[My Name Is Bruce]
Plot:A small Oregon town comes under attack from the undead. The people of the town call in Bruce Campbell to save the day. Ironically enough,they also think he bears a striking resembleance to Ash from "Evil dead".

Cast:Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, Grace Thorson.

My Thoughts:Silly for the most part, but not too bad.

Review:I'm not a huge fan of Bruce Campbell films outside of "The Evil Dead". Which is why going into "My Name Is Bruce", I was expecting something along the lines of "Bubba Hotep"...a bit too slapstick for my tastes, yet not without it's own brand of charm and wit. And.....that was pretty much what I got. The film has Bruce Campbell playing well......himself. In fact, he's playing what might or might not be himself. See Bruce in "MY Name Is Bruce", is really Bruce Campbell in real life. The star of alot of pretty bad B-Horror movies, such as "Alien Apocalypse" for example. He pretty much doesn't like the direction his career is heading with all of these low-budget sci-fi geek features, and certainly isn't shy about blowing off his fans or telling off his agent (played by Ted Raimi), who he blames for not getting him any decent work in Hollywood.

While all of this is going on, some stupid kids in a tiny middle-of-nowhere town called Gold Lick, have unwittingly released Guan-Di..the Chinese god of war and protector of the dead. Guan Di is a "Lopan" looking guy who carries a huge chinese scythe which he uses to behead his victims, all the while speaking some sort of oriental jibberish as he does. Guan-Di won't stop until he's sought revenge on all of the relatives of those in the town. Those who's ancestors were responsible for the large number of Chinese killed way back when the Chinese came to america, and worked the mines...and a terrible cave-in occured.

But one person who managed to escape Guan-Di upon his initial escape sees some hope. Because he's a Bruce Campbell fan, and a die-hard one at that...he seeks out BC in an attempt to get him to come to the town of Gold Lick and defeat Guan Di. But can he? And better question yet...will he? For a film with such a far out there plot, "My Name Is Bruce' does manage to work for a pretty serviceable amount of time. Bruce Campbell carries the movie very well, which is expected considering he's done so many other horror films that most people wouldn't even bother with if he weren't starring in them.

"My Name Is Bruce" comes close to being that, but oddly enough it's not Bruce who saves the film with his wit, wisecracks, and lunk-headed bravery....but instead it's Guan-Di, the films villain. He's a pretty badass movie monster, with some nice threads and a deadly temper. He brings a totally different dimension to the movie than just the usual cooked-up-in-a-lab B-horror movie monster who snarls, growls, and drools alot. Guan-Di has a personality, and most of all....totes a cool weapon, and definitely doesn't hesitate to use it. Resulting in some of the films most splatterrific scenes.

The gist of the movie is basically centered on this kid who's a huge Bruce Campbell fan trying to convince Bruce to come with him to his home town to defeat the monster. When Bruce initially refuses, the kid resorts to "other" measures to get Bruce to Gold Lick. This is pretty much where the films comedy kicks into high gear as Bruce intially believes that the whole set up from the townspeople to the whole Guan-Di folklore is simply a stunt put together by his agent for his birthday. It isn't until later that Bruce realizes that it's not a prank, Guan Di is real...and he's in some pretty deep shit.

So in typical Bruce Campbell fashion, he mulls over the decision to either run like hell back to Hollywood or stay and defend the town. The not-so-subtle humor in "My Name Is Bruce" is very prevalent, such as there being one surviving Chinese person from the mine collapse living in Gold Lick, who may or may not be responsible for Guan-Di's appearance. And of course the fact that Bruce Campbell has no clue as to what the hell he's doing when it comes to being a hero or a savior. Compared to his movies where he makes it look so easy.

It gives the movie a nice contrast I must say....to have Bruce Campbell go from slightly pompous action star, to scared-shitless, divorced, and functioning alcoholic Hollywood actor, thrust into a scenario not of his own making. Campbell manages to deliver on most of his funny moments, but eventually his wisecracks wear thin, and by the time the end of the film rolls around, they've spent too much time on other things, and not enough time setting up the big showdown between Guan-Di and Bruce.

I felt that was the films major weak point...the ending didn't have enoguh pizazz or impact to really wrap the movie up in a suitable and satiasfactory manner. "My Name Is Bruce" is an interesting and mostly likeable picture. Despite it's terribly weak finale, it's worth seeing atleast once.

Positives:Most of Bruce Campbell's performance, Guan-Di is a terrific villain. An interesting story.

Negatives:Campbell's comedy begins to get annoying as the movie wears on, and the ending is weak in my opinion.

Overall:Three out of four stars.





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