Only one man has the particular set of skills… to lead Police Squad and save the world! Lt. Frank Drebin Jr. (Liam Neeson) follows in his father’s footsteps in THE NAKED GUN.

From the very first frame, The Naked Gun establishes itself as a true continuation of Leslie Nielsen’s beloved slapstick tradition, bringing back the madcap tone, sight gags, and rapid-fire punchlines that made the originals timeless. Schaffer and MacFarlane clearly know the rules of this particular comedic playground, and their secret is simple: they don’t just imitate the past; they revel in it. The comedy is big, broad, and unapologetically ridiculous, and it’s been a long time since we’ve laughed this hard in a cinema.

The biggest surprise of all? Liam Neeson. Yes, the man known for his steely gravitas and grizzled action-hero presence (Taken, The Grey) takes a sharp left turn here and throws himself headfirst into the chaos of slapstick. As Lt. Frank Drebin Jr. a washed-out, over-his-head noir detective desperately trying to live up to his father’s legacy, Neeson hams it up with gleeful abandon. He pratfalls, deadpans, and gets caught in every conceivable comedic mishap. It’s a brilliant parody of his own tough-guy screen persona, and audiences are going to love seeing him send himself up so thoroughly. Quite frankly, this is the performance we never knew we needed from Neeson, and it’s utterly brilliant to behold.

Balancing out Neeson’s bumbling detective is Pamela Anderson as Beth Davenport, a seductive crime novelist with a femme fatale edge. Anderson has long played with her bombshell image, but here she takes it to another level, skewering the classic noir archetype with perfect comedic timing. She’s alluring, elusive, and dangerously funny, effortlessly flipping between sultry melodrama and outrageous punchlines. Most importantly, she has sparkling chemistry with Neeson, and the two of them together light up the screen with their bizarre but irresistible dynamic. Anderson proves herself to be a genuine scene-stealer, and her turn here is bound to surprise audiences in all the right ways.

But beyond the performances, what makes The Naked Gun such a knockout is how it nails the legacy comedy sequel formula. The plot is gleefully over-the-top, involving an evil billionaire, a mysterious MacGuffin, and stakes so absurd that only an over-the-hill detective could possibly stumble his way to victory. Along the way, Schaffer and MacFarlane cram in a dizzying array of jokes—slapstick, wordplay, irreverent non-sequiturs, and even a brilliantly timed O.J. gag that has to be seen to be believed. The humour comes fast and furious, and in our screening, the audience was in stitches from start to finish. By the time the credits rolled, the entire cinema was a chorus of aching jaw muscles and belly laughs.

What’s remarkable is that while the film is silly beyond measure, it never feels lazy. Every gag is meticulously constructed, every joke lands with intent, and the whole production is bursting with energy and joy. It’s a love letter to Leslie Nielsen’s legacy, but it’s also a statement in its own right; slapstick cinema isn’t dead, and when done right, it can still be one of the most exhilarating forms of comedy.

At the end of the day, The Naked Gun is pure fun. It’s the movie you throw on when you need to forget the world for two hours and lose yourself in sheer ridiculousness. Grab a drink, grab a hotdog, and prepare to laugh yourself silly, because Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson are about to show you a side of comedy you never expected, and trust us, it’s comedy gold.

Image: Paramount Pictures

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A bohemian artist travels from London to Italy with his estranged son to sell the house he inherited from his late wife.

James D’Arcy makes the transition from actor to director with this, his first feature film, in Made In Italy. It’s an intimate film of discovery and recollection with one’s past that D’Arcy offers audiences with this one, and the beautiful background of Tuscany plays right into the emotional effect of this cinematic experience. Equal parts drama and comedy, Made In Italy is a pleasantly unrushed piece of cinema that takes its time and unfolds like a fine wine. D’Arcy never rushes his film and instead just lets the story unfold at a natural pace and crafts a relaxed and easy-going experience for audiences because of it.

Taking on the lead in Made In Italy is bonafide Hollywood star Liam Neeson, but this time he trades in his action man status for a role that is far more dramatic and reserved. As Robert, an emotionally repressive artist, Neeson leans into the role of a man who is still carrying the grief of the loss of his beloved wife. It’s a role that is incredibly meta to Neeson’s own life and the tragic loss of his own wife Natasha Richardson, and it’s easy to see the exploration of grief through Neeson’s performance. Neeson’s performance as Robert is about finding a way through grief and the past and using it to find new hope in one’s life.

