Levi Fiehler:  Danny Coogan
Jenna Gallaher:  Beth
Taylor M. Graham:  Don Coogan
Erica Shaffer:  Elma Coogan
Tom Sandoval:  Ben / Max
Arron Riber:  Claus

Release Date: July 27, 2010
Studio: Full Moon Features
Genre: Horror 
Rated: R     1 hr 39 mins

CAST:

Puppet Master: Axis of Evil

October 19, 2010

Reviewer: Rottenbucher

DIRECTOR:

David DeCoteau

*Comments:

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The 9^th official Puppet Master film gets us back to the beginning once again. Puppet Master: Axis of Evil picks up right after the puppet’s creator Toulon’s suicide, following the Nazi goons sent to steal his crate of wooden creatures.

In 1939, Danny Coogan is making ornate wooden chairs in the basement of the Bodega Bay Inn.  Since he cannot enlist in WWII due to a crippled leg, his uncle tries to lift his spirits by telling him he should work for the legendary puppeteer Andre Toulon.  When Danny goes up stairs to approach Toulon, he finds him dead and two Nazi’s fleeing the scene.  Danny sticks around only to find the trunk of puppets hidden in a wall.  He takes the trunk and returns home.  There he finds his brother ready to ship off to fight the Nazis and Japanese and his girlfriend cozy with one of the Nazis. Snooping around Danny discovers a joint plot between the two Nazis and some Japanese actors to blow up a manufacturing plant.  Danny enlists Toulon’s puppets to help squash the plot and do his part for the Allies.

Puppet Master: Axis of Evil is the best looking film in the series. Matching up the original film’s opening sequence to this film is an impressive feat and is seamed together nicely. The classic puppets from the original film are also featured as well as a new puppet, Ninja. There is no CGI so watching Blade, Jester, Pinhead, Tunneler, Leech Woman and now Ninja crawl around is very nostalgic and the main reason to see the film.  But there are a lot of issues that really grind down a film that could have been pretty dumb fun.

The first issue is the film takes place in 1939. Obviously this date was chosen to have events from Puppet Master jump directly into Puppet Master: Axis of Evil.  However, all of the talk of getting shipped off to fight the Nazis and Japanese does not merge flawlessly with history.  Danny’s brother, Don, informs us that he is off to either join the Pacific front or invade Normandy.  Why Puppet Master: Axis of Evil is several years early in its accounts of WWII is unknown, making it  confusing and immediately taking the viewer out of the film.  WWII was occurring in 1939 and Puppet Master: Axis of Evil should have taken the Indiana Jones route with the Nazi’s instead of dropping a retcon bomb on actual history.

The second issue is the acting is so wooden that it may actually make the characters and dialog delivery of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace seem fluid.  The acting actually isn’t awful, but how the characters move and interact with each other is painfully slow. Sometimes there are actually 5-second pauses between conversations. The third issue is the pace of the film.  Like the acting, the film’s pace is clunkier than C3PO on ice. The fourth and final flaw is way too little screen time with the puppets.  We want to see Blade slice (denied), Pinhead crush (kind of), Tunneler drill out some brains (he does!), Leech Woman cough up a good glob (yes!) and Ninja at least drop a smoke ball (no luck, but he does toss a few stars into eyeballs).

Without the flaws, Puppet Master: Axis of Evil would have been a lot more enjoyable. There still are some charming moments when the puppets get down to their usual murderous mischief and evil Nazis and Geisha Girls are always excellent, but unfortunately there is just too little of the good stuff and way too much of a pedestrian pace.  The film is set for a sequel and hopefully the folks at Full Moon kick it up several notches. If viewing Puppet Master: Axis of Evil, just skip to the puppet’s screen time.