The Couch Critics
The Couch Critics is your laid-back guide to movies and TV shows that deserve your attention—or maybe don’t. Nathan, along with a rotating door of eclectic co-hosts, dives deep into storytelling, character development, and cinematic style with a sharp eye and a wry sense of humor. Whether it’s a blockbuster hit, a hidden gem, or a cult classic, Nathan’s relatable approach ensures every episode feels like a cozy chat with a friend who just happens to love film. Perfect for casual watchers and cinephiles alike, The Couch Critics bring thoughtful critique without the fluff. Grab your favorite snack, settle in, and let Nathan and friends guide you through the world of screen entertainment.
The Couch Critics
When Serious Actors Embrace Absurdity: The Naked Gun's Triumphant Return
Comedy remakes rarely capture lightning in a bottle twice, but The Naked Gun starring Liam Neeson defies expectations by delivering genuine belly laughs while honoring Leslie Nielsen's legendary deadpan style. As someone notoriously skeptical of remakes, I approached this film with caution—and walked away thoroughly entertained.
What makes this soft reboot work brilliantly is its understanding of what made the originals special. Casting Liam Neeson (known primarily for serious action roles) mirrors Nielsen's own career trajectory from dramatic actor to comedy icon. The film cleverly positions Neeson as Nielsen's son despite the mathematical impossibility of their ages—embracing the absurdist humor that defined the franchise. From the opening scenes to a special tribute during the credits, the movie demonstrates a deep appreciation for its source material.
The supporting cast fully commits to the absurdity, with Danny Huston particularly surprising as a villain who gets to participate in the comedy rather than just serving as the straight man. Pamela Anderson brings laughs in her scenes, and everyone on screen seems unafraid to look ridiculous—a refreshing quality in today's comedy landscape that often relies on shock value rather than cleverly constructed visual gags and physical comedy. While some jokes in the middle section feel repetitive (earning the film a 4/5 rating rather than perfect score), the strong opening and closing segments deliver consistent laughs throughout. For anyone seeking a comedy that recalls the joy of classic slapstick while feeling fresh for modern audiences, The Naked Gun proves some remakes are actually worth the price of admission. Ready for more cinematic deep dives? Subscribe to The Couch Critic for weekly reviews that go beyond the surface!
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Get back press play. It's a brand new day, we're diving deep and the film's our way From classics to the ones you miss. Grab your snacks, you get the gist. It's Cinema Sunday on the Couch Critics Show, where the stories shine and the opinions flow. Popcorn's hot, the takes are bold, we laugh, we cry, we break the mold. It's Cinema Sunday. Let the credits roll the credits.
Speaker 1:Hello everyone, and welcome to another Cinema Sunday episode of the Couch Credit. I'm your host, nathan, and on today's episode I'm taking on another remake. Now, before you say anything, I've made it pretty well known that not only do I not really care for remakes, I'm not a big fan of them for the most part, and my sisters, who may or may not be listening to this show, they totally despise remakes. But I'm the type of person who is willing to give movies the benefit of the doubt, to check them out and see, you know, whether they're good or not, or not. You know and this was one of those movies that when I heard they were remaking this, I was very apprehensive, because I'm a big fan of leslie nielsen and his deadpan comedy, big fan of him. May he rest in peace. He's been, you know, gone for a while.
Speaker 1:But when I heard that they were remaking the naked gun I really didn't know what to what to think, how to feel about it. And then I saw the first trailer for the naked gun movie and it stars obviously liam neeson and I'll go into more who stars in it. But when I first saw the trailer I was like okay, okay, this could, this could actually be kind of fun. And before I go any further in that I'm going to go over the synopsis. Only one man has the particular set of skills to lead police squad and save the world. The Naked Gun stars Liam Neeson, Pamela Anderson, paul Walter Hauser and Danny Houston. So again, I saw the trailer. I thought, sure, sure, this looks really funny. And then I tried to avoid social media because it felt like every time I went on there they were like showing almost all the funny clips, like they would show one clip and then they would show a new clip, and it seemed like they were giving away too much. So I kind of stayed away from social media for a little bit and just went into it with somewhat not crazy high expectations but hoping it was going to be funny, because I thought the casting of Liam Neeson was brilliant.
