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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 formerly the filmmaker and script collaborator of the Ted movies, "completely failed to grasp" the spoof-comedy style that Zucker, along with his partners Jerry Zucker and Jim Abrahams, popularized in Airplane! and the initial trilogy of Naked Gun films.

"Jerry, my sibling, and Jim Abrahams, our associate, started doing spoof comedies 50 years ago, and we originated our own style – and we executed it so effectively that it appears simple, evidently. Others began imitating it, like the new film's producer for the recent reboot. He totally missed it."

He added: "It can look like we're just randomly trying ideas to see what sticks, but we're not. Consideration is involved."

Leslie Nielsen's Legacy

The director further stated that it was pointless to produce the film without Leslie Nielsen, who portrayed the iconic character and passed away in 2010, saying: "They tried to replace Leslie Nielsen in the recent revival, and he cannot be replaced. Nobody else is capable of that."

Previous Reservations and Shifting Tone

Zucker had previously objected to the decision to proceed with a Naked Gun reboot, remarking last year that he was "not excited about having the series handed over to different individuals". He continued: "I have not been approached to appear briefly or be involved in the writing. Regardless of if they're going to do a good job with it, this kind of spoof, I mean it's not rocket science, but it is challenging."

However, after a series of favorable critiques and strong box office returns following its launch in August, Zucker adopted a more agreeable stance, commenting: "I'm excited about it because it just shows that there's a strong market for comedy in movie theatres, and spoof in particular."

Renewed Disapproval Over Financial Aspects

Yet, Zucker returned to the attack in the recent discussion, questioning the financial investment. "Big budgets and comedy are opposites, and in the new Naked Gun, you could see that they spent a lot of money on scenes full of technical pizzazz while attempting to replicate our style."

Zucker further noted: "Financial motives drive everyone currently, and that seems to be the sole motivation why they wanted to do a new Naked Gun."