Compared to other holiday reviews that I do annually whether it be doing horror films in October, Holiday (mostly Christmas) films in December, or reviewing a film or sequel from Spielberg's unofficial Monster trilogy on the 4th of July; my reviews for St.Paddy's Day have usually been on and off. I suppose that may have to do with there not being too many St.Paddy's related films as there are apparently more bad than there are good, which is part of the reason why I don't make it as consistent as my other holiday reviews. It could also be that I don't really celebrate the holiday as much as others do, which is why I often overlook writing reviews for it. Where it all comes down regarding reviewing St.Paddy's Day movies is I only review them if I have the time and the interest, and this year I most certainly do. This St.Paddy's Day I'm going to take a look at...
As I reviewed the 2nd Leprechaun movie, as ridiculously stupid as it was I was surprised with how much it surpassed the original. It wasn't slow moving, the settings were more appealing, a few of the characters weren't as annoying as the ones from the original, the kills didn't feel lackluster, and Warwick Davis was given more screen-time without feeling the need to play up a silly concept for legit scares so that he can ham-up his performance as much as he wants. I was expecting the second film to get dumber, and in some respects, it was, given the logic and not trying to attempt to be scary, but it wasn't as absurd as the idea of having the Leprechaun go into outer space or da hood. This film however, would be the start of the Leprechaun going to unusual places by having it set in Las Vegas, as well as being the first direct-to-video film in the series which tones down the quality. But as odd as it may sound, is this film the right kind of fun stupid entertainment, or is it just stupid? ON WITH THE REVIEW!
A nervous old man missing a few limbs pawns off a statue of the infamous Leprechaun with an amulet around his neck (I'm not going to bother questioning the continuity of the connection between these films, considering that this film clearly establishes that it's non-exist in this series), for money to get out of Vegas, warning the shopkeeper (Marcelo Tubert) not to remove it. Of course, the shopkeeper doesn't listen, and the Leprechaun (Warwick Davis) is set free from his stoned prison taking back his pot of gold that the man just found. The Leprechaun accidentally leaves one of his gold coins behind and goes back to the shop to reclaim it. After killing the owner, the gold coin is founded by a soon to be college student named Scott (John Gatis), who discovers that the coin can grant a wish (contradicting the film's own logic that only a Leprechaun has the power to grant wishes if you take his gold). Vowing to get it back, the Leprechaun roams through Las Vegas to find the coin killing anyone who stands in his way.
Setting the film in Las Vegas may sound as absurd as the set-ups to the later movies, but when you really think about it, it's the best place for him to be. Vegas is an atmosphere as flashy and vicious as he is, that's all based on luck and greed, and is filled to the brim with money, drinks, and sexy woman. It's a much better place for him than Ireland because he can blend into the surreal atmosphere without anyone raising an eyebrow, take all the money he wants with his powers, get away with murder, and can drink himself to eternity. In less than a month, he could own this city. Exactly how the previous film captured the spirit of St.Paddy's Day, this film nicely showcases the sinful party atmosphere of Vegas. It's clearly not on the same level of visual awe as say "Casino", but as far as low-budget horror films go, it doesn't do bad of a job. The only downside is the film is restrained from a large number of possibilities for him to explore. Can you imagine seeing him kill the pirates during the stunt show at "Treasure Island" only to discover that the gold in the chest is fake; have a magical showdown on the towers of "Excalibur" and accidentally destroying the Merlin statue as audiences think it's a show; or people at "Circus Circus" mistaking him for a performer as he searches for his gold? It would be awesome. However given the budget and being filmed in only 14 days as cool as it would be, the chances of it going all out is not going to happen. And for what we have, there's still enough activities that we see the Leprechaun do, such as gambling, participating in a magic show, going against gangsters, and encountering an Elvis impersonator.
