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The original director of The Naked Gun, David Zucker, has reignited his criticism concerning the newly released revival featuring Liam Neeson, after briefly appearing to soften his stance in the aftermath of the film's theatrical release.

Zucker's Critique of the New Film's Style

In a recent interview, Zucker expressed that Seth MacFarlane, the creative force behind the new Naked Gun and previously the filmmaker and script collaborator of the Ted movies, "totally missed" the spoof-comedy style that Zucker, together with his collaborators Jerry Zucker and Jim Abrahams, popularized in Airplane! and the initial trilogy of Naked Gun films.

"My brother, Jerry, and our partner, Jim Abrahams, started doing spoof comedies five decades in the past, and we originated our own style – and we executed it so effectively that it looks easy, evidently. People started copying it, like the new film's producer for the new Naked Gun. He completely misunderstood it."

He added: "It might appear that we're just randomly trying ideas to see what sticks, but we're not. There's thought behind it."

The Irreplaceable Star

The director further stated that it was pointless to produce the film without Leslie Nielsen, who portrayed the iconic character and who died in 2010, remarking: "They tried to replace Leslie Nielsen in the new Naked Gun, and you can't replace him. Nobody else is capable of that."

Previous Reservations and Changing Stance

Zucker had previously objected to plans to go ahead with a Naked Gun reboot, remarking last year that he was "not enthusiastic regarding having the series handed over to other people". He continued: "They have not contacted me to appear briefly or participate in scripting. Regardless of if they're going to succeed with it, this style of parody, I mean it isn't overly complex, but it's not easy."

However, after a string of positive reviews and strong box office returns following its launch in August, Zucker struck a more conciliatory tone, saying: "I am pleased by it because it just demonstrates there's a healthy audience for comedy in movie theatres, and parody specifically."

Return to Criticism Over Financial Aspects

However, Zucker returned to the attack in the recent discussion, criticising the amount of money involved. "Large financial outlays and humor are incompatible, and in the recent reboot, you could see that they invested heavily on scenes full of technical pizzazz while trying to copy our style."

Zucker further noted: "Everybody's in it for the money now, and that feels like the only reason why they wanted to do a new Naked Gun."