Robin Hood Junior

We still got some laffs outa it but not as much as EINSTEIN. We rated it a 7 versus a 9 for the other. Still, Yahoo, is always interesting to watch. He tries some original stuff - sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.

This was so bad I felt embarrassed watching it. Young Einstein looked very amateurish, but Serious seems to have regressed a long way since then. The jokes are exactly what you would expect from a teenager's home movie. What is Hugo Weaving doing in a film like this?

In Australia, there is a legendary true Robin Hood like hero named Ned Kelly. His descendants still live on their own special island where the "newest" son is also named Ned (Yahoo Serious). A master of gunshots, Ned can and does shoot down flies if they bother him. He's also into bank robbing, where he meets a beautiful, Shakespeare reading bank clerk (Melora Hardin). She doesn't care for him. In addition, the bank head, Sir John (Hugo Weaving) detests Ned and is out to stop him. Soon, John has located a Japanese firm to buy the Kelly's island out from under them. Since Ned's bank heists in Australia must go to the poor, Ned sets off to rob banks in America. Along the way, he is asked to shoot a movie, using his skills as a shooter and a motorcyclist. Will Ned return in glory to re-buy the lsland with a boatload of money? This funny film is one of the few made by Yahoo Serious and it is highly entertaining. Just as its star, the movie has an offbeat charm and humor that has to be seen to be appreciated. Also fine are the supporting cast (Weaving is hilarious), the exotic scenery, the clever script and the fast-moving direction. What fun it is, seriously, to discover the gems of past movie making, Aussie style.

The Kelly gang is a longtime Robin Hood bank robbers. However the family business has changed over the years and only Ned Kelly (Yahoo Serious) is in the bank robbing division. He is taken by bank teller Robin Banks (Melora Hardin) during a stickup where he deposits money into the accounts of the poor. Sir John (Hugo Weaving) is angered and British Major Wib is assigned to hunt down Kelly. Then the bank sells their Reckless Island and shipping it to Japan. The Kellys need to raise $1 million to buy back the island. The problem is that any money the Kelly Gang robs in Australia must be given to the poor of Australia. So Ned Kelly decides to rob banks in America.

Yahoo Serious used to be a thing for two seconds. He was funny for about just as long. He's trying to be wacky but he's not wild enough. The comedy is not smart enough. There is an oddity about his comedy that may not be translating. I don't find any laughs in this although I do appreciate him giving his all. It's stupid but not the funny kind.

Serious humour may well be a bit of an acquired taste, it's cheesy and juvenile (not in a Farrelly brothers sick kind of way, more just silly really, with lots of rock'n'roll'n'motorbikes thrown in) but I laugh like a crazy man every time I see this. It is a bit disjointed in parts but overall is a worthy successor to the great Young Einstein, particularly the visuals which in parts are quite stunning, I'd love to see this in a cinema or at least in widescreen on a really massive TV, it's quite beautiful really. Serious again plays a lead who aims at supercool but comes over more as cute, in a cute-little-puppy kind of way, Alexei Sayle and Hugo Weaving (of Matrix fame) make good villains and our hero's trip to Hollywood is magnificently over-the-top. A real treat for the initiated, others should give it a go, you might just end up loving it.