Sometimes we all need a little familiarity….

The Naked Gun thankfully resists the urge to reinvent and fix something that was never broken in the first place as the franchise finds the right man for the job to resurrect the hilarity of Police Squad.

Only one man has the particular set of skills… to lead Police Squad and save the world! Lt. Frank Drebin Jr. (Liam Neeson) follows in his father’s footsteps in The Naked Gun, directed by Akiva Schaffer.

It would have been so easy to try and modernize and change the tone of something that worked so well once to have it play more for the modern age.  Thankfully everyone involved here knew that this kind of funny translates across decades and generations.

Director Akiva Schaffer and his writing team keep it simple by taking the spoof cadence and candor of the original films and applying it to the 21^st century.  It takes skills to make something that is just the right level of goofy but still keeping us engaged with the character and the story arcs so it’s more than just a cavalcade of silliness it’s always earned from minute one.  Even when they repeat jokes they actually land harder than they did the first time. They studied at the altar of David and Jerry Zucker and the worked paid off because this film actually honored the spirit of the originals and still allowed it all to feel fresh.

Stepping into the suit and loafers of Leslie Nielsen is a daunting idea at the best of the times, but Liam Neeson ultimately discovers that goofball is in his particular set of skills as he does a great job at no-selling the non-stop gags in the movie.  Neeson gets the tone of the entire piece as part action hero, part sensitive soul but all dedicated crime fighter and he’s a joy to watch.  Pamela Anderson continues her late career renaissance with a quiet nod to her past and leans into the role of femme fatale Beth Davenport being able to have fun with the image and just have fun.

The likes of Danny Huston  our nefarious bad guy, Paul Walter Hauser as Drebin’s faithful partner, CCH Pounder, Cody Rhodes and a myriad of fun cameo appearances all do solid work here and most importantly, have fun.  That’s the real trick here; everyone here is having fun….and it comes through on the screen.

This is what The Naked Gun is about….having fun.  Now pass me another cup of coffee and let’s get back to it.