Breaking Wind – review

Director: Craig Moss

Release date: 2011

Contains spoilers

Whilst I will caveat this (as I often do with comedies) that the comedic art is one that is received subjectively and what I might find funny you might not, it seems that Twilight spoofs are all too common nowadays and I can’t understand why.

Don’t get me wrong, there have been some brilliant spoofs done independently and released virally across the net. However when it comes to films (be they painfully independent or films with clearly a bigger budget) the idea of spoofing/satirizing Twilight is akin to shooting fish in a barrel – easy and pointless. It also makes you wonder where the film wants to find an audience; those who hate Twilight are unlikely to watch something that apes Twilight and those who love it will find it an anathema.

Danny Trejo

In this case we have a film that is so cynical that it apes the Eclipse movie and yet names itself in the style of movies 4/5 – creating a flatulence gag designed, surely, to put the most die-hard comedy fan off with its banality and, of course, creating a brand image akin to the films currently doing the rounds. It also seeks to ‘ingratiate’ itself with the fans of Twilight by dedicating the film to them and exploiting them by playing lifted YouTube footage of them screaming at trailers – including the rather annoying English lass who went viral with her over-the-top reactions. What this film does have in its favour, however, is Danny Trejo (From Dusk Till Dawn, From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money, From Dusk Till Dawn 3: the Hangman’s Daughter, Blood Ties, 7 Mummies & Slayer). It is always a pleasure to see Mr Trejo in a film and this film gets an extra point due to his cameo.

Edward and Little Edward

And boy does it need it. Flatulence, cock, vagina and cum gags abound and they just aren’t really that funny. We get a stuttering (as opposed to on-running) gag about mini Cullens, with Little Edward (Pancho Moler) having the hots for Bella (Heather Ann Davis) and Edward (Eric Callero) getting jealous. There were moments that almost worked, such as Jacob (Frank Pacheco) and the wolf pack being of a chubby persuasion – one would hope that it was a satire of false body imaging in popular media, actually I think it was there for a cheap fat gag.

when Depps attack

Other bits did work better, When Danny Trejo tells the story of the tribe – and their history with the vampires – the tribe is attacked by a gaggle of Johnny Depps in various character costumes and I must admit to a quick snigger. However it was rare moments of sniggering (rather than copious hilarity) punctuating a rather boring film. It’s not even as though I was overly offended by the ‘bad taste’ elements – they simply weren’t that shocking either, just a tad puerile.

All in all a poor 3 out of 10 (and remember 1 point is for Danny Trejo’s cameo)

The imdb page is here.