Joining Neeson on screen is his real-life son Micheál Richardson who stars as Robert’s son Jack, an aspiring art dealer who is desperate to move on from his past and seeks to sell his families former Tuscan Villa to finance it. However, the journey he undertakes slowly changes him for the better and he soon discovers a new lease on life. Richardson is a delight in the role, and he really stands well beside his father in such a personally challenging part and a narrative that has so much personal significance for the two of them.

In terms of the cinematic experience, Made In Italy is a beautiful film to watch, and as an audience member you’re sucked into the sun-kissed landscape of Tuscany and the delight that these characters find in it. D’Arcy captures the landscape in all of its glory and the result is a beautifully realised film that is sure to whisk you away to the beautiful vistas of Southern Italy.

Made In Italy is a light-hearted and warm-hearted film that explores the connection between one family in both it’s past and present. Its beautiful images will capture your heart and you’ll be sure to find yourself smiling when the credits begin to roll.

Image: MadMan Films

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Nels Coxman’s (Liam Neeson) quiet life as a snowplow driver in a glitzy Rocky Mountains resort town where he was just awarded Citizen of the Year is disrupted when his beloved son is murdered under mysterious circumstances. His search for the cause turns into a quest for revenge against a psychotic drug lord named Viking (Tom Bateman). Using his hunting skills to transform himself from upstanding citizen to cold-blooded vigilante, Coxman sets out to dismantle the cartel, triggering a chain of events leading to a turf war between Viking and a rival boss.

Adapted from the Norwegian film In Order Of Disappearance, director Hans Petter Moland, re-adapts his own work here in Cold Pursuit and he gets to bring his own unique style to a Hollywood production, and it produces some very interesting results. With a narrative that is best described as thoroughly eccentric, Moland crafts a new twist on the crime genre while going against type with his story and filling it out with plenty of left turns that completely zig the other way. It’s easy to say that you’ll never see what’s coming around the bend in Cold Pursuit, and the film’s eccentricity leads to plenty of hilarious gags and off-beat situations that serve the narrative and completely take the audience by surprise.

Everything in Cold Pursuit is different, from the flavour of its characters to its unique snowfilled landscape of the Rocky Mountains, and all of it leads to a thoroughly unique crime film experience. The location really plays a part here and cinematographer Philip Øgaard captures the frozen landscape beautifully. Moland really likes a twist and he packs his film full of them and the result is something very unique that really keeps his audience guessing.

In terms of a central lead actor Moland finds himself with Hollywood’s resident revenge star Liam Neeson and here the noted action star goes in a whole opposite direction. Played as a complete everyman, Neeson’s Nels Coxman gets into the revenge business after losing his son and the results are both savage and hilarious at the same time. His approach to retribution has a real paint by numbers quality to it and as the bodies stack up he really starts to feel better about himself. I really enjoyed seeing Neeson take on a different path here and his deadpan style to delivering his own form of justice makes for an amusing watch.

Facing down Neeson here is Tom Bateman as the psychotic drug dealer Viking, and he really brings something different to the film. Disguising himself as an affluent playboy, Bateman’s performance as Viking is definitely unconventional and his obsessive tendencies and rampant personal problems exhibit themselves through a boiling rage that he levels upon anyone who he believes has crossed him. He’s a great foil for Neeson and I really enjoyed how far he went as Viking because you just don’t know what this guy is going to do next, and that creates the ideal space for a crazed villain.

Cold Pursuit is a film that really explores the unexpected here and that includes its bold action sequences. As Neeson’s Nels unleashes his vendetta against Viking the bodies quickly pile up and the way in which he delivers justice gets really wild very quickly. While I can’t give much away without leading into spoiler territory I will say that Nels occupation as a snowplower does come into play here and let’s just say that things do get very gnarly in the Rocky Mountains.

If you’re seeking a crime thriller with a difference then Cold Pursuit is a great choice. You never see what’s coming next and Neeson proves that he’s still the man for the job when the bad guys need to be taken out.

Image: Studio Canal

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After their career criminal husbands are gunned down in a bank robbery gone wrong, four grieving widows: Veronica (Viola Davis), Linda (Michelle Rodriguez), Alice (Elizabeth Debicki) and Belle (Cynthia Erivo), must pull together and finish the job to take care of a debt their husbands owe to a sinister crime lord, while also evading the attention of a shady politician (Colin Farrell).