Speaker 1:We all know Liam Neeson as the action guy, the serious guy going after the bad guys, all that stuff. And a lot of people seem to forget that Leslie Nielsen was known for dramatic work. Before he did the Naked Gun, before he did Airplane, he was known for dramatic roles like lead roles, and so I think a lot of people forget that because some people were apprehensive that Liam Neeson got cast and they didn't know if he was going to be able to do it and stuff like that. I thought this movie was hilarious. I from the very beginning I was cracking up laughing. I thought it was hysterical, I thought the jokes landed, I I just thought it was a great nod to the originals. Because, again, I think a lot of people are forgetting that this is like a soft reboot, it's a legacy sequel, if you will, because they don't ignore the original movie.
Speaker 1:Liam Neeson, funnily, is playing Leslie Nielsen's son, which Liam Neeson is like 70 something, so mathematically that doesn't make any sense, which totally fits with the absurdity of the Naked Gun movies. This movie was hilarious. It reminded me of just another Naked Gun movie and I think it fits really well in the lineup of these films. Now I will say, just like the naked gun movies, it does feel like the first half gives you a lot of laughs and then, not not saying the jokes get old, but it kind of gets redundant after a time and then towards the end it starts picking up again and I just I thought it was hilarious. I think my favorite part of the original Naked Gun movies and this one is that it's so much fun to see grown men, grown adults in general, not afraid to look ridiculous, not afraid to look silly. Because Danny Houston, who has played villains in other movies and things like that and I've seen him in other things he was so funny as the bad guy. They even gave the bad guy funny things to do, and I don't remember if in the original Naked Gun movies they really did that. I always felt like the bad guy was the straight man and Leslie Nielsen was the buffoon and the over-the-top gag and physical comedy the straight man and Leslie Nielsen was the buffoon and over the top, you know gag and physical comedy. I don't remember if the bad guys ever were really like that, and so I thought it was really funny that they they allowed Danny Houston to do some funny stuff and not to be taken so seriously.
Speaker 1:This movie again I'm going to say it a million times this movie was fun. It was a fun movie. I don't believe there was really any bad language in it. Just like the Naked Gun movies, there was some sexual innuendos in there. If you're not a fan of those, obviously it's not for you. There weren't that many. I feel like they did all of them in one scene. They did all the sexual innuendos in one scene and it was just classic. I honestly can say that I would consider this a classic Because it was really funny and it was really fun to see Liam Neeson doing this.
Speaker 1:It was fun to see Pamela Anderson doing some of the things that she did in this movie and it was really funny. I just found myself smiling and laughing almost the entire time, and that's what you want in a movie. And there aren't that many comedies that are like that nowadays. Majority of comedies are shock. You know. They do things, they say things, for shock value. It's not really funny anymore and this was just slapstick at its greatest. The deadpan humor was there. It was great and I kind of knew Liam Neeson was going to be fine in this because I saw a clip from a Ricky Gervais show I think it was called X-Cruiser or something and there's a scene where Liam Neeson comes in and says, as deadpan as he can, that he wants to try, try to do improv comedy. And it's a very short scene. If you haven't seen it, go look it up. But I knew after watching that scene and hearing that he was cast in this, I was like, oh, he's going to be fine, he's going to be great. And so, yeah, I I funny.
Speaker 1:Yes, some of the jokes it does get kind of redundant, but, like I said, it picks up again and you care about the characters, because if you're a fan of the Naked Gun movies the old ones you will feel right at home here. They give so much nods, so much honor to the originals that the people who made this movie knew what they were doing. I don't know if I necessarily want another one. I think this was a nice present to Naked Gun fans. I don't necessarily know if I want a sequel, but if they do one, I don't know, because Liam Neeson has even said he's over 70 years old, so who knows how much he has left in him. But I would give the Naked Gun soft reboot a four out of five. The reason I don't give it a perfect five is, again, I do feel like there is a point in the movie where you kind of stop laughing because it kind of gets a little old, a little redundant. But then again it picks up towards the end and again I thought it was great and I love what they did at the very end with the credits. I'm not going to tell you what it is, but it was another homage to the original Naked Gun series that they did. They did a Naked Gun series before they did the movies and, yeah, it was just great. So those are my thoughts on the Naked Gun soft reboot.
Speaker 1:This Tuesday, hopefully, katie and I if not Katie and I, just myself will be talking about the Christmas animated classic Annabelle's Wish. And then next Cinema Saturday, my wife and I are going to go see the Angel Studios movie Sketch. So that's what I are going to go see the Angel Studios movie Sketch. So that's what I'm going to be reviewing next Cinema Saturday on the Couch Critic, where every movie gets its close-up school Oscar wins. So stay a while and touch that dial, the couch critic, who's got that style? Cinema Sunday let's rewind and smile.
