Road to The Naked Gun (2025) - The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear Review

 

Alright, back to The Naked Gun series. Let's see if the laughter continues with the sequel or if it falls flat.

The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear is a crime comedy film and the sequel to The Naked Gun (1988), thus making it the second installment of the film series. Zucker/Abrahams/Zucker Productions did production alongside Paramount Pictures who also distributed. Pat Proft wrote the story with David Zucker who also returned to directed.

The story is, powerful energy corporations are intent to stopping eco-friendly Dr. Albert S. Meinheimer. They soon replace him with an imposter who is more than willing to do their bidding. But what the corporations didn't count on was Lt. Frank Drebin to be onto their scheme, and he's bent on putting a stop to this nefarious plot.

• Negatives

I've got nothing.

• Mix

The only mix bag was the main villain Quentin Napsburg. While he does have some entertaining moments and bits with Drebin, he's mostly just a serviceable villain. I wouldn't be surprised if people remember his face but not his name.

• Positives

One positive is the tight pacing. Much like the first the movie goes by without wasting nobody's time. You can sit back, watch, and never feel the runtime.

Then there's the cast and their chemistry. Unsurprisingly Leslie Nielsen shows off his great comedic chops and works well off of anybody. Then of course you got cast members like George Kennedy and Priscilla Presley, who also have great comedic timing and provide prefect delivers with there lines whether it's a scene by themselves or with a fellow cast mate.

The last thing I'll credit is the humor. While some jokes don't exactly land, I still found myself laughing a lot. The sequel keeps up with the first movie's use of sight gags and absurd humor, along with lines such as this bit right here.

I love how Frank thought about it for a moment 😆. But the jokes also extend to the movie spoofing environmental and political thrillers, by poking fun at corporate greed and government incompetence.

The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear may not be better than the first, but it still provides great comedy thus being a good follow up.

My final rating is, Good.

I hope you enjoyed this review as that's all for now. Come back on Saturday, Jun 28th, for my review of M3GAN 2.0. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.