Movie critics, in general, are the most pompous and self-important of all the critics. I find endlessly that too many movie reviews I see go on forever, and are much more about the critic showing off their vast knowledge of movies.

My idea is simple – to suggest whether the movie is worth seeing or not, with whatever caveats were essential to me.

This one is worth seeing. You will laugh more than once.

Today, Maria and I both went to see the newest iteration of “Naked Gun, From the Files of Police Squad.” I’m not going to waste your or my time by meticulously comparing the first Naked Gun, released in 1988  starring Leslie Nielsen,  to this one, starring one of the best actors in the country, Liam Nelson as the hapless and hilariously clueless Lt. Frank Drebin Jr.

Maria loved her way through this remake; I laughed up to about 70 percent.  She never stopped laughing. I worry sometimes that my age affects my response to movies. What happened in the old days doesn’t matter to me or you.

The film was hilarious, but I needed to accept that times change, audiences change, and Hollywood changes—a thoughtful review changes, too.

We went because we felt the country was in a grim state these days; we just wanted to have a good time and laugh. We did, more times than I can count.

I won’t even try to lay out the plot, nor does it matter in the least, which is the hallmark of the blockbuster superhero movies; their shadow hung over this comedy just a bit.

Liam Neeson was an inspired choice; he possesses a gravitas and seriousness that are perfect for deadpan acting, goofball antics, hilarious wordplay, and a kind of oblivious innocence and blundering that reminds me of W.C. Fields or the Marx Brothers, who were funny for the same reasons.

Chaos erupts all around him, but he never seems to notice it.

There is a timeless quality to many of the jokes in this movie, and not all of them work, but so many are packed into this film that every one that flops is followed by several that succeed.

The first Naked Gun was a great comedic movie because it was so skillfully inane. This one is an almost perfect comedy, thanks mainly to Neeson, but it didn’t quite reach greatness. It came close.

I got turned off near the point where the comedy in this one did a bit too good a job at flirting with the explosions, mobs, battles, loud music, and confusion of the movies that teenagers have come to love and expect.

I’ll sum up now: the movie is often hilarious and sometimes laugh-out-loud funny. Neeson played it perfectly. The writers ran amok and without restraint, so there is plenty to laugh at.

Leeson’s deadpan gravitas brought out what makes slapstick comedy so funny: a performer who is so unwieldily gravely out to lunch that doing so many profoundly stupid things is funny. (Think of W.C. Fields kicking Baby Leroy out of a room.)

Whatever absurdity is exploding around him, this Lt. Trebin takes it seriously. I’m glad to say the movie is blessedly short – a refreshing 85 minutes. Children of almost every age will enjoy it, which will make the parents who take them happy.

I left the theater quite happy. I did blow $2 on one of the electric game machines in the lobby. I won’t do that again.