Liam Neeson-starrer ‘Naked Gun’ slammed by original franchise director

David Zucker, the director behind the first two Naked Gun movies, has shared his disappointment with the franchise’s latest sequel starring Liam Neeson.

Speaking to Woman’s World, Zucker criticised the new instalment, claiming it missed the essence of what made the originals so beloved.

Zucker, who co-created the original films with his brother Jerry and their collaborator Jim Abrahams, said the trio pioneered the “spoof comedy” genre and set a standard that others have struggled to replicate.

The director said, "My brother, Jerry, and our partner, Jim Abrahams, started doing spoof comedies 50 years ago, and we originated our own style and we did that so well that it looks easy, evidently. People started copying it, like Seth MacFarlane for the new ‘Naked Gun.’ He totally missed it."

He also criticised the new film’s $42 million budget compared to the $14.5 million spent on his 1988 original.

While noting that comedies should not require extravagant spending, Zucker argued that the sequel relied too heavily on technical display at the expense of genuine humour.

"You shouldn’t spend too much money on comedies, and one of our rules is about technical pizzazz. Big budgets and comedy are opposites, and in the new 'Naked Gun', you could see that they spent a lot of money on scenes full of technical pizzazz while trying to copy our style," he explained.

Ultimately, David Zucker believes that the sequel was motivated more by profit than creativity.

He said, "Everybody’s in it for the money now and that feels like the only reason why they wanted to do a new ‘Naked Gun.'"