“I just trusted the script,” Neeson told Variety. “And knew it would get better the more they worked on it. [Director Akiva Schaffer] was the co-writer but there was always another writer on set — a friend of Akiva’s, obviously — and they would supply alternate endings to scenes. ‘Try this, try that.'”

The action star plays deadpan detective Frank Drebin Jr. in director Akiva Schaffer’s welcome sequel to the police-parody film franchise that began in 1988.

Leslie Nielsen for the part of Lt. Frank Drebin deserves a special place in the annals of brilliant casting choices. But why, exactly, Nielsen was so perfect for 1988’s “The