The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988) (Movie Review)

 I’ve loved comedies my whole life, and my personal favorite “sub-genera” of the category are the spoof movies, which are films that lampoon other known categories of film. One of the first greats of the spoof genera was the 1980 classic “Airplane!”, which parodied disaster movies, and launched the carriers of writer and directors David Zucker, Jerry Zucker and Jim Abrahams. Hot on their success of “Airplane!”, the team launched a TV series in 1982 titled “Police Squad!”, which was a lampoon of the pulpy crime and cop genera, and stared Leslie Nielsen as the stern but dimwitted Lt. Frank Drebin. The show didn’t last long, with only six episodes total, but the potential for greatness was still there. Eventually, the team adapted their failed TV show into a movie in 1988 titled “The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!”, and just like “Airplane!” before it, the film sits in the halls of the great comedy spoof classics and is personally one of my all-time favorites.  

  Just like in the show, Lt. Frank Drebin is on the case of an underground drug smuggling operation, after his partner Nordberg was nearly killed. The investigation leads Frank to the much-respected Vincent Ludwig, who’s secretly conspiring with a league of assassins to kill Queen Elizabeth the second, during her visit to America. Caught in the middle is Ludwigs attractive assistant Jane, who’s sent to keep the detective distracted, only for the two to gradually fall in love. Truthfully, in a film like this, the plot doesn’t matter at all, and instead it’s the presentation of how everyone treats their roles like a grounded police story, while the world around them is a live-action cartoon where anything and everything goofy and random can happen.  

  The tone is instantly set with the opening credit sequence, which is an extension of the title card from the show, as we follow the POV of a siren from a cop car. It especially gets the energy going strong with the theme music by Ira Newborn. He previously composed the music theme for the “Police Squad” show, and it’s elevated into greatness here in the movie. 

Along with the iconic “Pink Panther” score, this is one of my favorite music themes for a comedy franchise. Speaking of the series, both this movie and its sequels make a running joke of this intro, in which the car is obliviously driving off the road, in the way of other people, into homes and then the joke gets funnier as the car seemingly appears in random places, like the tracks of a rollercoaster, or bumper cars, and even more outlandish settings as the series went on. It’s one of my favorite traditional opening credit sequences that’s part of a franchise, and they always get the hummer going on a high note. For me, I love it when the surrounding environment of a comedy becomes a character in-of itself, where visual gags and cartoony elements are commonplace, and the hummer comes from how characters either under react or go just as animated.  

 The film also knows how to set up jokes and then deliver funny pay off’s more than once. When our hero visits the villain, who’s basking in his valuable collection, we want to see things comedically fall apart. While we quickly get a satisfying payoff in the moment, an even bigger payoff comes much later. Needless to say, this movie never lets the momentum die down, as it’s constantly throwing joke after joke at the audience, sometimes direct and in your face, while other times it’s little details in either the background or foreground. This way the film is just as funny with repeat viewings, as you can laugh at the jokes you missed the first time. It's a presentation which the Zucker and Abrams team utilized brilliantly in “Airplane!”, but I feel was perfected with “The Naked Gun”, largely because of the characters. While the cast in “Airplane!” worked great at being straight faced genera types in a silly world, I feel the cast in “The Naked Gun” have just a little more personality to compliment the zany environment, while still acting like the belong in a serious cop film.

  Aside from the Zucker Brothers and Abrahams, credit also goes to screen writer Pat Proft, who together helped add some flair to the characters and make them stand out in this goofy landscape. Leslie Nielsen reprised his role from the show as Lt. Frank Drebin and for me, this is the character I most affiliate with the actor. While he already proved a funny talent in “Airplane!”, this is when his comedic chops were perfected. He once again keeps a serious demeanor, but with a joyous personality ready to take over at any moment, depending on how the situation around him changes. His expressions and reactions are consistently hilarious, but it’s not a one-note silly performance either, as they feel like the quirks of a character. Many of his quirky lines bring out the biggest laughs when he conveys them with a chill and sincere delivery: “I promise you, no man on this police force is going to rest until we find out who tried to kill my partner … now let’s go grab a bight to eat”.

 The same charm also applies to love interest Jane, played by Priscilla Presley, who puts on a seductive femme fatale persona, but is deep down too bubbly and cheerful to keep up appearances. The two have surprisingly cheerful chemistry, and their banter provides some of the best chuckles. After coming home from a date night, Jane asks “Can I interest you in a nightcap”, to which Drebin cheerfully responds with “No thanks, I don’t where them”, and for me, little details like that go a long way. Speaking of their date, we also get a funny music montage set to Herman’s Hermits “I’m into Something Good”, complete with music video credits, and a great punchline at the end.

