Rate The Last Movie You Saw

Leprechaun in the Hood
(Rob Spera, 2000)


Given the Lep's affinity for rhymes, it was only a matter of time until he found himself embroiled in the rap game. His venture into the hood starts promisingly with a one-on-one battle against Ice-T, who sports disco-era bell-bottoms, platform shoes and a Foxy Brown-style afro, from which Ice-T first retrieves a switchblade, then a full-on baseball bat in the film's biggest laugh. Unfortunately, the movie peaks with that opening scene. Instead of Leprechaun: Blaxploitation Edition, the hypothetical version I'd hoped to watch, we get what feels like the nineteenth sequel to Friday, a lazy comedy about three aspiring rappers and their misadventures with a magical flute. As some rapper probably once said, "Dis sh*t whack!"

The leprechaun's skin is a noticeably darker hue than in previous installments. He's also surprisingly horny, as he keeps a brothel of "zombie hoes" and slips beneath the sheets with a trans woman. (I'm still unsure if the woman's come-on about the leprechaun being "just the right size" is meant to imply that she's into little people or little children.) Leprechaun in the Hood abounds in stereotypes associated with its setting. This means our Satanic imp develops a taste for the Devil's lettuce. ("A friend with weed is a friend indeed!") In a rare moment of cleverness for this horrible script, four-leaf clovers (the leprechaun's original weakness, which hasn't been referenced again in any of the sequels) is rolled into a blunt.

Warwick Davis, sporting bling and quoting Martin Luther King, seems comfortable prowling this new urban environment, but either his screen time is the shortest yet or I felt his absences more than any previous entry. Ice-T, who carries himself like a seasoned thespian compared to the rest of the cast, also takes a backseat to our insufferable trio of protagonists. Pacing is non-existent. Attempts at humor are mostly cringeworthy and insulting. Cross-dressing has suddenly turned into a recurring theme. The kills mostly consist of people being choked or shot instead of magically disposed. Hopefully the Lep's trip Back 2 tha Hood is a step up from this piece of sh*t, as this is the first entry in the franchise that I haven’t enjoyed to at least some extent.

Best Kill: Afro Pick to the Neck

Long Time Coming: A 1955 Baseball Story (Jon Strong, 2019) 6.5/10
Same Kind of Different as Me (Michael Carney, 2017) 6/10
Level 16 (Danishka Esterhazy, 2018) - 5/10
Line of Duty (Steven C. Miller, 2019) 6/10

Preposterous, yes. Boring, no.
Our Time (Peter Hyams, 1974) 7/10
Sid & Judy (Stephen Kijak, 2019) 6.5/10
Everybody's Everything (Sebastian Jones & Ramez Silyan, 2019) 6/10
Jurassic Galaxy (James Kondelik & Jon Kondelik, 2019) + 3.5/10

Preposterous, yes. Boring, yes.
Operation Odessa (Tiller Russell, 2018) + 6.5/10
Hungry Soul, Part II (Yûzô Kawashima, 1956) 6/10
Women of Troy (Alison Ellwood, 2020) 6.5/10
The Snowdrop Festival AKA Slavnosti snezenek (Jirí Menzel, 1984) 6/10

In a small village booze will give you sleep whether you're supposed to be working or not.
Elephant Kingdom (Taweelap Srivuthivong & Melanie Simka, 2016) 5/10
Our Daily Bread AKA Uski Roti (Mani Kaul, 1970) 5.5/10
The Darkness (Greg McLean, 2016) 5/10
The Third Part of the Night (Andrzej Zulawski, 1971) 7/10

A full-fledged nightmare a la Kafka or the Book of Revelation.
Child of Divorce (Richard O. Fleischer, 1946) 5.5/10
Spymate (Robert Vince, 2003) 5/10
'C'-Man (Joseph Lerner, 1949) 5.5/10
The Secret Life of Words (Isabel Coixet, 2005) + 6.5/10

Intensity in quiet by two extremely damaged people (Sarah Polley and Tim Robbins).

Midway (2019)

A good movie about the events leading from pearl harbour up to the battle of midway, I give it credit just for covering so much ground.. exceptional cast including the Japanese actors and Ed Skrein in his breakout role (Hollywood sure do love us Brits). Visually there is too much of what I can only describe as a glossy sheen to the whole thing which was to be expected and I was able to get past for the most part. none of the flying looked as real as Tom Hardy flying the spitfire in Dunkirk but that was one plane, it was minimal for a reason, this movies does not do minimal, it is what it is, I thought it wasn't half bad for a Roland Emmerich WWII movie.

+

Leprechaun: Back 2 tha Hood
(Steven Ayromlooi, 2003)


You could chop Warwick Davis off at the knees and he still wouldn't be short enough to limbo underneath the standards of quality set by this series; so when I say that Back 2 tha Hood might be the best Leprechaun, I only mean that it's surprisingly competent. The story --- a group of friends incur the leprechaun's wrath after taking his precious gold -- is the template of every Leprechaun movie, but the lack of ludicrous embellishments and side-plots makes this version feel shockingly simple compared to previous entries. The urban setting feels more authentic than our last stay in the hood, and is mostly absent of racist undertones. Characters are thinly written, the performances adequate at best, but the chemistry between the core group feels genuine, and their lack of obnoxiousness is a welcome respite.

Warwick Davis has expressed interest in reprising the role once his children reach adulthood, but if this remains his swan song as the iconic villain, he leaves a strong last impression, demonstrating comedic chops and intimidating malice like a small, green Freddy Krueger. In fact, the tonal balance between humor and horror is the smoothest in the series. The characters are picked off one-by-one, slasher-style, but I liked that each character gets an opportunity to fight back. Most of the kills are hilariously over-the-top, such as a cop having his leg easily ripped off before futilely hopping on his remaining leg until he bleeds out and falls over. Obligatory height jokes are hit and miss, but there's several amusing visual gags and WTF tangents. And once again our leprechaun gets high and suffers from the munchies. ("This isn't gonna stunt your growth, is it?")

Like every movie in the franchise, Back 2 tha Hood indulges in silliness (e.g., a magic duel between the leprechaun and a witch), but it doesn't feel as childish as earlier entries. Part of that may be the noticeable absence of rhymes, which for me has always been the character's most annoying trait. Warwick Davis's wardrobe has undergone subtle changes, giving him a classier, aristocratic appearance that suits the random prologue explaining his origins. The fresh duds plus the excision of limericks result in a more sinister, bad-ass portrayal of the miniature menace than any previous Leprechaun can boast. Back 2 tha Hood doesn't quite match the entertainment factor of the Lep's visit to Vegas, but it's a surprisingly decent comedy-horror, especially in comparison to the dreck that preceded it.

Best Kill: Bong Impalement

Rambo: Last Blood 2019 Directed by Adrian Grunberg



FINISH HIM!

KANO WINS

FATALITY

Lesser sequels make First Blood better every time.