What We Do in the Shadows

Earlier this year I missed a little film by the name of What We Do in the Shadows. 

Truthfully, it didn't immediately interest me anyway, so that, combined with a busy travel schedule for work, made it one of those unfortunate casualties of films that I must skip throughout the year. 

Between now and then I've heard several people tell me [read: lovingly harass me] that I had to see this film, claiming that it was the best comedy of the year and that I'd love it. Even still I was a bit skeptical, but I do admit, my intrigue for it started to grow. 

Because I'm so anal about the release date cadence of my "New Reviews" section, this film will have to be housed under the "Retro Reviews" section, though it's obviously not Retro at all. And because of my late screening of this film, I might have to bend the rules and allow a Retro Review to be in the running for several New-Movie-based Rath Awards later this year. 

Oh yeah, that's right. It's gonna be up for some Rath Awards for sure. 

What We Do in the Shadows is not only the funniest film of the year, but it's flat-out one of my favorites. Turns out that all of that well-intended pestering was worth it in order to get my stubborn ass to watch this absolute delight of a film. 

#squadgoals

New technology is a foreign thing
to ancient vampires. Who knew?

My favorite part of What We Do in the Shadows is its premise. It's genius, and lends itself to many obvious laughs around vampire rules and cliches, but also ones that directors/writers/stars Jermaine Clement and Taika Waititi apply their wittiness to, leading to some real gems of laughs. The film is a faux documentary (i.e. a mockumentary) about vampires living in Wellington, New Zealand (which consequentially really made me want to go back to the Australia/New Zealand part of the world) and their day-to-day activities. While there isn't really a core plot line per say, the film does a good job at moving their lives forward in this semi-fictional world. If it sounds like that idea might run out of steam, you'd probably be right, but given the short and sweet runtime of 86 minutes, Clement and Waititi never overstay their welcome and they've refined the film so that nearly every scene is funny in some way. In a day and age of bloated comedies that often need 20 minutes trimmed off to make them exponentially funnier than they already are (I'm looking at you Spy), Shadows' short, but packed-full-of-laughs 86 minutes was incredibly refreshing. If I were to map out every joke contained within the film, whether it be a one-liner, awkward encounter, physical comedy, etc. I'd be willing to place a bet that over 95% of the jokes nail their mark, at least to a person like myself who enjoys "stupid" comedy, dark humor, and witty, wry dialogue. 

Wellington Fight Club

Which is a prefect transition into my second favorite thing about the film and that would be the delivery/performances by the actors featured. Whether it was some of Viago's (Waititi) eager excitement, Vladislav's (Clement) machismo, Stu's complete obliviousness to pretty much everything, or Petyr, a several thousand year old vampire's trolling, each character feels unique, well crafted, and most importantly: absolutely hilarious. Several scenes had me rolling, mainly because of their absurdity, but also because the delivery of so many of the lines is so dry, and serious, that part of you asks, "Did they not just hear what came out of their mouths?". If you haven't been able to hear me say it through these couple paragraphs, here it is: the humor in Shadows is nothing short of brilliant.  

Oh Petyr! You goof!

My complaints of the film are very minimal and I'd say, much like in Mad Max: Fury Road they are pretty inconsequential to whether or not you should decide to see the film. Throughout there are some shoddy special effects, but given the low budget of the film, this is understandable. As I mentioned earlier, the film really lacks a core plotline so at times it feels like it might be wandering, but again, at 86 minutes that's not hard to bear. I was also disappointed by one of the jokes that the film built up to quite a bit and turned out to be rather dull and not that funny (hint: The Beast). 

Much like it was to me, I really cannot recommend What We Do in the Shadows enough. I'd guess that most everyone finds something to laugh at, and at 86 minutes long it's an incredibly short commitment to make in order to see one of the best films of the year and the funniest film of 2015 thus far. 

As someone who was hesitant/reluctant to see it for several months, trust me when I say that it is absolutely, 100% worth it. 

CONS:

• Lacks a strong core plot
• "The Beast" joke falls flat after significant build up
• Some dodgy special effects
• A few scenes/jokes don't quite hit their mark

PROS:

• Genius premise complimented by a phenomenal script and stellar performances. This film is funny from the ground up and in several different varieties
• Great, funny, unique characters
• Mockumentary style was a perfect fit
• The hit rate percentage of jokes is incredibly high. Rarely seen in comedies these days
• Short and sweet; the film makes almost every scene count
• There are some truly classic comedic gems throughout this film. I was rolling during an entire scene where police were inspecting the vampire house
• Highly re-watchable

Retro Rath's Review Score: 9.5/10