Back in 2017, in my early days of writing for Hollywood North Magazine, I wrote a piece remembering the career of Canadian legend Leslie Nielsen, who passed away in 2010 but left an indelible mark on the comedy genre, and indeed helped shape this writer’s earliest perceptions of slapstick. He is undoubtedly one of the greatest comedy actors to have ever lived, with famed critic Roger Ebert at one point calling him “the Olivier of spoofs”, but what’s most shocking is that he didn’t even discover his inherent talent for the genre until appearing in 1980’s Airplane! at the age of 53, and from 1988 onwards, he only featured in comedies, working right up until his death.
It was the filmmaking trio of Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker (with whom Nielsen would work with repeatedly in the ensuing decades), who wrote and directed Airplane!, that immediately recognised Nielsen’s comedic ability, even though he was playing a supporting role in the movie. Crucially, they cast him in the short lived but highly regarded crime 1982 comedy show Police Squad, which even nabbed the actor an Emmy nomination for his role as Detective Frank Drebin. Although the show was cancelled after six episodes, it would eventually be spun off as a feature film, 1988’s The Naked Gun, which is not only Nielsen’s most famous film with him in the lead role, but also one of the greatest comedies of all time.
The Naked Gun’s overwhelming success led to two sequels that were similarly successful at the box office, but they largely failed to recapture the magic of the original film and TV show. It’s understandable, then, that many were sceptical (myself included) when it was announced that there would be a new film in the franchise, but after seeing the first teaser trailer, which was released a few weeks ago, I’m now cautiously optimistic.
Produced by Family Guy creator Seth McFarlane, and co-written and directed The Lonely Island alum Akiva Schaffer, the film will serve as a revival instead of a reboot, wherein Liam Neeson plays Frank Drebin Jr., the son of Leslie Nielsen’s character. While only a minute in length, the teaser wastes no time in establishing the franchise’s signature slapstick absurdity, as what appears to be a young girl waltzes into a bank robbery, before removing a mask to reveal Frank Jr., who quickly dispatches two gunmen with the oversized lollipop he used to sell his cover. When asked who he is by a hostage in the bank, he confidently declares himself, “Frank Drebin. Police Squad. The new version”, before settling on a shot of Neeson, still in the schoolgirl’s outfit, striking a pose that reveals the strawberry adorned underwear beneath his dress. If that doesn’t capture the spirit of The Naked Gun, then I don’t know what does!
Schaffer is even doubling down on the fact that this is a revival, as seen in the closing moments of the trailer, where Neeson’s Frank Jr. pays respects to a portrait of his father Frank Sr. hanging on the wall of the police station, before cutting to Paul Walter Hauser’s Capt. Ed Hocken Jr. doing the same for his father, George Capt. Ed Hocken Sr. who was played by legendary actor Geroge Kennedy. It’s then revealed that numerous other officers are doing the same thing, as they are all the children of characters from the original films. On this note, one thing people tend to forget is that before O.J Simpson became eternally defined as a brutal murderer, he had dedicated himself to acting after 11 seasons in the NFL and appeared in all three of the original Naked Gun films. So, when it cuts to the actor playing the son of Simpon’s character, Detective Nordberg, instead of sobbing like the rest of the officers, he unamusingly looks into the camera, before shaking his head in disapproval, making for the biggest laugh in the brief trailer.
While much of the production is making what seems to be the right moves, it was this moment that sold me on the revival’s concept. However, I also acknowledge that come its release on August 1st I could be eating these very words, as revivals/reboots of this nature more often than fail to meet expectations, not to mention Schaffer’s filmography is something of a mixed bag, though he has admittedly developed into a more well-rounded writer and director in recent years.
However, even with a full-length trailer yet to come, and an impressive cast that also includes Pamela Anderson, Kevin Durand, CCH Pounder, and Danny Huston, we won’t truly know if Schaffer and co. hit the mark until its release. But, at least for now, there is certainly reason to hope.
