Is Postal just another Uwe Boll slip-and-fall disaster piece, or is it actually something of an improvement over his usual fare? Actually, it's an odd combination of the two.
Meet the Postal Dude (Zach Ward), an unfortunate, average man who lives in a trailer with his once beautiful wife who's now absurdly obese. In desperate need of money, the Postal Dude seeks help from his hippie cult leader, Uncle Dave (Dave Foley). Together they plan to hold up an amusement park. Unfortunately, the Taliban are planning to do the same and the result is mayhem.
The film is a satire of both Uwe Boll's usual movies and terrorism. To my surprise, while it doesn't qualify as the most reliable sort of entertainment, it actually doesn't stink entirely. Moments like the beginning and closing sequences are worthy of at least a grin, which is a huge compliment and one that Uwe Boll can savor during his time spent earning Razzie Awards as a director.
Keep in mind, Postal is offensive and mean-spirited (due to the lack of compassion towards what it is spoofing). But this is also a comedy that doesn't take much seriously, what with its religious, racist, and disorderly jokes (most of the put-downs are forgiven in the end).
In many ways, this is one of Uwe Boll's most successful films. It has a few well-shot scenes, cheesy but memorable one-liners, the Osama Bin Laden character doing an American accent, and George W. Bush sharing a sense of kinship with the Taliban. There are even a few scattered chuckles in its tired 100 minute running time.
I don't want to over-praise the film, though some might already think I have; to be clear though, it isn't by any means a good movie. Most of the characters are annoying and every joke that hits is followed by nearly a dozen that miss. However, it just never met my expectation of being a complete disaster and is, more importantly, a spoof on Uwe Boll himself. Most of the time it doesn't work, but given the fact that it actually does work a few times it becomes an improvement over Uwe Boll's previous outings.
Article comments
1 - Derek Fleek
The release date is set for August 26th.
2 - Jordan Richardson
Uwe Boll makes another video game movie. Woopty doo.
3 - Derek Fleek
Jordan,
Thanks for the comment. Woopty doo is right. Not too many people are excited about this one (and they shouldn't be). But improvement it is, and even that compliment isn't saying much. Thanks for reading.
4 - Jen
If there is such a thing, Derek, I nominate you as The Bravest Blogcritic of the Day for volunteering to review a film by Uwe Boll, since to misquote a joke from Wayne's World, I think they're considering making watching his movies punishment for shoplifting in some countries! Hmm, it's sort of ironic that that line was delivered by Love Guru's very own Mike Myers... come to think of it.
But I digress-- well written and totally entertaining take on Uwe Boll (dude, did I just write "entertaining" and "Uwe Boll" in same sentence?). :)