Here’s the plot summary from IMDB:
When a merciless bear poacher is caught and arrested deep in the woods of a state park, he and his truck are taken to a neglected precinct in the heart of a dying city. Unbeknownst to the authorities, the impounded truck holds a deadly cargo in the form of the legendary Sasquatch. Now, stuck in an unfamiliar world, the creature will let nothing and no one stop it from coming face-to-face with the unscrupulous man who ruthlessly ripped it from its environment. Taking an inventive and action packed approach, "Sasquatch Assault" breaths new and exciting life into the immortal legend of Bigfoot.
“Sasquatch Assault” was the original title of the movie, but it was Assault of the Sasquatch on the DVD box. For the most part, the movie was fun but with one fatal flaw which will keep me from ever watching it a second time. I’ll get to that in a bit.
The movie spends some time allowing the viewer to get to know the people who will be imperiled. The characters are more interesting than you would expect. A former police officer whose wife died in an home invasion. His daughter, of whom he is overprotective. His feisty park ranger partner and his former colleagues at the police station, including a lonely captain who took in a beautiful young felon, gave her a home and a job, and treated her like a daughter. The bear poacher is played too large, but he has his moments in the film, as does his disgustingly wealthy employer. Oh, yeah, the man who killed the hero’s wife is in the picture as well, determined to avenge the brother who the hero shot and killed during the home invasion. It’s a tasty Sasquatch buffet.
The Sasquatch costume is the greatest, but the intelligent beast is a scary smart adversary. He makes the precinct as much his domain as the woods. If this were a major studio release, I think there would have been a sequel.
The fatal flaw? That would be the two nerdy Sasquatch hunters who host some sort of Bigfoot podcast. Actor and producer (though not of this film) Shawn C. Phillips is one of the all-time worst actors I’ve ever watched. He plays his character like he had been snorting cocaine for a straight week before his scenes. He’s more terrible than I can describe and I only wish his gory death had come earlier in the movie. But not nearly as much as I wish his lousy character had been cut completely.
If you watch Assault of the Sasquatch, I suggest you fast forward past any scenes with Phillips and the comatose M. Kelley, who plays the other podcast nerd. If you do that and if you as fond of these low-budget monster movies as I am, I think you’ll have a good time with this one.
******************************
Besides my usual monster movie viewing, I also watch other movies.Here are some quickie comments about some of them:
Barb and our daughter Kelly wanted to see American Hustle [2013], so I rented it via our cable company’s On Demand. I was the only one who actually made it to the end of the movie.
From IMDB:
A con man, Irving Rosenfeld, along with his seductive partner Sydney Prosser, is forced to work for a wild FBI agent, Richie DiMaso, who pushes them into a world of Jersey powerbrokers and mafia.
The movie is based on actual FBI sting operations of the late 1970s and early 1980s. It does a great job capturing the feel of those years, but slows to a crawl several times. Cutting the film’s 138-minute running time by a half-hour or so would have made the movie tighter and better.
There are some great performances in this movie, most notably Amy Adams, Christian Bale, Jeremy Renner, Louis C.K. and, to my great delight and surprise, Elisabeth Röhm. I have not been kind to Rohm in other reviews, but she completely loses herself in her portrayal of a New Jersey mayor’s wife.
American Hustle was nominated for a bunch of Oscars, but didn’t win any. It did win three Golden Globe awards, including Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical, and various other awards. I wouldn’t agree that it’s the best movie of any year, but it’s worth watching once. Just make sure you have plenty of popcorn.
******************************
Delivery Man (2013) was the most expensive movie I’ve watched this year. I saw it in a Los Angeles hotel room during the one horrible night I had on that January vacation. I paid way too much to watch this movie, but I’m not going to let that influence this review of the film. I’m nice some of the time.
From IMDB:
An affable underachiever finds out he's fathered 533 children through anonymous donations to a fertility clinic 20 years ago. Now he must decide whether or not to come forward when 142 of them file a lawsuit to reveal his identity.
Vince Vaughn (the affable underachiever) is very hit or miss with me. When he’s good, I like him a lot. When he’s not, my skin crawls a little. He’s good in Delivery Man. He’s not the only one. This is a movie whose cast makes you like them and thus excuse any little failings in their performances.
I enjoyed Delivery Man. I would have enjoyed it more had I not paid so much to see it, but I enjoyed. It has humor, it has challenges, it has some tear-in-the-corner-of-your-eye stuff and, ultimately, it has a great deal of heart. I like heart and I liked this movie enough that I would watch it again.
Come back tomorrow for more movie reviews.
© 2014 Tony Isabella
No comments:
Post a Comment