Review: Chuck Steel: Night of the Trampires

 

 

Overview:

Chuck Steel is as hard as they come. The top enforcer on the police force, he doesn’t play well with others, and he’s ready to punch anyone in the face that gets in his way. Ever since he lost his wife to his archnemesis, he has been even more dangerous as he has nothing left to lose.

However, Chuck Steel’s next case may be his most formidable challenge yet. A mythological virus has begun spreading around the vagrants of the city. The tramps and drunks are turning into hideous blood-sucking monsters and taking over quickly.  

If Chuck Steel cannot find the master Trampire and destroy them, everything may be lost. Unfortunately, this case may hit him much closer to home than he could prepare for.

 

Our Take:

If anything can be said about Chuck Steel, it should be regarding the impressive animation. Stop-motion has come leaps and bounds over the last couple of decades. This film has the set pieces and smoothness to trick the eye into believing its reality. 

A singular action sequence in this feature must have been a long, excruciating, meticulous labour. It pays off with a visually striking identity somewhere between Wallace and Gromit and Robot Chicken.

Not one punch was held back in the development of this movie. The opening scene alone features ninjas, motorcycles, and a helicopter. But the magic is in the details, as not one moment of the 90-minute feature was overlooked. The scenery is constantly loaded with realistic set pieces, and the motion of the characters is unstoppably fluid.

The story gives the animation every chance to shine.  Chuck Steel is a love letter to every memorable action film ever made. The satire offers an effectively cliché story but with strong integration of the obscenely wild. The best example that can be given is when a stealth stake-out gets blown when an old man gets humped by a hog.  

Our hero is as badass as they come making Schwarzenegger, Van Damme, and Stallone look like delicate babies. Chuck Steel can do it all physically, wild avoiding any tinge of anything possibly emotional. He is an all-American misogynist. Honestly, any of the aforementioned action stars would be a legend for taking on a role such as this. In every interaction, Chuck literally punches his boss in the face, or the balls, while never failing to give every character the old middle finger.

Most excitingly, the movie never stops getting more immense. The cop drama slash horror film grows into an all-out giant monster fight. Chuck, himself, goes on his own emotional journey from brave widow to humiliatingly dumped. Meanwhile, he goes through no less than three partners on the job within the film’s timeframe.

This movie is amazing. 

Honestly, when pressing the play button, there was noticeable uncertainty about the execution of this film. There was a significant chance that Chuck Steel: Night of the Trampires could be overly corny and one-note. Thankfully, the feature blends enough originality and enthusiasm into this genre-specific satire to make it naturally entertaining. Chuck Steel understood the assignment and went above and beyond in its delivery.