Puppet Master: Axis Termination

The 11th installment, the 5th film in chronological order, and the final in the Axis Trilogy. Although this is by no means a brilliant film, it is the best (by far) in the series since the original. This installment has a much darker tone than the stupid, comical 'Axis Rising', and has a lot more depth. Indeed a vast improvement on the previous Axis films. The acting and dialogue are much better, as well as the effects and tension. The puppets also look much better and are livelier, having been so stocky in previous films. In this installment Captain Brooks (Paul Logan) and a group of people with special powers battle against Nazi wizards to gain control of the puppet serum that is quickly running out. Nazi Puppets Wehrmacht, Bombshell and Blitzkrieg are back, as well. Unfortunately, I found the lighting in the film to be very poor. Hunky Paul Logan makes the film a lot more watchable, as well...

The eleventh installment in the long running Puppet Master master franchise has the deadly puppets again battling evil Nazis, but this time with the help of powerful psychics to battle an evil Nazi psychic and evil Nazi puppets. The story and characters aren't all that interesting and producer/director Charles Band has made the series increasingly campy on what seems to be smaller and smaller budgets, although they did shell out for some stop-motion puppet animation which was pretty fun. I think my main complaint is that there weren't enough of the puppets doing horrible things. If you're watching a Puppet Master film (or Gremlins or Chucky for that matter), you want to see little things attacking big things, and there was not enough of that in this final installment of the Puppet Master Axis Trilogy. Outside of "Puppet Master: The Legacy," which was primarily made up of clips from previous films, this is probably the low point of the series. Still, I enjoy pretty much everything Charles Band makes and I did find myself entertained, even if I was overall disappointed.

Well, the "Puppet Master" franchise haven't really ever managed to get back on its feet since after the third movie, which happened to be the best in the franchise. So I have to admit that I was a little bit hestitant about this 2017 movie. But I still opted to watch it, as I am doing a "Puppet Master" movie marathon.

Sure, it was nice to have Charles Band back at directing and writing, but I have to say that "Puppet Master: Axis Termination" just wasn't an outstanding addition to the franchise. The storyline in this 2017 movie felt very bland and generic. You could leave the movie running whilst you go to another room, then come back and still be up to speed with the storyline.

The acting performances in "Puppet Master: Axis Termination" were wooden and rigid, with some performers really carrying the torch for being able to deliver cringeworthy performances. Especially George Appleby's performance and his accent, it was just all over the place. The movie has a single familiar face on the cast list, and let's not dance around the bush here, because Paul Logan is not really top of the line.

Visually then "Puppet Master: Axis Termination" was okay. Not the best of special effects, but they did help make the movie all the more bearable to sit through.

"Puppet Master: Axis Termination" was a weak foray into the franchise, and it is a movie that I hadn't even heard about prior to sitting down in 2023 to watch it. And just as quietly as the movie snuck in under the radar, just as quietly will it dissolved into the mists of oblivion.

My rating of director Charles Band's 2017 movie "Puppet Master: Axis Termination" lands on a three out of ten stars.

Say what you will about creator Charles Band's long running low- budget killer-doll franchise "Puppet Master." The fact is for darned-near close to thirty years now, the series has managed to continue on with relative competence, while maintaining at least a certain degree of imagination and low-brow entertainment in each new chapter. From the fun and sometimes genuinely creepy initial trilogy, through the kitschy 90's gems that were the fourth and fifth chapters, and indeed through a surprisingly fun prequel in the 'Retro' spin-off... "Puppet Master" had done pretty well for itself over the years.

Unfortunately, a troubling noticeable trend has plagued more recent entries in the saga, and it's becoming increasingly clear that at a certain point, enough is enough. Hindered by lower budgets and a general apathetic feeling of "been there, done that", the last few films have come across as a mere shadow of what the series once was, and the most recent chapter- 2017's "Axis Termination"- is perhaps the worst offender. While not objectively the worst of the series in terms of story, it's just so wholly unremarkable and thrown-together that you can't help but feel cold and disconnected from the opening sequence through the final climactic battle. And it's a sign that it sadly might be time for those delightful killer dolls to finally throw in the towel for good. At least in terms of the original series continuity.

