I don't know when the last time I saw myself guffawing out loud in a movie theater was, but I do know it was at some point before 2016. Since that time, Hollywood has tried to make comedies, but most of them could hardly elicit chuckles. Like many other genres, Hollywood seemed to forget how to actually create something worthy of watching, only hitting the occasional knock out of the park. 

One thing sorely missing was the art of comedy. Very few people could actually create good comedy anymore, and I chalk that up to the fact that very few studios wanted to do anything risky. During the age of woke, humor was often sanitized because it had to follow certain rules. You still had holdouts like Matt Stone and Trey Parker with South Park, as well as Seth MacFarlane and Family Guy, but even The Simpsons seemed to rot from within and submit to ideological "cleansing." 

It's because of this, that when a reboot of the classic absurdist comedy "The Naked Gun" was announced, I actually groaned. It was another piece of American culture chewed up by modern studios and spit out to a modern audience that didn't exist... but then I learned that Seth MacFarlane was the one behind it. 

MacFarlane is hardly a friend to the right, and there's been more than one occasion where he's found himself on the opposite side of conservatives, middle fingers akimbo. However, he's also one of the few on the left willing to call his own side out. In fact, he's even called Hollywood out for its inane leftism on Family Guy itself. But this is what a good comedian does; makes fun of both sides. 

That said, MacFarlane released the new Naked Gun teaser trailer and... I actually have hope. Watch it yourself, particularly the ending joke. 

As you can see, this movie stars Liam Neeson playing Frank Drebin, the son of Frank Drebin. Neeson being a pick for the lead is a genius move, in my opinion, as Neeson can bring that by-the-book outward appearance while still accomplishing comedic deliveries. 

That said, what really got my hopes up is that the absurdism is there, and it feels so much like it once did when it was done well. I feel like there were various attempts at replicating it through the Wayans brothers, but it just never felt the same. 

Here, we see it accomplished in ways that don't involve screaming, funny faces, or anything else that would keep a baby entertained. The sons crying at the portraits of characters from previous Naked Gun films is a stroke of genius, with the man at O.J. Simpson's portrait actually causing me to laugh. 

MacFarlane has a habit of telling jokes you're not supposed to, and using humor to be truthful, and this trailer actually gives me hope that he's not going to fail in that regard. 

But moreover, MacFarlane has demonstrated that he has a respect for the material he works with. He is a nerd, a cinephile, and again, while he's definitely not a conservative, he's not afraid to call a spade a spade when it comes to his own side. Combine all this, and I have hope for a Naked Gun film that won't just respect its roots by turning it into a modern idea delivery system, but won't turn any single ideology into a punching bag. 

We'll see, but I actually have high hopes for this film, even if it is a reboot.