So, here we are with the very stupid, yet also incredibly intelligent Naked Gun series at its ultimate end. The third installment – Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult – for some reason sees Peter Segal take over as the director of this film in place of David Zucker. However, it doesn’t matter because Leslie Nielsen has always owned the series, and the fact that they brought him back for on last rodeo is more than enough for me. Although this film is decent, this third film isn’t quite as good as the first two by a significant margin.
How to Download Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult
You can download the film from a digital store. You can also stream it. Click on the Download button at the end of this review and make your choice.Check out also the two previous comedies in the series – The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988) and The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear (1991).
The Movie Review
Frank Drebin’s retirement has not been pleasant to him. First off, he feels emasculated because he no longer has the authority of the law or the ability to shoot criminals, and because of this, his marriage is in trouble because he’s just moping around instead of ‘putting a baby in his wife’.
However, when the opportunity arises, Frank accepts the first chance he gets in assisting with the police squad doing some undercover work even though Jane despises the suggestion. Frank accepts to enter the prison and infiltrate Rocco Dillon’s group to learn his strategy when the evidence he discovers points to the bomb expert’s imprisonment, and a nefarious scheme to blow up Oscar’s award ceremony.
With the same cast and hilarious hijinks involving a prison breakout, terrorist plot, and the Oscars, The Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult brings the high-octane comedy trilogy to a close. Leslie Nielsen who plays Frank Drebin as close to retiring is right there in the middle battling with evil guys, shopping carts, and Weird Al Yankovic! It’s a unique film to say the least, but one that suffers from a lack of direction.
The brief story is largely a spoof of the crime classic “White Heat.” This undoubtedly serves only as the basis for a ton of jokes and gags, but that’s okay, that’s what we’re here for. Leslie Nielsen takes on the part with his customary zeal and once again excels in it. Nielsen can just stand about and do nothing and yet make you laugh, which is one of the reasons his comedy works in films such as this. He’s near expressionless throughout the entirety of the film, and yet when the need arises, the man can quickly become a rubber-face.
Since you already know what to expect, it doesn’t quite surprise you as the original film did. This is partially the reason why The Final Insult wasn’t as good, the other being its lack of funny gags. The third movie in the series still contains some funny and creative moments, but they are mostly found in the last act. The first and second acts of the movie lacked many good gags, but the Oscar ceremony in the third act, close to the end, is where the humor really picks up.
Aesthetically, The Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult does seem like the most basic-looking film in the series. However, the introduction and the final act with the Academy Awards were shot to perfection. They were simply full of some of the best camera work in a parody film to date, even better than the fourth Scary Movie which had a great aesthetic in my opinion.
Again, the only part where it TRULY misses out consistently is the music, which just doesn’t feel perfectly made for this movie at all. In fact, it takes away from the overall fun of the film, it’s bland and random, which just further evokes the feeling of being put into a film that doesn’t know what it wants to be.
Verdict
What’s not to love about good gags, bad gags and the trademark Leslie Nielsen deadpan humor? The Academy Awards scenes are amusing and unexpectedly well-attended by celebrities. While I do believe that this third installment of the trilogy is the weakest of the three, it’s honestly okay because the other two were so excellent. Vanna White and Weird Al Yankovic being present here makes it fun for me by itself, and it still holds up far better than I remembered.
