Filmus Criticus: Tucker & Dale vs Evil

Best to think of it as Deliverance combined with The Man with One Red Shoe

  This movie should be considered a rarity in modern cinema. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a horror comedy that I not only enjoyed, but can actually praise. “Tucker and Dale vs. Evil” is what I can only describe as comedic genius. It manages to accomplish what very few movies of this genre have: to successfully combine horror movie cliche with witty satire.

The story follows two hillbillies, Tucker (Tudyk) and Dale (Labine), on vacation to their recently purchased vacation home in the woods who, through no real fault of their own, get taken for psychopathic killers by a group of (entitled and judgemental) teenagers.

The main story starts after, while out fishing, Tucker and Dale stumble upon Allison (the female lead played by Katrina Bowden) while she is undressing to take a night swim in the lake. She gets startled by the two, slips, falls, bangs her head and ends up unconscious in the water only to be rescued by the heroic and kind-hearted Dale. The boys proceed to call out to her friends in the hopes they will come to her aid, but Dale’s call for assistance, “We have yer friend!”, is misconstrued as a warning that the psychopaths have captured Allison and that they are next. What follows is entertainment gold, and I recommend you go watch it to see what happens next.

“Misunderstandings” basically sum up everything that happens from the point the two protagonists first cross paths with the group of teenagers, to all the accidental, but hilarious tragedies that follow.

Overall, the story is well constructed and the characters are very well crafted. On one side we have the clumsy, socially awkward, and shy Dale and his best friend the pessimistic, and slightly arrogant Tucker (who is arguably just as dumb), on the other we have the douchebagiest, dial-turned-to-11, Chad (Moss), who due to a personal vendetta against all things hillbilly, decides that he must wage a one-man war against them; mind you he doesn’t do it to “rescue” the girl, he does it because he’s a self-deluded sociopath. This role reversal is more than just amusing to watch, its use of exaggerating the reflex reactions people generally have towards individuals that they find abnormal makes the story that much more compelling. It’s also really fun to watch the story unfold from both perspectives. The teenagers misconstrue every encounter with Tucker and Dale as confirmation of just how sick and disturbed the two are and of the danger they are in. While the boys are scared and confused at seeing, what they interpret as, “a bunch of college kids runnin’ around killin’ themselves”. It should be mentioned that Bowden does a decent portrayal of a misunderstood intellectual trapped in the body of a cheerleader, although some of her dialogue is as emotive as Hannibal Lecter.

The attention to detail and in-setting comedy is what gives this movie its edge, as it creates a nuanced comedic landscape. I found it quite amusing how the vacation house that Tucker bought seems to have been previously inhabited by an actual serial killer. That combined with the use of references and homages paid to the horror movies that were the source of its inspiration, which are made tastefully and do not overwhelm the audience, only serve to add to the overall plot.

 To make a movie like this work you need more than an interesting premise or large amounts of flimsy dressed co-eds, you need quality acting. (That’s not to say that there aren’t any flimsy dressed co-eds running around). What I consider to be the crucial element that made this movie so fun to watch was the spot-on comedic deliveries by Tucker and Dale. Their pseudo-philosophical back-and-forths about society and the current generation added a dimension to the characters that is rarely seen in horror-comedy movies. (But the creative and hilarious death scenes didn’t hurt either.)

The only criticism that I have for this movie is the overextended third act involving the heroic rescue of Allison. The movie should have ended after the cabin fire scene, continuing from that point wasn’t fatale to the movie’s plot but it did nothing to add to the overall story or the characters. It’s not a huge drawback, as it manages to keep a consistent tone throughout the whole movie, but I felt I had to criticise something.

Not to be questioned for its lack of educational worth, the movie also teaches us the valuable lesson of not judging other people based on appearance, preconceived notions and stereotypes. (It also confirms a long standing theory of mine that popped-collar, teenage douchbags are usually sociopaths.)

 [pro] highly entertaining; great acting; funny and smart.

 [con] a bit long; and some of the scenes are poorly edited.

I read it, should you?- Daken: Dark Wolverine #07

Daken’s plans have finally come to fruition. For the past few issues Daken has conspired against the (now former) ruler of Madripoor, Tyger Tiger, and with a few well-placed moves he has managed to take full control, and placed Tiger as his figurehead so that he may continue to play puppet master from the shadows. All while conducting secretive experiments involving a healing factor, and a yet unrevealed chess piece. This issue also starts off the Daken/X-23 crossover that “we have all been waiting for” (nb. sarcasm). Lots of good stuff, full of suspense, now lets hope they don’t screw it up.

It is refreshing to see that the writers at Marvel have decided to keep the characterization of Daken that had made him so popular during Dark Reign, because to be honest I wouldn’t have been able to stand another Wolverine wanabe running around the 616 (*cough* X-23). I was, as I think most people were, sceptical of the practicality of extending the Wolverine family to include a rebellious, and psychopathic, son, but I grew to enjoy the personality traits that separate Daken from the rest of his “family”. He embodies all the traits we know Wolverine has, but rarely get to see, like intellectual prowess, tactical skills, and the ability to manipulate anyone to his advantage. The fact that we see Daken being more calculative and cerebral in his actions makes for a more enjoyable read, than simply assuming that he gets the upper hand on his adversaries because he is “the best there is at what he does”.

