SPOILER WARNING: The following article contains minor spoilers for the newly released The Naked Gun. If you have not yet seen the film, proceed at your own risk!
In the third act climax of The Naked Gun, the whole world has gone primal due to the activation of the nefarious P.L.O.T. Device. A chase between a cadre of motorcycles and an owl ends in front of a fountain, and a final showdown is set up between villain and hero: Danny Huston's Richard Cane and... Dave Bautista. For a brief scene, Liam Neeson is recast with the Dune star as Frank Drebin Jr., the latter reading a few dramatic lines before the former tags back in, and it's a wonderfully out of left field gag that got big reactions from the audience both times I've seen the movie.
As for how the cameo came together, CinemaBlend's Jeff McCobb got the answer to that particular inquiry when he recently interviewed director Akiva Schaffer and producer Erica Huggins during the virtual press day for The Naked Gun. As it turns out, it wasn't a case of hunting for the right fit and trying to find someone who would say yes; instead, having Dave Bautista appear was one of the first names considered, and he was the first person who said yes. Said Schaffer,
It was written for just me going, ‘Oh my God, can we get someone to come be a cameo who's an action star who is instantly recognizable?’ And then Dave Bautista was the only person that we asked. I don't know, Erica talked to maybe an agent who went, “I bet you Dave would do this. Like we had an inkling that it, we might get a nice soft reception. So it wasn’t a random ask.
Following up, Erica Huggins explained that they didn't exactly have a lot of back-up ideas, and they quickly recognized him as a great fit for the part:
It was a short list and he was the guy, like from the beginning. We thought he would be awesome.
It is indeed quite awesome. In addition to having the great joke where Dave Bautista temporarily subs in as Frank Drebin, he is subsequently attacked by people influenced by the P.L.O.T. Device, and he comically screams out in pain, "I'm not even supposed to be in this movie!" Of course, he eventually survives and even makes peace with his attackers with Frank Drebin and Pamela Anderson's Beth Davenport flick the switch that makes everyone go from being "Calmed Up" to "Calmed Down."
It's another feather in the acting cap for Bautista, who has shown that he has surprising range as a performer. The Naked Gun is the latest title on the comedy side of his resume (other entries including his time as Drax in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies as well as his two-hander Stuber with Kumail Nanjiani), but he has also become a close collaborator with filmmaker Denis Villeneuve via the Dune movies and Blade Runner 2049. John Cena recently called Bautista the "GOAT of wrestlers-turned-actors," and the argument for his case is only getting stronger.
I can personally confirm that The Naked Gun is a delightful cinematic experience to have more than once in theaters, as it's not only amazing to bathe in the laughter of a full auditorium, but there are also so many jokes in the film that you are guaranteed to discover something you missed during your first watch. The comedy is now playing in cinemas everywhere, having landed in third place at the box office during its successful opening weekend.
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