Spoof: Based On A True Movie (2017) turns out to be a diamond in the VoD rough.
Once in a while, down in the depths of Netflix or Amazon Prime, you come across something so odd looking, it would be a dereliction of duty not to watch it. Or maybe that’s just me? In any event, it happened to me today while browsing for something to watch on Amazon Prime, I came across “Spoof: Based On A True Movie”.
I believe I’ve gone on record before, admitting my unrepentant love of silly parodies so this sounded right up my street. A hundred parodies, running from ten seconds up to a minute, one after the other until they start to blend together? Sign me up!
A mix of animation, CGI effects and a small cast, “Spoof: Based On A True Movie” is less a movie and more like finding a mildly funny sketch on Youtube and forgetting to switch off the autoplay feature so it loads up the next video, and the next, and then the next and so on. They may start out a bit basic, resembling countless throwaway gags you and your friends may have thought of while watching your favourite movies but it’s not long before some sparks of genuine comic flair appear and while the hit rate will depend on personal taste, many of the skits are genuinely funny, with my personal favourites being “The Pink Panther” and the “Nosferatu” sequences. Tonnes of your favourite movies get a look in, though and even the initially less successful jokes get better as they become running gags. Bond movies, Hitchcock movies, “Jaws” and the Indiana Jones films are all ripe or the mocking and the creativity and wit which goes into each segment belies the overall movie’s simplicity.
If you’re a movie buff who laments the loss of Vine, this may just be the comedy portmanteau for you. Created and Directed by Jonathan Zarantonello, this movie ended up being much more fun than I expected and I’ll be digging into his back catalogue to explore more of his work off the back of it. If you’re a fan of Channel 4’s zany 1990 sketch comedy “The Adam And Joe Show” or the pop culture sophomoric scattergun silliness of “Robot Chicken”, you’ll probably find something to enjoy here, and it’s available absolutely free if you’ve got Amazon Prime so what have you got to lose? If you don’t have Amazon Prime, you can sign up here for a free trial. Yes, there’s a lot of dross in the depths of VoD, but occasionally you’ll find a little gem. “Spoof: Based On A True Movie” is one of them.
6/10