I’ve had a lot of great experiences from the 2025 movie schedule this year, but few have been as raucous, ridiculous, and side-splittingly hilarious as the acclaimed The Naked Gun. An instant classic in terms of great parody movies, the Liam Neeson-led legacy sequel to The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad pays homage to the Leslie Nielsen classic in so many ways. However, one of my favorite jokes feels like director Akiva Schaffer paying homage to the Austin Powers movies.
Sharing jokes in comedies is nothing new, especially when it comes to hilarious gags in spoof movies. In fact, this isn’t the first time these two franchises have borrowed bits from one another. Let’s take a quick look at how these two parodies have honored each other over the years.
The Bonkers Infrared Sequence Is A More Over-The-Top Version Of A Scene In Austin Powers: The Spy You Shagged Me
When I first saw The Naked Gun’s trailer over the summer, I couldn’t get over the infrared camera gag where a henchman was spying on Liam Neeson’s Frank Drebin Jr. and Pamela Anderson’s Beth Davenport as they cooked a turkey. I finally watched the movie with my Paramount+ subscription not too long ago, and the extended scene that made innocent tasks like cleaning the oven, basting a turkey, and petting a dog seem overly naughty just kept getting wilder and funnier as it went on.
This is like a more over-the-top and bonkers take on the famous shadow scene in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, where Mike Myers and Heather Graham’s titular spies tamely get ready for a mission as Dr. Evil’s guards watch and think they’re doing something very, very dirty. Though The Spy Who Shagged Me seemed very risqué at the time, it has nothing on The Naked Gun’s insane recreation, especially with the turkey baster squirting in infrared.
But This Isn’t The First Time The Franchises Have Borrowed Jokes From Each Other
You know, this isn’t the first time the two franchises have borrowed jokes. The unforgettable “evacuation complete” gag from Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, where Mike Myers’ spy takes perhaps the longest pee break in cinematic history, feels like an homage to the first Police Squad movie that came out nearly a decade earlier.
Remember in The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad when Leslie Nielsen’s Frank Drebin forgot to turn off his microphone before going to the restroom at a press conference about the Queen of England’s upcoming visit? The constant on-and-off nature of Drebin’s stream plays out for more than a minute while city officials and press listen in horror. In 1997, it was the same thing, but with Austin Powers peeing after being thawed out as Basil Exposition looks on in awkward amazement.
Am I mad about The Naked Gun and Austin Powers movies sharing jokes? No, not in the slightest. As someone whose sense of humor never really evolved from that of a teenager, especially with movies like this, I’m down for any and all crude and cleverly shot bits like this. In fact, we need more of it.