Liam Neeson almost works as a Drebin for a new, coarser, meaner age, and he has no problem suggesting a surly, disgruntled son of the cop immortalized by Leslie Nielsen in the short-lived 1982 TV series “Police Squad!

Leslie Nielsen for the part of Lt. Frank Drebin deserves a special place in the annals of brilliant casting choices.

It's got vintage terrible puns, nicely detonated clichés, and a handful of inspired gags. But it lacks the quality of aggression the ZAZ films had.