DVD REVIEW: CHUCK STEEL: RAGING BALLS OF STEEL JUSTICE / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: MIKE MORT / SCREENPLAY: MIKE MORT / STARRING: MIKE MORT / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
Wallace and Gromit as filtered through Team America: World Police and Sylvester Stallone’s Cobra. Now that we have your attention, go and seek it out immediately; Raging Balls of Steel Justice is the best fifteen minutes of animated humour this side of South Park. It’s already aired a few times on Film4 now, but this DVD release gives you plenty of room to watch at your leisure. Because you can never be too sure when you might fancy a shot of Steel in your life.
Together with his sex-obsessed robot partner A55 (type it into a calculator if you’re a little slow on the uptake), maverick cop Chuck Steel (essentially Johnny Bravo in a leather jacket) takes on a warehouse full of escaped criminals holding a top banker hostage. Their plan? To kick the poor chap in the balls so many times that his testicles pop out of his nose. Fair to say that subtlety was not high on creator Mike Mort’s list of priorities when putting Raging Balls of Steel Justice together.
What it lacks in story and invention, it makes up for in its visuals; as dynamic, explosive and violent as any classic action film you might care to remember (inevitably starring Stallone or Chuck Norris) its scenes of animated anarchy are up there with any of its live-action counterparts. The humour is juvenile but funny, never outstaying its welcome. Steel and his world aren’t particularly original creations (recalling Macruber, among others) but that doesn’t make their antics any less enjoyable. Mort is currently at work on a feature-length Steel story, so if purchasing this DVD release of his debut helps get it made, even better!
It’s the DVD itself which comes up sorely wanting, though. Given that Raging Balls of Steel Justice has already aired on Film4, one would have hoped for a few extras to go with the film. Alas, there’s not so much as a making-of or director’s commentary in sight. If you’ve already caught it a few times on TV (unlikely, with it airing at silly o’clock in the morning) there’s probably little point in shelling out for the DVD. Unless you really like watching puppets kicking other puppets repeatedly in the nuts.
Silly, violent and ridiculously entertaining, Raging Balls of Steel Justice is the perfect Saturday morning cartoon for adults. It’s a cracking bit of cheese, Gromit.
Special Features: None
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