Academy Award winning filmmaker Steve McQueen (Shame, 12 Years A Slave) is a director that commands your attention and with his new feature Widows he grabs it instantaneously. This lauded filmmaker really knows how to tell a story and watching Widows is seeing a master at work. McQueen understands how to propel a story forward and his filmmaking is tight and focused. He places his attention around the mounting pressure that Veronica, Linda, Alice and Belle face as their deadline to pay a debt to a dangerous gangster encroaches upon them and make no mistake the clock is ticking. What truly struck me about his storytelling is how his attention moves to the immense psychological pressure that builds inside of these four women and the different people that they have to become in order to pull off this criminal challenge.

Theme always plays a large part in McQueen’s work and here he is looking into ideas of status, position, circumstance, identity and power. This approach to the movie is presented through our four main female characters, along with the city of Chicago as well. Like other great crime films such as Michael Mann’s Heat, the city becomes a character within the film and McQueen’s lens captures a shocking unbalance between rich and poor. One of the best examples of this is a fixed camera shot that tracks Colin Farrell’s ambitious political figure Jack Mulligan from a slum to his palatial mansion, a journey that takes less than 3 minutes and five blocks and the resulting shot leaves you gobsmacked. This position of extreme poverty and extreme wealth almost standing next to each other, but being completely out of reach of one another is an analysis of contemporary America with laser like focus and it really hits you as an audience member.

Joining McQueen in bringing this intense story to life is award winning writer and author of Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn. Flynn is known for producing narratives that get under your skin and her work on Widows definitely falls under this. As a writer she has a knack for probing the dark corners we fear to tread and she takes us into some very shady places, both literally in terms of location and action, along with internally within our characters minds. We learn what makes them tick and thanks to her crackling writing and McQueen’s solid direction this narrative really sticks with you.

Leading the charge in Widows audacious heist is Viola Davis as Veronica Rawlings. Best described as being normal in every single way, the only thing daring she seems to have done is marry professional criminal Harry Rawlings (Liam Neeson), who despite trying to keep his wife away from his criminal life drags her into it with his failed heist. If there was a word I’d use to best describe Davis’s performance than it would definitely be believeablity. You completely buy into her choices and actions here as Veronica and you slowly see her transform into a darker person as she is forced to take on this job. Davis’ Veronica is not one to fold under pressure and you can’t take your eyes off of her as she metamorphosis’s into the person she has to be in order to survive.

Standing next to Davis is Michelle Rodriguez as Linda Perelli, a women who knows what her criminal husband Carlos (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo) does and unfortunately pays the price for his own vices time and time again. Where Davis shuts herself off from any kind of emotion, Rodriguez is far more affected by hers and in my opinion is the most human of all the women involved in the heist. While the consequences are not lost on any of them as to what might happen if they fail, being a mother of two young children really brings it home for Linda and you feel her maternal instincts pushing her forward to get the job done with stakes this high.

Each of the women of Widows is different and Elizabeth Debicki as Alice Gunner is the one with the most to learn and the most to get out of the events of the film. Starting off as the abused wife of her criminal husband Florek (Jon Bernthal), Alice finds herself a victim very quickly. But although she is pulled into this job like the others she as a character has the most to gain. While each of the women of Widows is changed by the film’s events, Alice’s transformation hits you the most and as she falls deeper into the heist you see a fire emerge that completely grips the screen.

Finally Cynthia Erivo is the wildcard of the group as Belle, a babysitter and beautician who stumbles into the heist and who brings another frame of reference to the film. What I liked about Erivo’s character was that she was the most game of all of the women for the heist and it’s here that we see McQueen’s storytelling at play. Narratively Belle’s motivations bring an interesting edge to the story and she also gives Davis a run for her money up on screen.

Widows is most certainly not for the faint of heart and be warned that the thrills come heavy and hard here. McQueen grounds his world in realism and this is Chicago we’re talking about here and the danger of the city is never far away. From a ferocious high speed chase to the sadistic leanings of Daniel Kaluuya’s gangster enforcer Jatemme Manning and the pent-up tension of a ticking clock, Widows definitely delivers on the thrills. Its action set pieces rage with aggression and you’ll be bracing your seat as the narrative moves forward.

Widows is white-knuckle filmmaking at its best and it will give your mind a serious workout thanks to its strong narrative and complex themes that are tied to it. If you’re wanting a rush that will leave you breathless by the end you’ll be guaranteed to find it here.

Image: 20th Century Fox

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