Warwick Davis has always been a riot to watch in the previous films no matter how bad they were, and how ridiculously not scary he was despite how hideous he appears underneath that awesome make-up. And I have to say, as much as the second film was an improvement to the first for letting him not take his role so seriously, this is the film where he's by far at his funniest, and I mean that in a good way! He looks like he's having the time of his life of shooting scenes in Vegas that involve him killing people and interacting in the city as he says some of the most vulgar rhymes with such glee, and occasionally wearing different outfits that get sillier every time he alters his appearance. He has so many priceless lines, and numerous scenes for him to play around with that he never runs out of steam. There are plenty of stupid laughable scenes like when he counter tricks a magician, walks inside the hospital oddly unnoticed in a nurse outfit, and turns a mobster into a human slot-machine. But for me, the best bit is when he interacts with an Elvis impersonator. You would expect him to use his magic to kill him, or bite off a piece of his flesh, but instead they both comment on each other’s looks, that's followed by the Leprechaun impersonating his voice and posing with him, and the scene ends with him dancing like the King. The chemistry between them and watching Warwick Davis do a bit of Elvis is so priceless and yet so cool that it makes me wish that the film's finale ended with him taking over Vegas and doing a duet with the guy impersonating Elvis to celebrate his victory. Beyond that, it's the most likable that this character has ever been, where it appears (and strictly judging by the logic in this film) that if you stay away from his gold and don't anger him, you'd have the time of your life hanging out with him.
Even though Warwick Davis' performance lights-up the screen as much as Vegas does, there is one performance that to my surprise is closer to stealing the spotlight away from him than Sandy Baron as Uncle Morty in the last film, and that's John Gatis as the film's protagonist Scott. Now when I first saw him enter the film, I despised him for his annoying bland acting as this young socially awkward dweeb, making me wish that Cody from the second film was back to take his place. It didn't help that the character fell under the same stupidity as most of the characters from the other films did by asking what the creature attacking him is (Do people not know a Leprechaun when they see one), and calling the authorities by telling them the truth that they're obviously not going to believe. I knew he was going to survive, so I hoped that in the very least the Leprechaun would give him the same brutal treatment as he gave Ozzie in the first film, but he didn't...he did something better than maiming him or killing him. During a struggle, Scott gets bitten by the Leprechaun as some of his green-blood gets mixed with Scott's. This results with him going through a slow werewolf-like transformation, only instead of turning into a hairy beast, he turns into a taller version of the Leprechaun. I don't think I can count the many times I laughed at Gatis doing an impression of Warwick Davis. His phony Irish accent, and awkward over the top line delivery, as he's making such wild expressions through such terrible make-up had me laughing hysterically. Even when he acts serious when still resembling a sillier version of the Green Goblin from "The Amazing Spider-Man 2", the laughs only increase for how incredibly hard it is to take seriously from the way he appears. I take the Leprechaun more seriously than I ever will with Scott. Supporting the goofy nature of this subplot are the gags showing his changes that give a good chuckle or two for how awkward they play out, but the funniest scene is when he's taken to the hospital, that also contains impressive make-up when showing Scott's body, Gatis’ terrible acting of being in pain, and a good jab at US health care.
Seeing that Scott has turned into the Leprechaun's equal, it would seem appropriate for them to have some kind of magical show-down in the end. Well, that cool opportunity gets buried under the same dock that killed the super shredder in "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2". Thankfully that's made-up from the number of deaths that this film has. The second film offered kills that were uniquely goofy and cartoony when prior to it the only kill that was memorable was the Leprechaun hoping on a guy's stomach with a pogo stick. This film takes these comical deaths to a higher level of laughable insanity. We're watching this little green devil kill a man in front of a crowd people cheering for him thinking it’s a magic show; and using a similar trick of killing a victim with the power of seduction by creating sexual fantasies in a way that's more weird and extreme than he did with turning a pair of spinning blades into boobs in the second installment. I totally fell apart and almost died with such disbelief when he inflates a beautiful woman's body to the point where she looks like a duck before exploding. These are some of the craziest deaths that these films have to offer, and having Warwick Davis interacting with his victims is half of what makes them so hysterical. Does every death in the film work; I wish I could say yes. There are indeed plenty of ones as anti-climactic as the film's climax. One particularly involves the Leprechaun hitting two guys with his little cane, that isn't brutal or all that funny. The biggest issues the film has with these scenes are how some of them keep cutting away to an entirely different scene taking place in the movie. For example, when the Leprechaun encounters his first victim of the movie, right when things are getting intense, we suddenly cut back to Scott interacting in Vegas, to returning back to the struggle, to once again going back to Scott. Because the tension always comes to a halt whenever it gets exciting, it becomes extremely difficult to be invested for how random the cutaways are, and how these two separate scenes don't flow together due to their difference in tone. Scott’s scenes are relevant to the story, but the editing for it makes his scene as annoying as commercials for how they abruptly appear during an engaging part of the movie that ruins the ride.
