The Naked Gun (2025) Parents Guide

The Naked Gun (2025) is not rated because it hasn’t been officially submitted to the MPA for classification yet.

The Story & What It Tries to Say

The story follows Lt. Frank Drebin, a clumsy but well-meaning detective with the Los Angeles Police Squad, whose knack for causing chaos is matched only by his unwavering confidence. When his longtime partner, Nordberg (played by O.J. Simpson), is gunned down during a drug bust gone horribly wrong, Drebin sets out to uncover who’s behind it. Nordberg’s cryptic final words point toward the docks, heroin, and a mysterious villain. Naturally, Drebin follows the trail with all the grace of a wrecking ball in a china shop.

His investigation leads him to the slick, polished businessman Vincent Ludwig (played with delicious menace by Ricardo Montalbán), who is secretly plotting to assassinate Queen Elizabeth II during her visit to Los Angeles. How, you ask? By using a form of mind control that turns unsuspecting citizens into hypnotized killers. Yes—this is the level of absurdity we’re dealing with, and it only gets better.

Along the way, Drebin becomes entangled with Ludwig’s assistant, Jane Spencer (Priscilla Presley), who may be the only sane person in the room. Their romance is as bumbling and exaggerated as everything else in the film featuring full-body condoms, awkward music montages, and dinner dates gone sideways but there’s a sweet sincerity beneath the ridiculousness that somehow makes it all work. Highly Recommended: Happy Gilmore 2 Parents Guide.

As Drebin races against time to stop the assassination at a Dodgers game, he accidentally becomes part of the ceremonial proceedings, impersonates an opera singer, fights Ludwig in the stadium’s upper deck, and literally throws the Queen to safety at one point. The climax involves Drebin disabling the would-be assassin—none other than baseball player Reggie Jackson, under mind control just in time. It all ends with Nordberg miraculously recovering, Ludwig falling off a stadium ledge, and Drebin getting the girl.

So what’s it really about?

On the surface, The Naked Gun is a relentless slapstick farce a barrage of puns, pratfalls, and parody that refuses to let more than a few seconds pass without a joke. But under the goofiness, there’s actually a very clever subversion of the traditional 1980s cop film. Think Dirty Harry or Lethal Weapon, but dragged through a funhouse mirror. The film takes every trope we associate with tough-guy detectives the tragic partner, the conspiracy, the steamy love interest, the climactic showdown and flips it on its head with ridiculous gags and deadpan delivery.

It’s also a love letter to straight-faced comedy. Frank Drebin is funny not because he tells jokes, but because he doesn’t realize he’s the joke. He believes in his heroism, even when he’s crashing a press conference or moonwalking during a police lineup. That sincere obliviousness is the emotional glue of the film he’s a man who wants to do good, and somehow, despite his incompetence, he does.

And thematically? Well, the movie doesn’t try to deliver a grand message. It’s not out to teach us about justice, morality, or political corruption. But what it does say loud and clear is that it’s okay to laugh. It’s okay to let go of pretension and just enjoy something that’s silly for the sake of being silly. And in a cinematic landscape that often takes itself far too seriously, that’s a message worth celebrating.

So yes, it succeeds. Wildly. The Naked Gun is chaos with a badge, a satire with heart, and a 90-minute reminder that laughter when done right is timeless.

Performances & Characters
Leslie Nielsen is a marvel his deadpan delivery transforms every ridiculous line into comic gold, and he wears every pratfall and punchline as if it’s a badge of honor Rotten Tomatoes. Priscilla Presley is perfectly grounded as Jane, offering just enough warmth (and wit) to balance Nielsen’s straight-edge zeal. Montalbán chews the scenery deliciously as Ludwig, and O.J. Simpson’s recurring beatdown-gag as Nordberg is far from exhausting it lands time and again.

Supporting players like George Kennedy and John Houseman bring seasoned gravitas to the chaos, and famous cameos Reggie Jackson catching a hot dog, a Queen lookalike in the stands serve as delightful distractions that keep things feeling fresh. Highly Recommended: Oh, Hi (2025) Parents Guide

Direction, Visuals & Pacing
David Zucker’s direction is a masterclass in comic timing. The film races along its lean 85-minute runtime, rarely slowing down for breath. Cinematographer Robert Stevens and editor Michael Jablow string together dense sight gags car chases smashing through walls, a chaotic press conference with bathroom mic hilarity, even a full-body condom gag during sex in a way that’s frantic but never overwhelming.

Every shot reeks of confidence: the camera lingers just long enough on the ridiculous, the editing zips through setups before you’re half-aware, and the visual palette bright, bold, theatrical supports the comic tone brilliantly.

The Naked Gun (2025) Parents Guide

Sex & Romance: Expect some playful innuendo characters reference “safe sex” and, most memorably, there’s a comedic scene involving a full-body condom. There’s also an over-the-top gag with Drebin and a statue’s… er… anatomy during a rescue. All in good fun, but definitely adult-humor territory

Violence & Intensity: Violence is cartoonish and slapstick-y: gunfire happens, but it’s played for laughs people get punched, thrown, shot at (think Three Stooges, not horror). Nordberg’s shot in the opening scene is instantly forgotten in the chaos. No blood, just comedic chaos

Language: Language is mild occasional “hell,” maybe “damn,” but nothing profane or harsh Common Sense Media.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking: You’ll spot a few beers and cigarettes, but nothing shown to excess or praised—more like background accessories to the ’80s setting.

Age Recommendation

Based on content and tone, the film is best suited for viewers 13 and up. Younger kids might giggle, but they could miss the innuendo or even ask awkward questions. It’s a dad-and-teen comedy the kind you let teenagers watch and laugh about together.

Final Thoughts & Recommendation

“The Naked Gun” is exactly the kind of movie the world didn’t know it needed in 1988: an unstoppable joy machine that refuses sobriety. It’s not deep, and it openly relishes juvenile jokes and slapstick silliness but it delivers so incessantly and with such panache that you can’t help surrendering to its fun.

If you love comedies that lean hard into idiot-proof humor with a wink and a grin, this is pure platinum. It might not be the smartest movie you’ll ever see, but few films have such a reliable gag-per-minute ratio. As a critic once said, “You laugh, and then you laugh at yourself for laughing”.

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