Streaming on Apple TV and Amazon Prime
Mild Spoiler Alert
The most notable cameo in Heavier Trip is that this film also marks Babymetal’s debut on the cinematic stage! And it’s not about seeing them sing, but also having speaking lines. I avoided looking at trailers, and to find them in this sequel to Heavy Trip is a pleasant surprise.
Fans all over the world, from Finland to Japan, love heavy metal, and those who haven’t explored its many subgenres should. But for the Death Metal group Impaled Rektum, their story continues from where the last movie left off. Turo (Johannes Holopainen), Jynkky (Antti Tuomas Heikkinen), Pasi (Max Ovaska), and Lotvonen (Samuli Jaskio), while in prison, pass the time by providing more entertainment than The Blues Brothers did during their incarceration.
Their antics have earned them high recognition, and to find anything recorded by them is tough. Much of their work was “purged,” and when Kristian learns the family slaughterhouse is facing foreclosure, there’s little he can do. Turo has an idea and plots to escape and how they succeeded (including how Xytrax got back into his stage makeup and costume when this happens) has to be seen to be believed!
Dokken (Helén Vikstvedt) seems to have a grudge with this band of merry men, and when she offers to chase after them, what happens next feels like it’s out of a Pink Panther movie. This enforcement officer will stop at nothing, and while she’s not the same as the bumbling Clouseau, that je ne sais quoi quality exists. I was half expecting her to change, like in Blues Brothers 2K, and won’t say where she ends up either.
Eventually, the band meets Mr. Fisto (Anatole Taubman), a record producer, who offers fortune and fame to the group, and later on chooses one since his talent stands out. Despite the use of this trope in other films about aspiring musicians meeting the devil, I knew what this guy was up to from the start! And the opportunity given to him to perform on Europe’s biggest stage, Wacken!
And like all other films, they make up in the end and I hope these knuckleheads get another film to show where they are after getting a pardon. They’re simply good ol’ boys who love to rock, and like the first film (movie review link), they’re just wanting to show their appreciation in what kept them going in their adult years.
Throughout Heavier Trip, directors Juuso Laatio and Jukka Vidgren show how they understand this culture. This film isn’t about the music; it’s also about how the brotherhood exists between fellow metal heads, and not even the devil can tear that passion away. And when a past client shows up and shows how he too can be like DC’s Black Canary! (again, you’ll have to see that moment, as it blew me away too).
4 Stars out of 5
Heavier Trip Movie Trailer (US Trailer)
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