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Simply while you thought the reboot machine had lastly sputtered to a halt, alongside comes Akiva Schaffer’s uproarious “The Bare Gun” to show there’s nonetheless life left in previous franchises, supplied you’re prepared to get silly. Gloriously, unapologetically silly.
Schaffer’s “The Bare Gun” is a comedic triumph that channels the slapstick, farcical, in-your-face spirit of the unique trilogy whereas discovering new targets to lampoon and loads of pratfalls to go round. Liam Neeson, hilariously solid within the Leslie Nielsen-adjacent position of Lt. Frank Drebin Jr., delivers a deadpan efficiency so dedicated it turns into the joke itself. Whether or not he’s confused a couple of man’s ten-year sentence for “man’s-laughter” or delivering an impassioned rant about his TiVo deleting season one among “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” Neeson performs it straight with such conviction that it solely makes the absurdity, and the arsenal of silly one liners, hit tougher.
The jokes come quick and livid, generally so relentlessly that you simply miss one since you’re nonetheless recovering from the final. I haven’t howled this tough, this usually, or this constantly at a studio comedy in years. Watching it with a crowd jogged my memory of what we’ve been lacking. Comedies was once a theatrical staple, however now they’re practically extinct. Optimistically, “The Bare Gun” could possibly be the canary within the coal mine that brings them again.
The movie opens with Neeson, in full motion star mode, donning a schoolgirl outfit, beret, skirt, pigtails and all, whereas taking down a squad of financial institution robbers. It’s ridiculous, efficient, and a mission assertion of what’s to come back. Schaffer, of The Lonely Island fame, wastes no time kicking off a brisk 85-minute laugh-a-thon, co-written with Dan Gregor and Doug Mand. The plot itself, one thing a couple of tech mogul (Danny Huston, once more enjoying the dangerous man) and a widow named Beth Davenport (a radiant Pamela Anderson, lastly not the punchline), is simply scaffolding for the movie’s true goal: gags on high of gags.
Some jokes don’t repay till three scenes later. Others fly by within the background, however the movie commits to the bit at each flip. The script is loaded with wordplay, visible gags, bodily comedy, and the franchise’s trademark zaniness, now up to date with a couple of well-placed trendy twists. An infrared sequence involving a canine and a few wildly suggestive physique positions could be the funniest factor I’ve seen in a decade.
Neeson is the MVP right here. He by no means winks on the digicam. He sells each pistol whip and pratfall with the identical depth he dropped at “Taken,” and that’s precisely what makes it so humorous. Punching out goons beneath a blinking “Now Serving” counter? Excellent. A effectively timed Black Eyed Peas needle drop throughout a battle scene? In some way, it really works. There’s even a nod to the opening of “Mission: Inconceivable – Fallout” that brings the home down.
It’s the type of comedy that begs to be seen once more, if solely to catch the jokes you missed whereas doubled over. When you’re within the temper for a deeply silly, endlessly humorous, and surprisingly well-crafted little bit of comedian anarchy, purchase a ticket to “The Bare Gun.” That is precisely the type of film we want extra of: proudly over-the-top, and unafraid to go for the jugular of a foul pun. Let the laughter take management of you.
THE NAKED GUN is now enjoying in theaters.