directed by:
Bron Theron written by: Bron Theron genre: Horror, Thriller |
Now…I ain’t one to tell you that you should judge a book by its cover, but a title can still tell you a lot. On the positive side of things, I’ve always got time for a revenge-based story. I enjoy them more than I should probably admit to when it comes right down to it. In a case like this, I don’t even have a problem overlooking the fact that the entire premise of “Pancake Man” is to take the basic, rudimentary plotline from “Falling Down” but make it more bloody and brutal - and I’m here for it. With so many years in between those two films, you’d think the kid at the front counter of the restaurant Jerry (Michael Della Pia) ended up in would be a hell of a lot more cautious about denying somebody the breakfast they wanna eat, because “Falling Down” should be required watching for every human on earth, in my humble opinion.
After Jerry skips his meal in favour of doin’ some murderin’ via fork, we follow him back home to where he’ll unfortunately find he’s on the receiving end of the ol’ “John Wick” treatment – somebody has killed his dog. While you’re still only ten minutes into the film, based on everything you’ve witnessed so far, I think it’s fair to say that whoever was responsible is about to get a fist in the ass. Jerry doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who’s going to want to talk things out or negotiate some kind of restitution. He’s much more prone to resolving his issues with a whole lot of blood spatter, so if that dog-murderin ’ son of a bitch is still out on the city streets somewhere, rest assured, he’s going to get revenge for his furry friend one way or the other. We’re soon introduced to a whole cast of criminals and a whole bunch of chaos as “Pancake Man” kicks into gear. We’re introduced to the thievin’ ways of KG (Sarkis Bakalyan) & his accomplice Lani, aka The Viper (Katie Jewel Palacio), Danny T (Dustin Ehrlich), and more as the movie casts a wide net of characters to catch your interest. All of them seem genuinely interesting at the start, but none of them quite reach the heights of our intrigue like Jerry Lyons as he heads into his personal rampage. Della Pia has a very hard look to him that’s perfect for the role, and you know that no matter how savage this film has presented itself to be from the very beginning, it’s only going to get worse for a lot of these characters as it plays on. You’re probably safe if you’ve got four legs, but if you’re walking around on two and you’re in Jerry’s path, there’s a very good chance you’re in for a very, very bad day. Long story short, “Pancake Man” is pretty damn sure to get you interested and keep you entertained within mere minutes. It kind of has that like…frantic pace that “Operation: Endgame” had years ago, where you know that no character you’ll see onscreen is really safe and the action keeps coming at ya at such a furious rate you barely have a chance to catch your breath while the characters take their last. Do we need extremely intricate plotlines or original ideas for movies like these? Not really. If you’ve chosen to tune into “Pancake Man” and you kept watching beyond its opening scene, you know what you’re in for. Eventually you’ll make your way into the space where this movie will attempt to bridge the gap between Action and Comedy, mostly with boss bad guy Cyrus (Seth Hart) leading the charge in that regard. I don’t know that I’d go as far as to say that “Pancake Man” is going to have you laughing out loud when it goes for the jokes, but I’ll vouch for the fact that it can coax a few genuine chuckles out of you at the very least. There’s no doubt that the main focus of Writer/Director Bron Theron isn’t putting all of his eggs into the comedic basket – his priorities are mainly on the action sequences and trying to get the viewing audiences to squirm in their seats when he flattens a skull in a machine press or any of the other twisted ways he’s chosen to bring the characters he’s created to their final moments. What more did I want here in “Pancake Man?” There are a few scenes where you’ll find yourself wishing the fight choreography and violence were a little tighter than they are so that it seems more believable, but for the most part, it’s pretty well done. I do think that the Foley art needed a ton of help. You look at a guy like Jerry, who possesses such a massive temper and unrelenting rage - that having him throw hands without hearing anything less than a vicious thud is what we need as a viewing audience, but you’ll find even the most intense fighting moments sound like they’re not hitting much harder than a basic slap. Don’t get me wrong, I know that’s what it would be like in REAL life, but we’re accustomed to a certain standard of sound when it comes to action scenes in movies, and turning that kind of audible mayhem UP in a situation like this would have only served to benefit the onscreen madness even more. Is the plotline tangible? Is the writing sound? Does it REALLY matter? Is that what you tuned in for? Accuracy, education, and history lessons? I don’t think that’s why you’re here & I feel like Bron gambled on the same side of that bet as well. He knows you want movement, blood, and action more than the details of an involved story, so rather than bog you down with a thought-provoking tale that would dare to make you think even a little bit, he opts to keep the fists flying and the blood pumping at most times instead. I’m fine with that. There’s a time for thinking, and there’s a time for action when it comes to watching movies – these two things do not need to be entwined, and more often than not, they aren’t.
If anything, it’s the moments where “Pancake Man” makes an attempt to focus harder on incorporating a tangible storyline that lead to the spots where this film gets bogged down and loses its momentum. There will be a significant amount of time spent watching this film where you’ll wonder where the f**k Jerry, easily the movie’s most exciting and watchable character, has gone. I’m not suggesting that the man is deserving of an Oscar for this performance he’s put in, but I am saying that he’s an underutilized asset in “Pancake Man,” especially considering that the majority of this film revolves around his story & character. About two-thirds of the way into “Pancake Man,” you might legitimately find yourself hoping that they’ll let this dude back outta the box to exact his revenge on the bad guys, because this long mid-section of trying to make the plotline more substantial isn’t really working out, and the pace has slowed down to a virtual crawl. Bron Theron wisely ends up becoming part of the cast as Tyler, a thug that has clearly got a checkered past of his own, but I don’t know if his introduction is enough to keep this afloat for most watchers, especially considering there are still multiple characters being added into the movie as it continues to play on, which makes it tough to stay invested in the story because we don’t really know who we’re supposed to follow along with, and who is probably only going to be involved for a few seconds before they’re killed, or the movie simply moves on from another unnecessary cast member. As they say, less is more, and this is especially true for the number of characters in a film like this. I definitely had moments where I found myself asking, what exactly is this movie about? As I’m sure you can see here at IndyRed, I’ve watched a few of them…so it does feel like this is a question I shouldn’t really be asking if it’s that easy to understand. From my perspective, “Pancake Man” is nearly a perfect example of a movie that is simply trying to do too much with too little. It definitely has its moments, and it supplies some riotously entertaining scenes along the way, but if we’re talking about a storyline that the average everyday viewer is going to be able to keep up with, this felt too scattered in its focus overall, with way too many extraneous details/characters added in to distract from its main plot points. That being said, for the most part it’s still entertaining…and if you can shut the ol’ brain off for a minute to just have some fun, “Pancake Man” is willing to serve you some. Three stars out of five from me. |
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