By: Henry J. Fromage –
This week took a distinctly childhood-favorite comedy bent due to not one, but two legacy sequels hitting the zeitgeist.
458. The Naked Gun
I am very happy to report that this requel of everybody’s favorite early 90s comedy film series lives up to its forebear, both doubling down on the joke-a-minute pun-loving structure and updating it a bit for a more modern time. Liam Neeson just murders it as the best (only?) possible choice to step into Leslie Nielsen’s shoes, and Pamela Anderson is putting together a thrillingly vanity-free comeback for the ages between this and The Last Showgirl. Seriously, fearless and committed. The jokes may not all hit, but they come at such a furious pace you’ll hardly have time to register it. Two Beers.
459. The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!
The original is a stone cold comedy classic, a rapid-fire send-up of decades of gumshoe and cop procedural tropes that influenced an entire generation of comic voices (just check out that cold opening and tell me that doesn’t lead directly to Team America: World Police). Nielsen trades in on a career of dramatic gravitas and solidifies his place in the comedic pantheon. A Toast.
460. The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear
Maybe it was just too many classic yuks in a row, but by the time I got around to this sequel I noticed a bit of a downturn in those returns. Don’t get me wrong, I still quite enjoy this series escalation that moves Frank Drebin and Jane Spencer to the halls of power of Washington, D.C. Just maybe give yourself a bit of space between all the nonstop hijinks if marathoning. Two Beers.
461. The Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult
The series finale sees Frank retired and his relationship with Jane once more on the rocks, but nothing draws a couple back together like somebody trying to blow up the Oscars. Gaze in wonder at the stars and showbiz jokes of 1994, which feel indistinguishable from the stars and showbiz jokes of 1984, but never despair- there is still no let-up in the volume and looniness of the funny-making, and it still very much works. Two Beers.
462. Happy Gilmore
What other legacy comedy sequel landed recently? Well, gotta watch the original, once again, and this one particularly hits close to home as it landed precisely at the center of my middle school humor development in yon olden days of 1996. I’m happy to report that sophomoric violent for no reason young Sandler still plays to the rafters, and touches like Carl Weathers’ wooden hand and Richard Kiel’s man-mountain are evergreen. Two Beers.
463. Happy Gilmore 2
Of course a nearly 30 years-later sequel cannot recapture the magic of the original, which one of these every has? “The Naked Gu…” “Shsssshh”. Anyway, my main complaint about this one is when it panders a bit too hard to memories of the original (you could have lost every one of the footage flashbacks- folks who didn’t rewatch it beforehand can just… go do that). However, there’s an obvious glee in those returning to retread this story (plus all of the family of those returning- I think this film employed every Sandler and Stiller out there) that’s hard not to get caught up in. A lot of fun. Three Beers.
464. National Lampoon’s Loaded Weapon 1
Ah, those halcyon days when National Lampoon was a bankable entity. Arguably they were already nearly over by their 1993 cop movie spoof, which on the surface is sending up the Lethal Weapon series but which is clearly also in conversation with, tying it all back together, the Naked Gun series. Still, there are much worse templates to follow, and the cast they’re able to pull here is surprisingly higher profile than that series ever landed. As the finale to a day of 90s comedies and spoofs, not half bad. Three Beers.
