That trailer with the little girl going into the bank left me dreading this. I thought it was going to be terrible, but it isn’t. It is very much a respectful homage to all things “Airplane” and “Naked Gun” from years gone by and Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson have entered into the spirit of this entertainingly. There is the thinnest of plots about a megalomaniac technology mogul “Cane” (Danny Huston) who has a gizmo that can calm everyone up instead of down. “Drebin” (Neeson) is the son of the legendary “Police Squad” father and he has to try to thwart these evil plans in the face of both a shrewd enemy and his ruthless enforcer “Sig” (Kevin Durand) as well as with his own under-pressure boss (CCH Pounder) who keeps threatening to shut him down! When a body is discovered in an electric car in a river, he is introduced to the victim’s sister “Beth” (Anderson) and soon this pair are working in tandem. Can they stop the New Years’s balls from dropping? Jeopardy there isn’t, but if you remember those other films you’ll appreciate the double-entendres, the literal expressions - “take a seat”… “no thanks, I have some at home already” - kind of thing, and the entire ensemble seem to be up for hamming things up (especially Durand who is about as intimidating as yesterday’s toast) as we head to an enjoyable denouement that squeals predicable and sequel in equal measure. Anderson is on great form as she delivers her lines in an “ok, cue Pam”, stilted, sort of fashion. It also benefits greatly from being tightly scripted, edited and put together. It’s not even ninety minutes long so there isn’t really time for us to tire of the joke. It is good fun, silly and a bit puerile, put still a good laugh.

Pretty fun and plenty of the gags in the same vein as the original. Not a great comedy but fun nevertheless and Liam Neeson was a great choice with his deadpan delivery. **3.0/5**