20 Recent Movie Plot Twists NOBODY Saw Coming

16. Frank Drebin Sr. Becomes An Owl - The Naked Gun

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Paramount

Beyond the genuine plot twist of the recent reboot of The Naked Gun actually being very good, it had one more big surprise in store - a "cameo" from original protagonist Frank Drebin (Leslie Nielsen).

The film as a whole seems to relish making fun of lazy, mawkish "legacy sequels," and while another filmmaking team might've strained to give the late, great Leslie Nielsen some sort of garish cameo via ghoulish AI deepfake shenanigans, director Akiva Schaffer ultimately came up with something far better.

Instead, Frank Drebin Sr. reappears in the film's climax in the guise of an owl who helps airlift his son, Frank Jr. (Liam Neeson), to safety, and also helps foil villain Richard Cane (Danny Huston).

This felt like a fittingly absurd riposte to legacy sequels and their obsession with raking back over past glories in arguably tacky fashion, because who in their right mind expected Frank Drebin Sr. to be reincarnated as an owl?

 
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Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.