"Axis Termination" follows an unlikely group of heroes who are brought together by the allied force during World War II. Each member gifted in some way- including some with magical and psychic abilities- the team are given the mission to work alongside the puppets of Andre Toulon in order to battle a dreaded group of Nazis whom are seeking to gain Toulon's formula for everlasting life. However, when the daughter of team leader Dr. Ivan Ivanov (George Appleby) is kidnapped, matters take a personal turn, and it becomes a mission of vengeance.

To give some minor credit where it is due, the concept is actually quite fun, and it serves as an interesting enough follow-up to the previous two movies, which were similarly placed in a World War II setting. It creates a unique atmosphere allows for some decent contrast with more modern entries in the series. The idea of a borderline superhero-inspired team of allied forces is also quite amusing, and I actually genuinely liked Appleby as the gifted Dr. Ivanov- a man suffering dwarfism who is frequently ridiculed, yet also holds more power than even he will admit to.

Unfortunately, a likable lead and a funky concept can only get you so far, especially when the movie doesn't know what to do with them. "Axis Termination" feels strained... coming across as too rushed and undeveloped, yet also somehow feeling dull and over-padded. And look, I understand that there was simply no real money to work with... but that doesn't excuse shoddy situational writing and half-baked character development. It's a poorly constructed, slap-dash effort that feels like it was put together out of obligation moreso than motivation. The story is minimal and lacks proper build-up or conclusion, there's a distinct lack of stakes and shockingly the puppets themselves- the stars of the series- feel tacked on and superfluous.

Visually the film is flimsy and has a really cheap, tacky look to it. And given the modern age of digital photography, I can't just sit back and act like that's OK anymore. Anyone with a cheap DSLR and some shop-lights can make something that looks semi- professional. So it's hard to excuse people with decades of experience giving us such visual drivel. Director Band, returning to helm the series once again, doesn't seem to care much. His choice in shots, composition and flow is suspect at best, and lacks any real thought. It's put together in the blandest of ways- every scene being composed of simple wide shots and shot-reverse-shot editing, and the few times he tries to do anything fun with the camera, it comes off as hockey and out of left field. This isn't made any better by the woeful acting, with the bulk of the cast looking very uncomfortable on-camera. It's unintentionally amusing, and some genuinely cringe-worthy line-deliveries left me chuckling when it clearly wasn't appropriate.

As it stands, "Puppet Master: Axis Termination" might not quite be the worst of the series, but it's a continuation of the general downgrade in quality that has occurred over the past few installments, and it really feels like the series is dead in the water at this point. There's no money to build creative effects or kills anymore. There's no motivation on the part of the filmmakers to try and take the series in new and interesting directions. And it all feels so by-the-books that it comes across as a wholly pointless endeavor. Thankfully, there is some hope for the franchise with a somewhat higher-budgeted reboot in the works. But as it stands, I think I'm pretty much done with the original series. "Axis Termination" musters up a very poor 2 out of 10. I wouldn't even really recommend it to fans.

Well the end of a trilogy and also the end of a cycle or whatever you want to call it. Apparently the newest entry after this (movie number 12 by the way, which is called "Littlest Reich") will be a reboot. And it's funny because there will be an original cast member (at least), although Barbara Crampton did not have a character name in the very first Puppet Master.

But back to this one. This concludes a trilogy within the franchise and as I and probably others have stated before you could have told the story in one movie, but they stretched it over 3. Puppetry is good, though I'm not as impressed as I was with the first one. While the budget restrictions probably are the same, the very first one was way back ... Anyway there are worse movies (even in this franchise) and if you want to have a complete overview of things (like me), you'll probably watch it, even if it doesn't matter to the next one ...