PLOT: Lt. Frank Drebin Jr. (Liam Neeson) runs afoul of an evil tech genius (Danny Huston) whereas being aided by a mysterious femme fatale (Pamela Anderson).
REVIEW: I did one thing I hadn’t achieved in a very long time on the early screening of The Bare Gun I attended earlier this week — I laughed myself foolish in a film theatre. It’s been years since I’ve seen a film this humorous theatrically, and boy did I miss the sound of a theatre full of individuals cackling so loud I sometimes missed a joke. I’ve missed comedy, and this was a very good one.
I’ll admit, I used to be cautious of a Bare Gun reboot. I like the unique films (even the much-maligned third), however it’s been some time since anybody did a laugh-a-minute spoof like this. That stated, director Akiva Schaffer turned out to be the precise man to deal with the components. He already made the underrated Scorching Rod, Popstar: By no means Cease By no means Stopping, and the better-than-expected Chip ’n Dale: Rescue Rangers film. He nails the tone right here, embracing the sort of dumb humour that made the originals a lot enjoyable, with the occasional figuring out wink on the viewers that exhibits there’s some actual smarts behind all of the laughs.
After all, crucial ingredient is the person enjoying Drebin: Liam Neeson. If there’s any justice, The Bare Gun will do for him what Airplane! did for Leslie Nielsen. He completely nails the deadpan method — even when issues get foolish and silly, he by no means acts like he is aware of he’s in a comedy. No winking on the viewers. He performs it straight, and that’s what makes the jokes land so properly. Neeson’s Drebin is simply as violent as his dearly departed dad, and there’s even a nod to one of many darker controversies in Neeson’s real-life profession — so edgy that it acquired gasps within the theater, adopted by severe laughs. It’s a testomony to how cool Neeson is that he let it keep in.
Pamela Anderson is simply nearly as good as his mysterious love curiosity, Beth, who — like Neeson — by no means acts like she’s in a comedy. She nails the tone, and her chemistry with Neeson is off the charts. There’s a hilarious love montage involving a snowman that’s sure to go viral. It’s an excellent follow-up to her career-redefining function in The Final Showgirl.
One other impressed addition is Danny Huston because the villain — a tech guru very clearly primarily based on Elon Musk, named Richard Cane. Huston is so well-known for enjoying villains in motion films that if this had been a straight, non-comedy model of the identical story, he’d nonetheless be forged in the identical function (ditto Kevin Durand as his henchman). Huston’s even performed dangerous guys in Liam Neeson films like Marlowe. Paul Walter Hauser is nice as Ed Hocken Jr. (son of George Kennedy’s character), and CCH Pounder appears to be having the time of her life because the police commissioner on Drebin’s ass — a goofy recurring gag along with her husband actually made me chuckle myself foolish.
Some may say The Bare Gun is silly — and that’s precisely the purpose. It’s silly like a fox, and likewise actually humorous. It’s most likely the most effective film of its type since Scorching Pictures: Half Deux, and truthfully, I believe I laughed extra at this than I did watching The Bare Gun 33⅓: The Last Insult. Lorne Balfe’s rating sounds prefer it was lifted from a legit motion film (which makes every thing funnier than if it had been goofy), and the entire thing wraps up in a good 85 minutes. And when you’re a fan of The Bare Gun or Police Squad, be sure you keep till the tip of the credit — there are some nice callbacks.
Actually, of us, I had extra enjoyable watching this than something in a very long time.
