As DIFF rolls on, there are some light entertainments coming to DVD this week to fill the gaps. Check out these three films:
The Slammin’ Salmon is the latest from comedy team Broken Lizard (Super Troopers), detailing the shenanigans at a Miami restaurant run by a former heavyweight boxing champ (Michael Clarke Duncan). Indebted to the mob, he sets up a contest to see which of his waiters can bring in the most money in one night. Hilarity ensues.
Far more consistently funny than Beerfest or Club Dread, the Lizard team are in fine form in Salmon. But it may be April Bowlby as wide-eyed and sexy waitress Mia, who steals the show as she tries to work through severe third-degree burns from a misplaced bowl of soup. As I read back over that it doesn’t sound half as funny as it actually is, so just trust me. The film is great fun.
Pirate Radio misses all its opportunities to have any character development beyond clothing and hairstyles, and it crams in so many cheeky scenarios that you never get the feeling there was ever anything more than a premise involved. It does have a very winning cast, and LOADS of great music that it rushes through as if with a gun to its head. Just enjoyable enough to be a nice diversion, Pirate Radio could have been a far better film if it had just focused its scattershot attentions into a singular narrative and taken the time to tell a story.
Ninja Assassin, James McTeigue’s follow-up to V for Vendetta, is a glossy, straightforward action flick that supplies non-stop (if occasionally murky), gruesome fight scenes and a fun story about a man (Korean pop sensation Rain) seeking revenge against the ninja clan that raised and trained him, and the spunky, gorgeous Europol investigator (Naomie Harris) who is out to expose the centuries-old clan.
This is a flat-out fun piece of work, one that trades polish for depth, but it doesn’t really matter. Fast-paced and thrilling, Ninja Assassin is a piece of hardcore/popcorn action that does exactly what you want it to and nothing more. And there’s nothing wrong with that.
Dallas Film Now. 