what it has been missing, as she was previously stereotyped and pigeonholed into roles that required her to look good. She is so incredibly funny in "The Naked Gun." Her character, Beth Davenport, ends up helping Drebin investigate the death of her brother. When the two of them enter an exclusive club where Richard Cane (Danny Huston), the bad guy, is hanging out, Beth distracts him by singing along scat-style with the jazz band on stage. It is a brilliant scene that can only work in a movie like "The Naked Gun."

If possible, see this movie in a theater with others. The communal experience of a group of people laughing together is second to none. The jokes come fast and don't end when the credits roll (there are multiple jokes within the credits that are worth sitting there for). If you have an affinity for the original movies or "Airplane" and its ilk, this is a fantastic homage to those movies.

8/10

Rated PG-13 for crude/sexual material, violence/bloody images, and brief partial nudity.

1h 25m