Worth: $15.00
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Jason Trost, Tallay Wickham, Lib Campbell, Mike O’Gorman, Bru Muller, Art Hsu
Intro:
… those who have been following JTRO’s journey thus far, are going to hoover this up and ask for seconds. And even if you’re a newcomer to Trost’s work, there is still a lot to be enjoyed from this lively and insane movie.
Those looking for something to scratch that genre itch since Canadian filmmakers Astron 6 (The Editor, Manborg) closed up shop, may be interested in moving their eyeballs in the direction of Jason Trost.
Trost has been firing out genre bending, low budget movies for over ten years, including the likes of All Superheroes Must Die, a film which was a head-on collision between Avengers: Endgame and the Saw franchise.
In the same year as Superheroes, Trost released The FP, a satirical parody of films such as Mad Max, and the Italian knock-offs that followed, such as Bronx Warriors and Warriors of the Wasteland.
In The FP, Trost played JTRO, a redneck fighter who goes toe to toe with rival gangs via the unconventional means of a knock-off Dance Dance Revolution machine. As an audience member, you’re either going to go along with all this or be left by the wayside. And it’s fair to say, that people have certainly been willing to go along with what Trost has to offer as the film has blossomed into a franchise with FP 4EVZ marking the latest entry.
Things have certainly moved on since the first, with JTRO trying to settle down with his partner Chai-T (Tallay Wickham, who also produces) and daughter Chai-Tro (Lib Campbell). However, fate has other plans, with JTRO and his family having to go up against a post-post-apocalyptic disaster which could see their community wiped out by the ‘wet shit’ aka a massive flood. Not only that, but if our heroes can’t stop that, then everyone will end up becoming literally stone cold sober. To add a bit more spice to the mix, we have time travel, mutant pine trees and people considered to be ‘duck born’ (you know, body of a human, but the soul and blood of a duck. That sort of thing).
For a film made on such a tight budget, Trost clearly doesn’t let that stand in the way of his expansive – and maybe a little terrifying – imagination. From minute one, he conjures up a world that feels genuinely lived; from armour made of Nintendo power gloves to the unique language of his characters that settles somewhere between valley girl speak and Nadsat.
Even when characters like WMD – a duck billed Darth Vader with an outrageous Australian accent – enter the narrative, Trost and co. never venture outside of playing it all incredibly straight, allowing the overall absurdity of the film to be its main source of humour. Hell, there’s even a warning at the beginning that you must be three drinks down before attempting to watch, so don’t think Trost isn’t fully aware of what he’s created.
For sure, with its abundance of visual loudness and light flare that would put JJ Abrams to shame, FP 4EVZ is not going to be for everyone. At times it can feel like you’ve been mainlining red bull and strawberry frogs. However, those who have been following JTRO’s journey thus far, are going to hoover this up and ask for seconds. And even if you’re a newcomer to Trost’s work, there is still a lot to be enjoyed from this lively and insane movie.
