Liam Neeson fills Leslie Nielsen’s unnaturally large clown shoes in the latest Naked Gun. With Adam Skiva as the director of this project, many wondered if the world needed another Naked Gun reboot. However, Liam’s unironic rough and gruff  detective who invites absurdity into his life is well down. But which jokes passed and which ones failed.

Pass: The Surreal Snowman Fantasy

Midway through the movie, Liam and Pamela make a montage of a romantic snow weekend, involving a snowman. Pamela suggests a magical incantation that brings the snowman to life. The snowman is invited into their romantic life, joyfully dancing and romanticizing their union. When Liam blocks the snowman from getting any closer to their relationship, it gets jealous and pulls a gun on Liam. Pamela cuts its head off with a sword and the two embrace each other for safety.

Why this scene works: The winter getaway scene plays as a silly montage trope, but then the weirdness setting gets cranked up to 11 out of nowhere. The absurdity and surprise is welcome.

Fail: The owl flying scene

Liam asks his late father (Leslie Nielsen) to show him a sign as an owl. Cut to the third act, where Liam is in desperate need of assistance to catch the villain. The owl is able to pick him up and fly him over to the chase. It even poops on the bad guy for good measure.

Why this scene fails: The big payoff in the scene is that the owl can lift a 200 lbs man. It’s not that clever and the poop joke doesn’t add anything new.

Pass: The Triple Sting Operation

Liam Neeson knocks out Kevin Durand and tricks him into thinking they arrested his boss. When Kevin confesses to the murder, Liam reveals the hospital room was a fake and that the police received his confession. Then, in a twist, Liza Koshy gets Liam to admit that he used an illegal method to get Kevin to confess. The walls fall down again, and Internal Affairs is ready to arrest Liam. Then, in a triple twist, Liam gets Liza to admit she got used to the interrogation room through threats, and another set of walls falls down, revealing the city permit administration listening in. 

Why this works: It’s a police procedural trope stretched to its most absurd limit. The rhythm and the scale of the joke keeps hitting until it satisfies.

Fail: Jokes about Buffy and Black Eyed Peas

In two scenes, Liam gets into long conversations with a supporting actor about some random topic. He starts spouting facts and adoration over The Black Eyed Peas with Danny Huston in one scene. In another scene he reprimands Pamela for recording over his seasons of Buffy when she borrows his TIVO.

Why this scene fails: The juxtaposition of a 70-year-old hardened detective talking about his love for Fergie is not enough to warrant a laugh. I kept waiting for the line to be funny. The same idea with Liam going off on Tivo and Buffy.

Pass: The Driving Scene

Liam is trapped in an electric car hurtling toward the ocean. He kicks out the windshield in an attempt to escape. Unfortunately, a clown holding balloons, a beekeeper holding bees, and two guys holding a brand new windshield block him from escaping.

Why this scene works: When I saw the payoff of two men holding a fresh windshield, I grew joyous. They reversed the trope. Instead of a car driving through glass, the glass would fit perfectly on his car, keeping him trapped. Chef’s kiss!

Fail: The random wordplay from Leslie and Pamela

Liam and Pamela try to flirt using double entendres, but their references sound absure. Liam wants to cook Pamela’s turkey, but his oven is too dirty.

Why this scene works: The joke is supposed to be that the entendres are so weird and out of place. It felt like word salad, and I was glad when it finished. Leslie Nielsen was much better at weird innuendos that went nowhere.

Pass: Too many guys monologuing

Whenever Liam sees Pamela, he starts spouting film noir monologues about how dangerous and beautiful she is. In one scene, Liam’s monologue gets railroaded by his partners, and then everyone on the police force starts monologing over each other.

Why this scene works: It plays against the trope of Liam trying to dress the scene with his detective monologue. The sudden traffic jam of voice-overs is very clever.