 Richardo Montalban is also perfectly cast as the sinister Vincent Ludwig, who feels like a genuine villain out of any real pulpy crime thriller. It makes the comedy surrounding him all the better, as he conveys a genuinely intimidating presence, yet still has all the right reactions to the silly mishaps of our hero. The character of Captain Ed Hocken carries over from the show, but is now played by George Kennedy, and all the better for it. We also have O. J. Simpson as Det. Nordberg, who exists only to be horribly punished in every scene he’s in. Lastly, Weird Al Yankovic, who was a big fan of Zucker and Abrams comedies, makes a cameo, and would continue to make appearances in the series moving forward … as well as the theme song for “Spy Hard”.  

 When it comes to funny highlights in the film, one of my favorites is a silly car chase, which features our hero stuck in the back seat of a teen driving lesson, with the late John Houseman in his final role as the unflinching driving teacher, who’s hilariously calm about all the cause unfolding around him. The majority of the jokes stick a landing with me, and like a said earlier, there’s perfect variety and detail in which the hummer is presented. Comedy of course is subjective, and like any film from the genera, I can see the crass jokes on display either working for viewers or turning them off. Speaking from my own viewing experiences with the film, one particular scene involving our hero under cover as an opera singer brought out equal reactions of both big laughs and absolute disgust. Probably the one moment I could have done without involves exposed human statues on a building, which was a bit much.

 The whole third act of the movie revolves around a baseball game, and even though the movie didn’t start this way, I can’t help but look back on this film as one of the funniest sports movies I’ve ever seen. Everything at this ballgame is comedy gold, and features my favorite moment of our hero under cover as an umpire, looking for a potential assassin among the players. He starts taking this mission seriously but quickly gets caught up in the fun of the moment that he ends up putting on a show for the crowd. We also get another great music montage set to Randy Newman’s “I Love L.A.”, and amusingly features our hero oblivious to some illegal items on the field.    

 On a side note, I first saw this movie recorded off of TV, in which it was an extended cut, featuring jokes either expanded on or omitted from the theatrical version. 

With that said, it also omitted most of the adult jokes, which meant I missed the original punch line to the classic stuffed beaver scene. While it took me a minute to adjust to the trimmed down theatrical presentation on DVD, it’s obviously still the superior version, and paced better, allowing for the jokes to hit harder and faster, without overstaying their welcome. Following after the first movie came a sequel in 1991 titled “The Naked Gun 2 ½: The Smell Of Fear”, which I actually saw before the original classic, got the hooked on the series, and is exceptionally funny in its own right. The original trilogy of films concluded in 1994 with “Naked Gun 33 ½: The Final Insult”, and once again, was another hilarious outing with these characters. In 2025, we got a legacy sequel simply titled “The Naked Gun”, this time staring Liam Neeson … and surprisingly, it was a hilarious outing in its own right and one of the better legacy sequels. Without question, this is my favorite long running comedy franchise, and I feel each instalment works and delivers the big laughs.   

 Going back to the original classic movie “The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!”, it not only earns its status as one of the great comedy classics, but for me, it has a comfortable place among my all-time personal favorite comedy movies. 

As film critic Roger Ebert put it, it’s a movie that will either make you laugh or not, and how much you like the film depends on how much it makes you chuckle. For me, I’ve been around the block with comedies that lose their hummer over time, but the original “Naked Gun” still gets me howling even on repeat viewings to this day. It’s relentlessly funny, with its non-stop jokes, detailed environments, and an excellent cast. I honestly think this was the greatest performance of Leslie Nielsen’s career, as he manages to pull off a convincing yet hilarious performance all at the same time. With competent writing, fast past hummer, and a fantastic performance from one of my favorite actors, “The Naked Gun: From: The Files of Police Squad!” holds up for me as one of the greatest “Spoof movies” and leaves me filled with cheer every time.

Thanks for reading my review of the 1988 comedy classic “The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!” … and continue to enjoy the movies you Love!   

Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) (Movie Review)

 

  Superhero movies come out all the time these days … but only a handful actually feel like events. For me, the 2021 sequel “Spider-Man: No Way Home” is the only live-action superhero movie from the first half of the 2020 decade that really felt like a special event and still holds up as one of my new favorite comic book movies. This was of course one of the first live-action films to utilize a “Multi-Verse” concept as a means to have a stand-alone film series crossover with other unrelated movies, which was certainly a novelty with this first outing, but quickly got repetitive with follow-up comic book movies like “The Flash” and “Deadpool & Wolverine”. While post “No Way Home” “Multi-Verse” films were enjoyable on some surface level, I feel “Spider-Man: No Way Home” goes beyond being a novelty item and can still be viewed as a great superhero movie, with emotional beats, meaningful character arcs and a proper use of fan service that’s abundant … without distracting from what really makes this film shine. In case you care, spoiler warnings ahead!

