Let’s face it. Parody movies aren’t exactly held in the highest esteem by critics. After peaking around the ’70s to ’90s, spoof comedies have mostly fallen out of the mainstream in recent years. A few recent spoofs have even earned the dubious honor of being ranked among the worst films ever made. That’s a long way down for a genre that once sported iconic names like Mel Brooks and the team of Zucker, Abrahams, and Zucker.
Anyone recall the last time a parody movie earned a highly publicized wide theatrical release? In recent years, most have been quietly released on streaming platforms or in just a few select theaters. But Liam Neeson‘s newly released The Naked Gun reboot is bucking the trend. It’s a genuine critical hit that’s holding its own on the big screen. That’s a level of success spoof comedies haven’t seen in years. So is this a new renaissance for the genre? Could we see more making their way to theaters in the future? Or is The Naked Gun‘s success just an anomaly? It’s certainly possible for parodies to recapture some of their former glory if they do it right. But what is the right way to bring this style back?
The Golden Age of Parody Movies
If you’re going to try to resurrect parodies from the grave, The Naked Gun is arguably the best place to start. The Leslie Nielsen-led trilogy gave us some of the best comedic moments of the ’80s and ’90s. It’s no surprise, as the flicks hailed from the trio of David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker. Prior to The Naked Gun, ZAZ were probably best known for the spoof hit Airplane!, which was Nielsen’s first major comedic role after years as a dramatic leading man. ZAZ’s impressive library also consists of the anthology The Kentucky Fried Movie, the Val Kilmer-led Top Secret!, and Charlie Sheen’s Hot Shots!.
The ’70s and ’80s were the golden era for parodies; an era that wouldn’t be complete without Mel Brooks. This hilarious mastermind gave us Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, History of the World Part I, and Spaceballs, among many more. Several of Brooks’ works are considered audience (if not critical) favorites in the field.
Rob Reiner’s This is Spinal Tap is considered to hold the crown in the musical mockumentary space. The Austin Powers series perfectly sent up spy thrillers in the late ’90s. But somewhere along the way, spoofs lost their edge. There was no middle ground either, as it seemed like most modern entries went from audience hit to worst of all time.
How Parody Movies Went Off the Rails
The 2000s were decidedly less kind to parodies. Instead of clever humor and sharp gags, newer titles aimed squarely at the lowest common denominator. Vulgar jokes and uninspired digs at tropes and clichés became the norm. 2008’s Disaster Movie was intended to mock, well… disaster movies. But it was panned for offensive humor and dated pop culture references. Disaster Movie is considered not just one of the worst spoofs, but one of the worst movies of all time.
Disaster Movie was helmed by Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer, who also put out the maligned Epic Movie, Date Movie, Vampires Suck, and The Starving Games. Most critics agree that the duo’s movies passed up visual gags and puns in favor of flatulence, racism, and lazy product placement. They tried far too hard to copy what worked in ZAZ’s filmography and failed along the way.
Parodies reached their low point with 2013’s Movie 43. This anthology piece featured 14(!) different directors, including Elizabeth Banks, James Gunn, and Bob Odenkirk. The cast was similarly stacked, including Kristen Bell, Halle Berry, Gerard Butler, Richard Gere, Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Emma Stone, Jason Sudeikis, and Kate Winslet. Yet critics universally panned all 14 vignettes in this complete abomination of a movie. It suffered from many of the same gross and offensive jokes as Friedberg and Seltzer’s series, and may have derailed the parody genre altogether. Can any of you think of a big-budget spoof in the last decade with recognizable stars and a wide release? Not likely.
Liam Neeson’s ‘The Naked Gun’ Saves the Day
Enter The Naked Gun. This reboot always had a better chance of success than its cohorts in the genre. The name recognition alone is huge. Add to that the on-screen pairing of Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson. It had the ingredients for success, but could it deliver? Thankfully, yes. The Naked Gun boasts a 90% on Rotten Tomatoes. It opened to $17 million at the domestic box office. That’s not exactly a blockbuster, but it was above expectations for this type of comedy.
The Naked Gun worked because it remembered what made the original special. Liam Neeson perfectly matched Leslie Nielsen’s “straight man in absurd situations” energy. There were puns, visual gags, and good old-fashioned dumb jokes. It didn’t need to cheapen itself with lazy pop culture references or tired stereotypes. And that’s what parodies lost along the way. They once had an insightful wit that expertly poked holes in the very genres they parodied. But as audiences shifted, they traded that sharp wit for superficial fart jokes. The Naked Gun‘s success proves that the audience for old-style spoofs is still there. If modern directors want to make a send-up that works, they should go back to the roots of what once made this genre so great. And whatever you do, don’t watch Movie 43, OK? The Naked Gun is in theaters now.
The Naked Gun
- Release Date
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August 1, 2025
- Runtime
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85 minutes
- Writers
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Akiva Schaffer, Doug Mand, Dan Gregor, Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker
- Producers
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Erica Huggins
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