Join me as I enter the Axis of Evil.
When news broke that Charles Band was continuing the Puppet Master films, I was excited. Again, I enjoy this franchise a lot. 4 and 5 are very much my nostalgia watches for sure. I even subscribed to Full Moon's streaming service last year for the Blu ray set.
By that point, I had seen Demonic Toys 2 - another recent Full Moon release. And I won't lie, it was extremely rough. I had my expectations very very low for Axis of Evil.
During the Second World War, a young man, with the help of some animated puppets, must stop the Nazis who attacked his family and kidnapped his girlfriend.
This is all of the story for Axis of Evil. It really doesnt seem like there's much to it. And honestly, there's not. But it does do a decent job with what it wants to do.
The film opens with Toulon and his murder from the original '89 film. This feels a little like a small rehash for the sake of needing more footage at first. However, the director David DeCoteau is able to then weave in the new story at the end of it. Axis of Evil was written by Charles Band and August White.
Now, DeCoteau is familiar with this franchise already. He was the director responsible for giving us Puppet Master III: Toulon's Revenge. So it makes sense that Charles Band may have been trying to play up the nostalgic love for that film. It even feels further the case as this film and the two follow it also take place in the same time frame.
But the film feels like it's playing up also a storyline from a certain Marvel character. Let see if this sounds familiar. Man has his brother going to war and he wishes to join the fight, but he has to stay behind. However, he uncovers a plot and is able to join the fight with the help of some new friends. Now, just looking at that few sentences it reminds me of Captain America. But instead of super soldier serum, we have the Puppets.
I know Captain America hadn't arrived yet until 2011. But the comics have been around for a while. So it's clear that there was some inspiration for it. Now in an earlier installment, I discussed how the Puppets reflect the Master's intentions. If they are a bad person wishing others harm, the puppets are bad. If the person is of good nature, then the Puppets become a force for good. Here in this film, we have them being a force for good as Danny is a good man.
The secret plot that Danny uncovers revolves a Japanese woman working with the Nazi men that killed Toulon in the beginning. They are getting ready to bomb an American factory that will halt progress of production of ammunitions and weapons for the war effort. Danny tries to tell his girlfriend but she ignores it. It isn't till she is kidnapped that she believes. And Danny's mother and brother both are caught in the crossfire of this little war going on.
I won't say that this film is better than Puppet Master III. But I will say that this is better than some of the other entries in this franchise ( Puppet Master II, Curse of Puppet Master and The Legacy). The puppets are decent replicas. It is noticable that there is a difference to them when compared to a puppet from an earlier film. But overall, they do the job. We see Blade, Tunneler, Pinhead, Jester and Leech Woman from the earlier films. Now, I enjoyed seeing Leech Woman again as it has been some time since we have seen her. She's still super creepy and effective. We also have a new Puppet, Ninja. Ninja has been given the spirit of Danny's brother.
There is little to no gore in this film. It's a bit lighter compared to previous entries. And for what the film was made with, it does a decent job. And the ending of course doesnt wrap things up in a nice little bow. The acting is also decent.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5.
The other two in the Axis Trilogy will not be covered. I tried to get through the next two. And it's super rough. It didn't help that the characters that carry over from this film were recasted. That definitely hinders the next film. And then in Axis Termination, they are just scrapped to replace with Paranormal Investigators. Overall these three entries probably could be skipped entirely and wouldn't miss a thing.
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