Empire's review of the Naked Gun 2 1/2 said, "It would be as well if Lieutenant Frank Drebin were to retire after this case." Someone in Hollywood obviously took note because Drebin (Nielsen) does indeed retire during the plot of this second sequel. But what we actually meant was that the Naked Gun formula was wearing thin and it was highly unlikely that all concerned could get away with it a third time. Which turns out to be right.
Opening with a reasonably amusing skit on the operatic baby-in-peril shoot-out of The Untouchables, this is the usual collection of gags unburdened by a plot, though it doesn't so much satirise the James Cagney classic White Heat as steal its story outright. Frustrated in retirement and consequently unable to give his wife Jane (Presley) a child, Drebin is recalled to action to go undercover in prison so he can get close to mother-dominated terrorist Rocco (Ward) who plans to break out and blow up the Academy Awards ceremony.
At a hasty 82 minutes, the film gabbles through its few good jokes and stamps on its many bad ones. Even Nielsen's straight face seems to be cracking, and whole sub-plots (like a half-hearted skit on Thelma & Louise) show the signs of having been mercilessly cut at the decree of an unsmiling preview audience. Let's be unambiguous this time: don't make another one.