  Following immediately after the events of the 2019 sequel “Spider-Man: Far From Home”, Spider-Mans enemy Mysterio was defeated, but before his death, he revealed to the whole world that Peter Parker is his identity behind the mask, and also that Spider-Man’s a criminal responsible for murder and theft of weapons technology. 

Thus, for the first time ever in the Spider-Man franchise, we get the novelty of seeing the whole world aware of Spider-Man’s secret identity, with masses of people split on how to view him, which puts immense pressure on both his normal life, and the lives of his friends. This set-up alone would have been enough to sustain a whole film, but things take a wild turn when Peter approaches the mystical wizard Doctor Strange for help and see if he can return things back to the way they were before Mysterio revealed his big secret. The spell goes wrong, and suddenly both villains and heroes from other Spider-Man universes (specifically from previous movies) arrive in this Peters reality. Naturally, everyone needs to be returned to their respected universes, kicking off a venture to find and collect all the newly arrived villains. Further conflicts arise when this realities Peter discovers that most of the villains die in their worlds, and thus, our hero aims to help them with their mutations and prevent them from dying before they can be sent back home ... a decision that will have devastating repercussions on our web-swinging hero.   

  I knew I was in good hands when the marketing held-back on showing off most of the big crossover characters and focused mostly on our main hero and his struggles. Thankfully, that’s just the movie I got, because it takes a while for any big universe characters to appear, and I didn’t feel their absence once, because the main characters from this series more than hold their own. Right from the opening, this movie is bursting with energy and excitement, and that momentum is still felt when these characters have quiet moments to talk and reflect. For my money, Tom Halland as Peter Parker/ Spider-Man, Jacob Batalon as best friend Ned Leeds, and Zendaya as girlfriend “MJ” are my three favorite leading characters from any of the Spider-Man films, and I loved watching how they each grew, changed and bonded leading to this film, in which these characters are at their peak. After appearing in six films, this is when Tom Halland really felt like he’d grown into a “man” and was ready to take on the responsibility his superhero life required.  

 The villains need no introduction, and for the most part, it was extraordinary to see so many great actors back in their signature villain roles. Aside from the returning cast, it was just cool to see these villains together and interacting with each other in a live action film. 

Alfred Molina as Doctor Octopus was always my favorite Spider-Man movie villain, and in this film, it was like time never passed, because he was just as awesome as ever. Jamie Foxx is given a little more to do as Electro than he did in his previous film, and his yellow suit redesign, while brief, was still better than his initial blue movie design. Both Rhys Ifans and Thomas Haden Church return to voice the characters of The Lizard and The Sandman, which is cool, although the Sandman is easily the most inconsistent character without any clear motivations and randomly flip flops between being a friend and adversary.

 However, for me, all the shortcomings with the Sandman are easily balanced out with the return of Willem Dafoe as the Green Goblin, who absolutely steels the show, and more than ever earns his status as Spider-Mans greatest enemy. 

While Willem Dafoe was always great in this portrayal, I feel this film gave him even more to work with, including more creepy faces that aren’t buried under a silly looking mask. He also plays up a sympathetic side to his alter ego Norman Osborn and subsequently made his character more interesting than he was in the original. All these villains together almost make a perfect Sinister Six, but there’s still one missing, which brings me to Venom. Prior to the release of this film, I didn’t watch the 2021 film “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” and was unaware that movie ended with a set-up of Tom Hardy’s Venom arriving in Tom Hollands Spider-Man universe, so I personally wasn’t put off by him being reduced to a mid-credit cameo. That being said, I wouldn’t blame anyone else for being upset with this, and while I certainly would have liked to see Venom get a big role in this movie, I also couldn’t imagine him working with all the other characters present.        

 Of course, once Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield arrive on the scene as their respected versions of Spider-Man, the film shoots through the roof and builds on an already strong foundation, without feeling like cheap fan serves. 

The film is also very clever in bringing subtle closure to both the previous franchises, without taking too much attention away from Tom Halland's Peter Parker and his narrative. The love that our first meeting between these three is a subtle and emotional bonding sequence that’s very well acted, and afterwords, we get the fun quippy interactions and thrilling action one would hope for. The three also have extraordinary chemistry with each other and feel like three lost brothers who just found each other. My favorite detail of all is seeing Andrew Garfield's Spider-Man rescue MJ from falling to her death, giving him emotional finality to where his story left off. Again, this big crossover is saved for the final act, delivers everything I could want in this short window, and isn’t the driving force of the film, as there’s still other great character arcs and strengths in the film to focus on.  