The issue itself wasn’t all that impressive, compared to what we have come to expect from Dark Wolverine. It lacked the subtext filled sharp dialogue, which is characteristic of Daken, and it did not have as much excitement or suspense as the last few issues. Granted, that this was an end to a story-arc (Empire), and may not have allowed for the story to grow as such, but it did make for a good read, as well as providing an adequate conclusion to Daken’s plans of controlling Madripoor. (I also quite enjoyed the scene where Tiger pronounce her full control of Madripoor, and we see Daken walk away with a great big smirk, providing a little dramatic irony for the reader.)

My primary reason for reviewing this X-book is that I consider there is great potential for this character, and I wanted to provide future readers with a good issue to start with if they are interested in the exploits of Wolverine’s, more accomplished progeny (although I highly suggest reading Dark Reign and Seige to get a proper feel for the character). 

As I see it, this is a make-or-break moment for this particular character. The writers have two options available for Daken’s future in the 616. Option one: they isolate the character, keeping him out of the main storylines that Marvel is working on, and allow him to grow as an individual, unrestrained by all the politics that would be involved about who he could beat-up, outsmart, or kill if he went mainstream (a good example of this is Daredevil; well, that is until the Shadowland arc). Option two: Daken slowly becomes a prominent figure in the Marvel bad guy roster, edging his way up to the ranks of Norman Osborn, or maybe more appropriately, Wilson Fisk.  At the moment I just hope that the writers don’t plan on doing a 180 and having Daken sacrifice himself in the future in a cliche, heroic redemption plot. Either way, the character has great potential, Daken: Dark Wolverine is turning out to be a good addition to the X-books family (although not yet at the level of X-factor or Uncanny X-men), and he seems to be collecting a nice and ever-growing fanbase.

Calamities of Nature - Unsolved Mysteries

Critical thinking for the win

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Calamities of Nature - Unsolved Mysteries

It's in your TV: Mad Love

   The show is so cheesy you would think they had Larry Lackapants writes the jokes (obscure Cow and Chicken reference, ignore my geekiness).

   Yet another devastatingly bad relationship based sitcom, like there weren’t enough of those (>1 is already too many).

   So, where to start? Well the acting is dreadful. Biggs seems to have given up on being an actor on the big screen (not that I’m complaining, but this isn’t an improvement) and decided to stick to what he knows best – which apparently isn’t acting. Watching introverted, confidence-lacking, awkward guys as the leading role is NOT ENJOYABLE. Seriously, this is something that I may address in depth on one of my “Off on a Tangent” segments, but in short: shows using this personality type for their protagonist are painful to watch. In writing a leading character you should (only) have two options:  1.The overconfident, macho, ladykiller, like Sterling Archer or, 2. A pseudo-realistic portrayal of the average guy, like Jason Segel’s role in forgetting Sarah Marshall, anything else just turns out really bad.

   Labine seems to have kept the same character he is best known for, the overly confident and obnoxious best friend, which he does very well, but this draw-by-numbers type show isn’t a good fit for him (he was much better on “Reaper”). Judy Greer is too good of an actress to be in this show, and it will definitely be a setback in her career, not to mention that it’s an insult to her acting ability. Also somebody should really let her be the star of a show and stop casting her as a supporting role, especially since no amount of support can save the embarrassingly awful acting of the so called main female character, played by Sarah Chalke. I’m still uncertain if the audience is supposed to pity her character, find her likeable or attempt to relate to her, because really all she’s accomplishing is giving me a migraine. 

   Although not central to the main story it should still be mentioned that the character played by Sarah Wright is just uncomfortable to watch, not to mention insulting and condescending that the producers would think this would be funny or appealing in any way! Making fun of dumb people is not comedy, no matter what Desperate Housewives would like you to think.

  It should be said that whatever the actors could do with their roles was limited from the start, primarily due to the unimaginative, immature and overused comedy that the show is constructed on. Saying that it has absolutely no originality is a serious understatement. The jokes are painfully unfunny, and overall the show is simply a poor man’s HIMYM (and that should tell you something).

   Usually I watch more than a couple of episodes before I cast judgement on a show, but in this case I see no point in subjecting myself to more torture in hope that maybe they will change the monkey on the typewriter and some dramatic improvement will occur.

   I am sometimes inclined to give a show what I call the “neutral vote”, simply saying the show is a good example of its genre (e.g. Southland) and is watchable, but in this case I can’t even do that. The show is poorly written, the acting is subpar, and it becomes painful to watch after the first couple of jokes (and I use the term loosely). I have to award it a verso police and hope you never have to see it again.

Amazing Super Powers - Wasted my life

Funny and true

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Wasted my life