The Naked Gun vs. Happy Gilmore 2: Why Meaningful Cameos Win

In the summer of 2025, two legacy comedies arrived within one week of each other, and both were chasing the same elusive prize: the affection of fans who grew up quoting the originals. The Naked Gun hit theaters on August 1, 2025, while Happy Gilmore 2 arrived on July 25, 2025. Nearly a year later, in 2026, the comparison still matters. Why? Because legacy sequels are brutally hard to get right. They can lean too hard on nostalgia, or they can use it as a launchpad for something genuinely funny. The Naked Gun chose the second path, and that is why it stands above Happy Gilmore 2 in one crucial way.

The Naked Gun is directed by Akiva Schaffer, runs 85 minutes, and stars Liam Neeson as Frank Drebin Jr., the son of Leslie Nielsen's iconic detective. Pamela Anderson plays Beth Davenport, and the film was produced by Erica Huggins and Seth MacFarlane. Critics and audiences praised Neeson's deadpan timing, and many called it the best comedy of the year. Happy Gilmore 2, directed by Kyle Newacheck, runs 118 minutes, and brings Adam Sandler back as the angry golfer. Its reviews were mixed. Both films rely on familiar faces and celebrity energy, but they use those tools very differently.

That difference is cameos. The Naked Gun has always been a franchise that welcomes surprise appearances, and the 2025 entry is no exception. Sports fans get WWE superstar Cody Rhodes and UFC announcer Bruce Buffer. The three most memorable cameos, however, are 'Weird Al' Yankovic, Priscilla Presley, and Dave Bautista.

Yankovic is a legacy player in this series. He played himself in the first and third Naked Gun movies and even appeared as one of the criminals in the second. In the new film, he once again plays himself. Richard Cane recruits him to perform for billionaires hiding in a bunker after modern society is essentially destroyed. Cane's plan fails, and Yankovic ends up in the end-credits scene performing for absolutely no one. It is a silly, self-aware gag that rewards longtime fans without stopping the plot.

Priscilla Presley's role is smaller, but just as meaningful. She previously played Jane Spencer, Frank Drebin's love interest and eventual wife, across the original trilogy. In the 2025 film, she appears briefly during the climax, watching from home as Frank Drebin Jr. tries to stop Cane's P.L.O.T. device at a UFC event. It is a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment, yet it proves that the new movie understands its own history. Dave Bautista, who did not appear in the originals, shows up near the end to help Frank argue against Cane while the detective takes a bathroom break. It is one of the funniest moments in the film.

Happy Gilmore 2 takes a different approach. It reportedly contains a whopping 72 cameos. Some of them work. Eminem's surprise appearance is genuinely funny because he plays the son of the heckler who drove Happy crazy in the first movie. Professional golfers Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler, Justin Thomas, Bryson DeChambeau, and Brooks Koepka also make sense when they join Happy's team against the Maxi athletes. For golf die-hards, those moments are a treat.

But most of the other cameos feel distracting. Post Malone and Travis Kelce showing up does not add much beyond a quick jolt of recognition. It feels like the creative team was trying to get as many celebrities as possible into the movie to create online buzz. That strategy worked, but it came at a cost. The story of Happy Gilmore 2 often gets buried under a parade of famous faces. Is a cameo worth anything if it stops the story cold? Can a sequel truly honor its past without understanding what made it beloved in the first place?

The contrast is clear. The Naked Gun uses cameos as seasoning, not as the main course. Its biggest laughs come from clever jokes, absurd situations, and Neeson's commitment to the bit. Happy Gilmore 2 often feels like it is relying on celebrity math: more famous people equals more fun. But comedy does not work that way. A cameo lands best when it serves the story, the joke, or the franchise's legacy.

Here is a quick comparison:

The Naked Gun also benefits from being tightly paced. At 85 minutes, it never overstays its welcome. Happy Gilmore 2 runs 118 minutes, and with so many cameos, it can feel bloated. A legacy sequel does not need to cram in every famous person who ever liked the original. It needs to understand why the original mattered. The Naked Gun understands that Leslie Nielsen's legacy was not just about gags. It was about a specific tone: deadpan, silly, and unexpectedly warm. Neeson captures that tone while making the role his own.

By 2026, the debate has not faded. The Naked Gun remains a model for how to revive a comedy franchise. It brought back familiar faces like Yankovic and Presley in ways that felt like a tribute rather than a checklist. It introduced new fans to the world of Police Squad while giving old fans moments to cheer. Happy Gilmore 2 may have won the cameo count, but The Naked Gun won the comedy. And in the end, that is the only score that matters. ✅

So, which legacy sequel did it better? The answer is not about how many celebrities can fit on screen. It is about whether the film remembers what made the original special. The Naked Gun remembers. That is why it is arguably the funniest movie of the year, and why it stands above Happy Gilmore 2 in the one way that counts most: it uses its past to make audiences laugh, not just to remind them of what they already loved.