  Marisa Tomei returns for a third time as Aunt May Parker, and this is unmistakably her movie to shine. While she’d been an okay presence beforehand, this is when she becomes a meaningful character in Peter’s journey, conveying the morals he needs that will shape him into the man he becomes, and her surprising death at the end gives the film an emotional anchor that’s very much earned. 

Benedict Cumberbatch returns as Doctor Strange, and has his own subtle arc, as he gradually learns to care for Peter, despite all the problems he caused, and so much of it is conveyed through Cumberbatch’s performance. All the other holdover characters, and crossover characters again do their part, without overstaying their welcome. It’s wonderful to see J. K. Simmons back as J. Jonah Jameson, although I wish he could have interacted with more of the characters. Charlie Cox cameo reprise of Matt Murdock was outstanding and gives me hope for a potential Daredevil and Spider-Man movie.

 The action scenes are extraordinary, bursting with energy and imaginative creativity. While Spider-Man has had fights on a bridge with cars hanging over the side, his bridge battle with Doctor Octopus still feels fresh, featuring two characters with four mechanical limbs in combat, and it’s awesome. Spider-Man also gets into a memorable fight with Doctor Strange in a mirror universe and has to use his mathematics and intellect to win. I also like that it's a battle of ethics and ideology laced with the action, as Doctor Strange doesn't want to risk changing fate, while Spider-Man believes he has a responsibility to help his enemies, and make their worlds better. The scene also features the most striking visuals and is arguably the reason this film was nominated at the Academy Awards for Best Special Effects … but understandably lost to “Dune”. 

 Speaking of noteworthy action, it’s hard to top a final battle with three live action Spider-Men on the scene fighting multiple villains at once. I will admit, I didn’t care for the yellow, nighttime presentation of this climax, but the battle itself is still a sensational way to close out the film. The real meat of this conflict is Tom Halland’s Spider-Man versus the Green Goblin, as we really see our hero being pushed into a dark place. When Tobey Maguire arrives on the scene to set things right, it leads to some of the best acting I’ve ever seen in a superhero movie, as the silent stare down between the two Spider-Men says more than words ever could.   

 While the weakest part of the film is the initial wizard spell going wrong, the payoff at the ending I feel makes up for it, as there’s no happy or predictable reset button, and while our hero saves the day, Spider-Man himself still faces some emotional repercussions. 

He succeeds in curing the villains and sending everyone home, but in order for everything to get set right, the world has to forget who Peter Parker and Spider-Man are, leaving our hero more alone than he’s ever been in this whole franchise. It’s also a great book end to where the film started, in which he was branded the most popular person on the planet. 

The touching goodbye at the end is perfect, and even when presented with an opportunity to reunite with his friends, he chooses to be content on his own. The final scene of him swinging off into the snowy night is outstanding and is the first time this version of the character really felt like a man. Before I forget, there was a special extended cut of the film, which was released in cinema for a short time, and is available on streaming, but just like with the previous "Spider-Man: Far From Home", it's hard to find this special cut on physical media. It's not required viewing over the theatrical cut, but it's nice to see select conversations and action scenes playout all the way through, without anything missing. It's certainly satisfying to see the final battle in full, but then there's extended high school scenes that hurt the pacing, so you can either enjoy the extended cut for what it is, or stick with the original presentation, either way, you get a great film.    

 In the end, “Spider-Man: No Way Home” was personally my favorite movie going experience of 2021, and I was ready to sing the films praises right out the gate. However, I wanted to give it time and see if my feelings were still the same after the novelty and hype began too subtle down. 

Five years later, this film still holds up as one of my favorite superhero movies, and as one of Spider-Mans absolute best films … top three easy! While the novelty of the Crossover Universe characters is a big draw for the film, I feel there’s so much more to it than just the fan serves. There are thoughtful character arcs, engaging on screen chemistry, emotional highlights, high stakes, sensational action and the courage to go all the way with ideas and consequences. I can’t make any argument that it’s a perfect movie all around, as there are still details to pick at … but for me, the positives far outshine the negatives, and unlike so many other franchise universe crossover movies, I feel this film has so much more to offer then simply it’s cool fan service.  

Thanks for reading my review of the 2021 Superhero movie “Spider-Man: No Way Home” … and continue to enjoy the movies you Love!