The deaths may be hit and miss (though in this film's case, there are definitely more hits in that aspect when compared to the other two), but at least all of them (with the exception of one) are happening to characters that we were able to spend enough time with to form a connection, as opposed to half of them involving a random person simply being at the wrong place at the wrong time. And truthfully, as badly acted and over the top cliched as these characters are I found them to be more entertaining and tolerable than the cast to any of the previous films. Michael Callan is enjoyable as the flashy big-shot Casino owner who's not nearly as tough and cool as he thinks he is; Marcelo Tubert's laughable hokey performance as the cynical and greedy shopkeeper shares better chemistry with Davis as a rival than Scott does for how cruelly desperate he seems to want the gold; and the two hoods who extort the casino for money are so ridiculously non-threatening for how one is a strong idiotic jock-bully that feels like he's a wanna-be mobster, as the other one resembles a water-down Hans Gruber without the class, intimidation, and accent, that they're amusing to watch if not funny. The real enjoyment from a duo of criminals in this film goes to Caroline Williams as a woman working at the roulette table wising to be young and beautiful named Loretta (even though she looks striking for her age), and John DeMita as the lousy magician Fazio, for how out of place they seem. Much like how Alex and Ozzie felt like that they belonged in a whimsically corny made for TV family film, these two seem more appropriate as main antagonists for a quirky screwball comedy for kids, given their motivation to steal something to make them rich as they work off each other in such a cheesy comical fashion. They would blend in well if they were used as the villains for films like "The Chipmunk Adventure" or "Casper". The only character who comes close to being as bad as most the previous characters were before this film is Scott's love interest Tammy (Lee Armstrong), who's a bland character with little to do (the other girls at least did or tried hard to do something when going up against the Leprechaun), as Armstrong gives a performance just as riveting. But when compared to the constantly annoying performances from Jennifer Aniston and Shevonne Durkin, she's at least tolerable, so she’s a slight improvement if not a major one.
Going into this movie, I thought I was just going to get a serviceable entertaining performance out of Warwick Davis, gain a few small laughs, and maybe witness one death scene that would stand-out. What I got instead was a Leprechaun film that was so outrageous than any of the films that came before it, that I found myself laughing hard and happily entertained by it! Warwick Davis is at his funniest; John Gatis (for the wrong reasons) becomes just as much as riot as Davis is when he starts to slowly turn into a Leprechaun; the cast of supporting characters are more entertaining and (at their worst) tolerable when compared to the cast of characters in the previous two films; the Vegas setting is oddly a perfect match for our little green protagonist; and half of the deaths are memorable for how extremely cartoony and unusual they are. It's still as incredibly dumb as the other Leprechaun movies were, but as far as these dumb films go, this is the most enjoyable for how hilarious it is. Being scared by this film is almost impossible (the only people who will find this scary are little kids or people who just don't like horror in general), but if you're just looking to have a fun time by watching a crazy Leprechaun kill people in an environment as strange as the monster and his methods for killing people are, then you're going to have a complete blast!
HAPPY ST. PADDY'S DAY EVERYONE!!!!
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