I never would have thought it before, but after seeing the first trailer, I thought, of course Liam Neeson can play the new Frank Drebin! And honestly, throughout the course of the film, it just feels like he’s having a great time.

Taking a page from the original Naked Gun films, and its launching point, the television series Police Squad! This updated take plays as a sequel, Frank is the son of Frank (Leslie Nielsen), and other legacy characters can nods as well.

What follows is a gag-filled romp that knows exactly what it is doing, and is there to have fun. From the expected background gags, to hilarious dialogue, to semi-serious moments that take a turn, everything fans have come to expect from the series is here.

Neeson seems to truly be in his element, with Drebin allowing him to do both action and outrageous comedy.

When the powerful P.L.O.T. Device is stolen from a bank vault, Frank and Ed (Peter Walter Hauser) are kicked off the case by their Chief (CCH Pounder). Instead, Frank finds himself investigating the disappearance of Beth Davenport’s (Pamela Anderson) dead brother.

It seems he was doing some work for Richard Cane (Danny Huston)… and would you believe Cane was behind the robbery as well?! He has dastardly plans for the P.L.O.T. device and only Frank Drebin can stop him.

Frequently laugh-out-loud funny, whether it’s a line or a gag, the script has captured the spirit of the original while also updating it for modern audiences. I love the running gag with the coffee cup.

Everyone in this movie seems to have come to play, and pairing Hauser with Neeson makes for a team that makes me wonder what the outtakes look like. And, as been established since the release of the film, there’s some great chemistry between Anderson and Neeson.

In the end, you get from this exactly what you think you would get from a Naked Gun movie. It’s not going to win any awards, and it isn’t meant to. It’s there to entertain and make you laugh, and does so with a real sense of play, sliding from the absurdist to the wry.

I would really like to see follow-ups to this one. Seeing Neeson leaning into his comedic talents is a real joy. Getting to combine his gruff action image with flat-out comedy works great, and I want more of it.

I don’t know if we’ll get it.

But if you’re looking for something delightfully goofy which falls right in line with the classic David and Jerry Zucker and Jim Abrahams films of the late 70s and 80s and 90s, this one will serve.