Review
THE NAKED GUN 2½: THE SMELL OF FEAR. Beats the Original
There’s no need to overanalyze—The Naked Gun 2½ is widely regarded as just as good as the original, and personally, I think it’s even better.
After the huge success of the first Naked Gun, it was clear that Lieutenant Frank Drebin and the Special Division would return sooner or later. The creators made audiences wait three years for a continuation, but eventually the second full-length adventure of the most incompetent—and at the same time most effective—policeman in the U.S., and perhaps the world (though in Europe he faces solid competition from Inspector Jacques Clouseau), hit the big screen.
As is usually the case with comedies involving the ZAZ trio (David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker), the plot serves only as an excuse to cram in as many gags as possible.
In the case of the Naked Gun sequel, once again we’re dealing with a well-worn action-movie cliché. What could have been a flaw if the film were “serious” instead becomes the perfect springboard for parody. The main plot revolves around a then-fashionable (and still relevant) theme: environmental protection and the shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy. Professor Meinheimer (Richard Griffiths), a leading authority on clean energy, is set to deliver a speech outlining the direction America’s economy should take. The U.S. President, fully trusting Meinheimer, intends to follow his recommendations. However, the fossil fuel lobby, led by Quentin Habsburg (Robert Goulet), plans to influence the President’s decision.
It is none other than Enrico Palazz… I mean, Frank Drebin (the excellent Leslie Nielsen) who stumbles upon the conspiracy. What’s more, it just so happens that Habsburg’s assistant is Drebin’s former flame, Jane (Priscilla Presley), from whom he parted at the end of the previous film.
Almost the entire cast of the first Naked Gun returns to the screen. Alongside Nielsen and Presley, we once again see George Kennedy, O.J. Simpson (still years away from the infamous scandal), and even the head of the crime lab (Ed Williams). As in every installment, “Weird” Al Yankovic makes a brief appearance, though this time not as himself. A fun bit of trivia: Robert Goulet, who plays the villain, had earlier made a guest appearance in one of the episodes of the TV series that inspired the films.
And in the famous opening credits (shot from the point of view of the police siren), fans of classic cinema will spot legend Zsa Zsa Gabor. The scene in which she hits a police car with her handbag is a nod to her real life—two years before the film’s release, she was pulled over for driving without a valid license and slapped the officer who stopped her.
Just like the original and other ZAZ films, the gags in Naked Gun 2½ hit the audience almost every second—and the vast majority land successfully. It’s worth paying close attention to the background, where a secondary layer of visual storytelling often provides extra laughs (such as in the scene investigating the explosion site). Naked Gun 2½ also parodies several well-known productions, both older ones (Casablanca) and then-recent hits (Ghost). It’s worth noting that although Jerry Zucker and Jim Abrahams are credited as co-writers, they didn’t actually work on the script; however, many of their jokes were lifted directly from the TV series, hence the credit. Filming took place simultaneously (and in the same studio) as Jim Abrahams’ similar spoof comedy, Hot Shots!.
There’s no need to overanalyze—The Naked Gun 2½ is widely regarded as just as good as the original, and personally, I think it’s even better. It’s tremendous fun, just as hilarious today as it was back then, and well worth revisiting for an hour and a half of pure entertainment and genuine laughter.
Written by Piotr Zymelka
