NAKED GUN 33-1/3: THE FINAL INSULT
A film review by Michael John Legeros
Copyright 1994 Michael John Legeros
Directed by Peter Segal Written by Pat Proft and David Zucker & Robert LoCash Starring Leslie Nielsen, Priscilla Presley, George Kennedy, O. J. Simpson, and Fred Ward MPAA Rating PG-13 Running Time 83 minutes
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"Like a midget at a urinal, I was going to have to stay on my toes."
- Leslie Nielsen's hard-boiled
narrative
NAKED GUN 33-1/3: THE FINAL INSULT is hilarious. Period. Fans of the series are advised to wear protective undergarments as these further exploits of Lt. Frank Drebin *may* inspire fits of uncontrolled urination.
But seriously folks, the film is just as funny as the first GUN sequel in which Babs Bush got hers. This time it's Oscar-bashing and not a moment too soon! Leave it to former Police Squad detective Lt. Frank Drebin (Nielsen) to come out of retirement to help stop a terrorist (Ward) bent on bombing the Academy Awards.
Once again, the gags are non-stop and NAKED GUN 33-1/3 spoofs everything from "Beavis and Butthead" to "The Brady Bunch." Blink and you'll miss a mention to STAR WARS or STALAG 17. More obvious are the references to recent films like THELMA AND LOUISE and JURASSIC PARK.
There's also an obligatory 70s flashback, a great sperm-sample bit, and an untouchable UNTOUCHABLES send-up that Sergei Einstein should've lived to see.
Joke for joke, it's the best stupid laugh-fest since HOT SHOTS! PART DEUX.
The downside is that the series is showing signs of strain. Technical credits are weak, from editing to production design. The cast is a loss--neither Presley nor Simpson nor Kennedy is very funny. As the villain, Fred Ward is hardly a worthy successor to Ricardo Montalban or Robert Goulet. And the line between Nielsen's dandy deadpan and boffo buffoonery is wearing mighty thin these days.
The irony, of course, is that the NAKED GUN films have *never* been as funny as the TV series that inspired them. "Police Squad!" ran for exactly six episodes in 1980 and was promptly cancelled. The original adventures of Lt. Frank Drebin were just as funny as the creator's hit film AIRPLANE!, but viewers couldn't handle the lack of a laugh track.
On the Zucker/Abrahams/Zucker hierarchal scale of hilarity, NAKED GUN 33-1/3 ranks about the same as NAKED GUN 2 1/2 and both HOT SHOTS! films. But they all pale in comparison to AIRPLANE!, "Police Squad!," and, even, TOP SECRET!
CREDIT LINE: Stay through the credits! They read like a Letterman
monologue.
BOTTOM LINE: NAKED GUN 33-1/3 is hilarious and just as funny as
second GUN sequel THE SMELL OF FEAR. The series may
be showing signs of strain, but the jokes still work.
Laugh 'till you cry.
Grade: B
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