The slapstick comedy movie is a slowly dying breed of cinema, particularly in terms of mass appeal. It’s been nearly a decade since big-budget comedy movies that weren’t mashed with other genres were dominating the industry’s output. Dark comedy movies like Emma Stone’s Bugonia, which is also a “Good For Her” movie, still perform well and pull masses to theaters.
However, comedy for the sake of comedy, like 2025’s hidden gem comedy masterpiece, One of Them Days, is much less likely to make headlines. Pure chaos reigns in the film, which, while commenting on the realities of dating and the housing market, is mostly invested in making audiences laugh, both at the movie, and through the pain caused by reality.
Horror was by far the best movie genre of 2025, and as a result, this year witnessed the release of multiple memorable horror comedy movies that could become iconic or at least cult classics in the future. So, comedy as a genre isn’t dying, but one 2025 film seemed to herald in the rebirth of the golden era of comedy.
The Naked Gun Successfully Revived A Long-Dormant Comedy Franchise
ZAZ aka David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker enthralled audiences from the late ’70s to the early ’90s by writing, directing, and/or producing some of the best comedies of all time. Their most famous work is Airplane!, the spoof of Zero Hour. Another fan-favorite film is The Naked Gun, which is among the best action comedies of the 1980s.
The inimitable Leslie Nielsen plays Frank Drebin in the original trilogy, which is known for its slapstick humor, both verbal and physical. The blend of wordplay, visual gags, and references to pop culture haven’t just aged well, but also continue to be funny nearly four decades later. So, a reboot, despite obvious skepticism, was met with anticipation and enthusiasm, too.
It was a genius move to cast Liam Neeson in the 2025 reboot, where he plays Frank Drebin’s son, Frank Drebin Jr. The Naked Gun (2025) is bubbling with the same chaotic, unserious, and ironic energy as the original three movies. It proves that that brand of comedy works today, despite all major films seemingly disavowing it in recent years.
The Naked Gun’s Star Power Is A Rarity For Such A Comedy Movie
Silliness is an artform in Hollywood usually found most commonly in action movies today. The pure goofiness that becomes the main genre is perhaps too risky or too unsophisticated for the general audience, but The Naked Gun‘s reboot disproves this assumption. It features famous actors, the likes of whom you wouldn’t expect attached to such a film in today’s Hollywood.
Pamela Anderson, Liam Neeson, Paul Walter Hauser, Danny Huston, and Kevin Durand are all famous, but none are associated with the kind of silliness that The Naked Gun showcases. The Naked Gun is a legacy sequel done right, as it respects the original movie, doesn’t shy away from committing to the bit, and effectively revitalizes a dying breed of cinema.
The Naked Gun’s Style Of Comedy Has Nearly Gone Extinct
The director of The Naked Gun, Akiva Schaffer, is famous for his work with the comedy trio, The Lonely Island, where he’s joined by Andy Samberg and Jorma Taccone. The Lonely Island’s songs, sketches, and digital shorts are in-your-face and over-the-top goofy works of comedy that aren’t ashamed of the need for self-caricature that unbridled comedy often brings with itself.
However, in cinema, that no-holds-barred style of silly shenanigans rarely works, and even The Lonely Island’s music documentary spoof, Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, which is among the best mockumentary movies of all time, is more restrained than their sketches. The Naked Gun‘s legacy sequel, on the other hand, feels like an unrestricted and long-winded comedy sketch by The Lonely Island.
So, it is a literally refreshing return to form for a genre that is mostly dominated by dryly humorous dramas or even tragedies, unless you consider the few gags and over-the-top setpieces in the blockbuster action comedies released every year. The comedy that most would scoff at as lowbrow while secretly stifling a laugh, has been better received than expected.
I Hope Hollywood Doesn’t Learn The Wrong Lesson From Its Success
There is always the risk that the success of the legacy sequel is attributed to it being a legacy sequel. However, a major chunk of today’s moviegoing population didn’t know about Leslie Nielsen or The Naked Gun before watching Liam Neeson’s movie. While I was anticipating the revival of ZAZ’s trilogy, many were invested in the film because of Neeson.
IP movies feature heavily among the top box office performers of 2025, like every year before it in recent times, and I fear that The Naked Gun (2025)’s success being attributed to its status as a legacy sequel might just inspire more reboots and remakes. The takeaway should be that audiences enjoy this brand of goofiness that aims to entertain.
Liam Neeson’s response about the chances of The Naked Gun 5 happening brings me hope that Hollywood may take the right message home. He believes it’s a one-off and isn’t interested in revisiting the franchise. So, I hope we’ll get more comedy that’s unafraid to be silly, in the same brand as the new version of The Naked Gun, albeit without reviving old franchises.
