Moderately hilarious, and plenty of fun!

If one consumes three kilograms of chicken, which kilogram tastes the best? The first kilogram, of course. Why? Because it tastes the freshest, and afterwards you're just eating more of the same. This ostensibly random analogy is marvellously relevant to the Naked Gun trilogy. The first Naked Gun movie was a breath of fresh air with its endearing blend of hilarious sight gags and witty dialogue. Three years later, The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear was an entertaining comedy but it ultimately lacked the originality of the original due to its usage of essentially the same formula. The Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult is the third and final instalment in the trilogy.

When it comes to the third part of a trilogy, very rarely is there a product that doesn't stink horrendously. This third Naked Gun movie isn't as horrible as it could have been, but it's the weakest of the trilogy. It's flawed because it never wants to push the boundaries...never is it subversive...instead the script plays it safe and follows the same old tiring formula. By all accounts, though, the film is still tremendously funny and guarantees a wonderful night of viewing.
Like the instalments that preceded it, The Naked Gun 33⅓ is a suitably entertaining spoof of the cop movie genre. The sight gags are still there (although they're in reasonably short supply), and the script is still occasionally witty. It's something of a miracle that a television show that lasted six episodes before being canned managed to become a trilogy of rather successful feature films.

As always, The Naked Gun 33⅓ is merely a succession of mostly cheap (though funny) gags with vague evidence of a plot holding everything together. This time Lt. Frank Drebin (Nielsen) is married to his beloved Jane (Presley) and retired from the Police Squad. However, their marriage is anything but smooth. Jane has a hankering for kids, whereas Frank doesn't share the sentiment and isn't convinced of the need. Jane is a high profile lawyer, and Frank is a permanent househusband. But once a cop, always a cop, and Frank receives a visit from his old colleagues at Police Squad: Ed Hocken (Kennedy) and Nordberg (as played by O.J. "I didn't kill my wife" Simpson). Frank is persuaded to go undercover in a state prison where he shares a cell with terrorist bomber Rocco (Ward). After Rocco executes his prison escape he formulates a plan to detonate a bomb at the Academy Awards ceremony...
Naturally, the film happily parodies a number of different movies. The opening sequence mirrors The Untouchables, a sub-plot blatantly spoofs Thelma and Louise, and there's even a prison break taking inspiration from the classic war movie The Great Escape. In addition to the parodying there's the usual playing on words, and sometimes the clumsy protagonist takes things a little too literally.
"Sergeant Frank Drebin, Detective-Lieutenant Police Squad" he sternly says to an usher at the Oscar ceremony, demanding entry. "Yeah? And I'm Robert De Niro" the usher retorts, to which Frank replies with "Mr. De Niro, we need to get inside".

The Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult was directed by Peter Segal. The legendary ZAZ trio opted to take a sideline position, staying on-board as executive producers. David Zucker (director of the first two movies) also has a brief cameo as a cameraman at the Academy Awards ceremony.
The Naked Gun movies are obviously a lot of fun to make, but they probably aren't easy to make. In order to fill the screen with an abundance of quality gags, it must take a long time to put together a script (hence the three-year gaps between each instalment). One other thing is also quite clear: these movies are certainly not easy to review! If you look at these films from the perspective of a film critic, you'll most likely hate it. If you watch these movies looking for some harmless fun, you'll get your money's worth.

The drawbacks of The Naked Gun 33⅓ are somewhat similar to its predecessors. First of all, there's no real plot to sink your teeth into. It's a pile of clichés that crawl out to make an appearance. But these clichés (such as marriage troubles, being brought back from retirement, etc) are punctuated by laughs. Secondly, the formula is getting tiresome. There's a distinct lack of originality in both the laughs and the scenarios. In addition to this, the laughs aren't as frequent. The film is still very funny, yes, but occasionally there are annoying several-minute gaps between the laughs of the belly variety. It's also worth mentioning that some of the gags appear quite forced and obvious as opposed to the more subtle laughs that take a few screenings to absorb. At a hasty 80 minutes (approximately), the film merrily rattles along from one laugh to the next with very little substance in between.

Leslie Nielsen at least still gives it everything he has, and is obviously enjoying himself (in fact he's on record as wanting to do another Naked Gun movie). The rest of the Naked Gun crew are back, filling their usual roles. There's also Anna Nicole Smith joining the cast, whose enormous breasts are the cause of several close-ups and awkward moments.

Overall, The Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult completes its objective of providing an adequate amount of laughs during its extremely brisk running time. In tradition with the usual rule of deteriorating sequels, this is the weakest of the trilogy. The first is still the best, and the second film isn't far behind. The plot, as always, is wafer thin...but who cares? We watch these films for laughs and an entertainment value. It isn't as funny as the other films, but it has its fair share of worthy moments. The Academy Awards ceremony is definitely a notable sequence. If only the Oscars were that exciting, because then there'd be more of a reason to stay up until midnight watching them.

Leslie Nielsen's Frank Drebin bows out in style, and is given a worthy farewell. And remember "this is not goodbye. It's just I won't ever see you again."

6.0/10