Teen Ape (Casey Bowker) is promised a pardon if he can save “The President of Show Business” (also Bowker, who kind of looks like Obama). It seems the Douche of Bonejack Heights (Billy Garberina) is holding the President hostage for one million pesos and is coercing him into making a movie about his exploits. It’s then up to Teen Ape and his team of mercenaries to sneak into Bonejack Heights and rescue the President.
Of all the Teen Ape films from writer/director Chris Seaver, this might be the best one I’ve seen. Some of Seaver’s typical offensive humor seems to have been toned down a bit in this one. In fact, it almost feels like he was out to make a “real” movie this time. As a result, the jokes are funnier than your average Teen Ape flick, although your mileage may vary, of course. (Who knows? For some viewers this might be their least favorite since it is one of Seaver’s least gratuitous outings.) If anything, it’s proof that he is capable of making a good (well, “good” may be a little bit of a stretch… “entertaining” is more accurate) film when he’s firing on all cylinders. Seaver also does a surprisingly good job on all the action sequences, given the obvious budgetary restrictions. His staging of the various shootouts and fight scenes put many homegrown shot-on-video productions to shame.
No matter what you might think of Seaver’s brand of juvenile humor, you’ve got to admire any movie that can rip-off To Catch a Predator and Escape from New York all before the opening credits. There are also references of everything from Meatballs 4 to Ski School (which I coincidentally just reviewed) to Total Recall to Terminator 3 to The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Sure, it has trouble sustaining its comic momentum in a consistent manner throughout the entire running time, but when Wet Heat hits the sweet spot between exploitation parody and trashy shot-on-video fun, it’s a damned good time.
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