Puppet Master X: Axis Rising (2012)

Puppet Master X: Axis Rising: Directed by Charles Band. With Kip Canyon, Jean Louise O’Sullivan, Oto Brezina, Scott King. Danny and Beth must battle the Nazis after they use the puppets’ life-giving serum to create a race of immortal soldiers, as well as some Nazi puppets.

“With the puppet in Nazi hands, the couple who survived from before are thrust back into the fight against the Naziu0026#39;s when the superior officer in charge comes in to clean up the mess in order to carry on his quest for Nazi super-soldiers and forces them to fight new, deadly puppets to stop him.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis was a fun if somewhat flawed entry. One of the better aspects to this one is the fact that thereu0026#39;s a lot of fun work to be had here with the continuation of the storyline. Not only by knocking off the previous filmu0026#39;s villains in order to keep that storyline going but introducing the new one involving the rogue Nazi commander who wants to create a new race of beings based on the work of the puppets that moves this one along nicely. Thereu0026#39;s a fun air here in the Nazi hideout where we see the failed experiments play out as the reanimated soldiers turn to goo or melt away which launches into the many speeches or enjoyable rounds of temptation taking place in the lab where it really plays on the sympathies of those around him to really work nicely within this one. The second half here, where it focuses on the plan to stop them and get their stolen friend back leads to some more fun here in the full-on puppet action that gets unleashed here. From the first encounter with the new puppets that are not only cool-looking creations but given some impressive powers, the later confrontation in the community hall as well as the series of action scenes in the German hideout that has a lot of fine action between the puppets and between the people involved which is what makes this so enjoyable overall. There are a few major problems with this one, mostly the fact that the puppets are reduced in screentime to such an extent that they rarely are shown here. This one offers up far more scenes of the Naziu0026#39;s standing around making threats or experimenting on their discoveries which goes hand-in-hand with the few scenes of the kids coming to terms with what happened the day before which really keeps the puppets to such a small part of the film that they donu0026#39;t make much of an impression until the finale. Thereu0026#39;s a lot more this couldu0026#39;ve done to work them into the story earlier and more often, so itu0026#39;s a major missed opportunity to leave this one with such a lack of action. The other big issue here is the rather obvious cheap-looking aesthetic throughout here, from the few locations that are rarely changed up or look like theyu0026#39;re all that well-stocked which give away the filmu0026#39;s key nature. As that extends to the CGI blood-splatter that looks awful as well, overall this one really showcases such a low-budget nature. Beyond these elements, though, the film isnu0026#39;t that bad.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eRated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence and Language.”