Hey folks, Valkor here. It's the end of 2009 and it's been a great year for TOV; with a new look, great crew, some great reviews, and all the events we attended this year, we're definitely ending the year on a positive. Thanks to all who have supported what we're doing here and expect even more in 2010. This next review stars "snootch to the Muthafuckin nootch" Jason Mewes (There's just no other way to intro this guy)... and I'm not pleased. Love the actor, but the film "Shoot the Hero"… leaves a lot to be desired.
Shoot the Hero starts out with Nate and Kate; Nate (Mewes) is a comic book, video game geek (glasses and all), who is so much in love with Kate that he'll do anything to please her. While Kate (Samantha Lockwood)… well Kate is just a bitch, who's not happy in the relationship she's in. Nate takes Kate to a jewelry story, though closed, the proprietor Douglas (Taylor Negron) reluctantly let's them in. Soon after, some thugs bust in and hold the place up. But then the thugs start fighting amongst themselves; as it turns out, it wasn't just a heist, it was also a whack job to take out Frankie (Paul Sloan). Nate and Kate try to break out but are stopped by Grant (Nicholas Turturro). Nate isn't takin it anymore so he beats up Grant, he and Kate fall in love all over again, and they take off with a duffel bag full of loot.
Enter the Smith Brothers (Nic Nac and Mike Hatton); their car suddenly runs out of gas and the two end up in the middle of a mercenary training camp who are led by The General (Fred Williamson). They get away and meet up with, guess who? Nate and Kate.
Finally there's Crazy Joe (Danny Trejo). He's the leader of the thugs who broke in the jewelry place, and have hired some cleaners to finish the job they started and also to get the black duffel bag back.
Can you take a guess who "the cleaners" are? If you can figure that out then you know which way this film is going. On with the review.
The Good:
As a whole, the film definitely ranks in the negatives but there's a couple of things I enjoyed about Shoot the Hero. First the Smith Brothers; the dudes have jokes and don't take any situation seriously. Honestly, if ever the producers decide to tread in this film's waters, they should consider a flick starring Nic Nac and Mike Hatton, tossing in Paul Logan. Finally the main theme song "Shoot the Hero which was performed by.... wait for it... wait for it... Nic Nac, Christian Sesma (The Director and Writer of the film) and Athony Tuggle. It's pretty bad ass no matter which way you look at it.
The Bad:
First the film is called "Shoot the Hero", but who's the hero? Mewes? Nope. The Cleaner brothers? Not even. Kate? Yea, right! I thought Mewes was going to be a bad ass, avoiding and taking out bad guys after finally finding his balls and getting back his lady. Nope, we skip right on to the Smith brothers, who do nothing but argue and tell corny jokes. And that's another negative, the dialogue is absolutely atrocious! There were points in the film I wanted to shut it off; they talk over one another, or the timing in the dialogue is just off – especially when the Smith Brothers enter. There's also a scene in the beginning that makes the film a joke: Franky has a bunch of guns pointed at him, and they're pretty close, yet somehow the thugs MISS. How the… what the… is that even possible?? One more? Ok. The Smith brothers; the guys can totally handle a gun, and can whip em out in a moment's notice, but when faced against a bunch of mercs, they run. Man that would have been funny watchin them maybe get in some "practice". And not to totally shit on this film, but the end battle between… well everyone, was a complete mess and what a copout ending.
The Ugly
I don't wanna talk about this film anymore… I really don't. But is it a comedy or is it an action pic? Because It's neither funny nor action packed!
If I were doing a "worst of" this year, I'd definitely place "Shoot the Hero" in the top ten. It's just a mess of a film with a few saving graces (the Smith Brothers). And I really wanted to like it too, but to me, it just falls flat. Out of TOV 5 stars, I give the film 2 for trying and also putting together a decent cast.
