The heavier metal band Impaled Rektum is in jail and so close to their release date they can smell it. However, one of the members’ father is ill and about to lose his farm so the guys decide to escape and go make money to help save the farm.
Written and directed by Juuso Laatio and Jukka Vidgren, this sequel to 2018’s Heavy Trip (which Cinema-Crazed reviewed here, here, and here, what can we say, we love a good heavy metal comedy) is a lot of fun. Is it as good as the first one? No. But it is a whole lot of fun and mayhem with random fire stunts, cameos by metal folks poking fun at their reputations (hello Baby Metal), and the same group of dudes from the first film being their extra special selves. The film here is well-written and directed, creating a solid sequel for fans of the first which may not dethrone the first film, it does come fairly close in terms of quality. Of course, some of the novelty effect of the first film is not possible here, but the filmmakers do bring enough new ideas to make it work quite well.
The cast here has a few returning from the first film including some of the band who are charming, a bit brutish at times, and entertaining enough to maintain the interest of the viewers. Johannes Holopainen returns as Turo, making the band feel familiar, but the other members from the first film do not seem to be the same, at least not in the cast list found, which was something not noticed while watching the film, like due in part to there being 6 years between the two films and in part because the cast is good here. Samuli Jaskio does return as Lotvonen, as well as Chike Ohanwe as Oula, and Martti Syrjä as Pekka Lotvonen. The returning cast works well here, and they work well with the new cast members as well. With that long of a time between the two films, changes had to be expected.
The film here fits the style of the first visually with some evolution of course. The work by director of photography Anssi Leino looks great here, making the most of each location and showing as much of the sadness of some of them as the happiness of others. There is a decent amount of time spent in limited spaces and the cinematography work makes the most of these as well. Joining this work is the editing by Kimmo Taavila brings the film together with a good pace, a good dynamic energy, and helps the images have the best impact they can.
Heavier Trip may be a sequel and suffer a little from being so as it follows such a strong film as Heavy Trip. The humor here still works well, the story is interesting, and the whole package is a lot of fun. Heavier Trip is a worthy sequel that, while not as good as the first, is a strong follow-up on most fronts.
