The Wrath of Becky
This sequel to the darkly comedic 2020 horror-thriller offers more sick kicks.
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Even before Jan. 6, 2021 I greatly enjoyed seeing Nazi scumbags get punished on the big screen. “The Dirty Dozen,” “Raiders of the Lost” and “Inglourious Basterds” hit harder after these idiots’ insurrection. The recent release “Sisu” (review here) further hammered this idea home. Now comes “The Wrath of Becky” (in theaters beginning Friday, May 26), a sequel to 2020’s darkly comedic horror-thriller “Becky” (review here).
When we last saw Becky (Lulu Wilson) she’d lost her father Jeff (Joel McHale) at the hands of neo-Nazi prison escapee Dominick (Kevin James) and exacted revenge against the hatemonger. She’s now 16, renting a room from the kindly, elderly Elena (Denise Burse) and working as a waitress at a greasy spoon diner.
During one fateful shift she encounters a trio of “Noble Men” (a not-so-thinly-veiled riff on the Proud Boys). There’s “tough guy” Anthony (Michael Sirow of the “Fortress” flicks), wild card DJ (Aaron Dalla Villa) and reluctant tagalong Sean (Matt Angel, who also writes and co-directs). A confrontation emerges between Becky and the men culminating with her intentionally spilling hot coffee on Anthony’s lap.
The threesome decide they must exact revenge against this teenage girl so they follow her home, eliminate Elena, beat up Becky and dognap her poochie pal Diego (Pac Williams).
The triumvirate then head to a remote cabin belonging to their leader Darryl (Seann William Scott, playing against type much like James did in the first installment) with Diego in tow. Also in attendance is Darryl’s hillbilly of a right-hand man, Twig (Courtney Gains AKA Malachi from the OG “Children of the Corn”). The quintet have gathered to ruin the rally of Senator Hernandez (Gabriella Piazza) … possibly even going so far as to assassinate the Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez-esque politician.
Faster than you can say, “John Wick,” these morons are gonna realize they messed with the wrong chick. Becky shows up for vengeance (and more importantly for Diego) and begins dispatching these dumbasses with a variety of weapons including a bear trap, a crossbow, a grenade and a sickle.
I enjoyed “The Wrath of Becky” about the same as “Becky.” As directed by Angel and Suzanne Coote (who previously collaborated on Netflix movies “The Open House” and “Hypnotic” (2021)) it’s a bigger and badder endeavor. Much like its predecessor “The Wrath of Becky” is a whole bunch of sleazy fun that just might necessitate a shower afterwards. Wilson has grown as an actress and Scott convincingly buries his onscreen party dude persona. The picture leaves itself wide open for a third installment wherein Becky would be blasting fascists on behalf of Uncle Sam. I can’t wait to see what comedic performer the filmmakers cast as her primary target.