Yoga Hosers is a 2016 horror comedy film. Directed by Kevin
Smith (Clerks, Chasing Amy) and starring Harley Quinn Smith (Tusk), Lily-Rose
Depp (Tusk) and Johnny Depp (Edward Scissorhands, Fear and Loathing in Las
Vegas). The film is the 2nd entry in Smith’s “True North” trilogy,
following 2014’s Tusk and preceding the upcoming Moose Jaws.
The movie follows the Colleens (Harley Quinn and Lily-Rose),
2 convenience store clerks who are also well versed in yoga. In school, the
girls are taught the unlikely history of the Nazi party’s rise in Winnipeg, as
well as their mysterious disappearance. After inviting a couple of high school
guys back to the store to party, who turn out to be Satanists, pint sized Nazis
made of sausage (called bratzis) are unleashed as the stories turn out to be
true. Framed for the murder of the boys, the Colleens are assisted by detective
Guy Lapointe (Depp) in uncovering the plot by mad scientist Andronicus Arcane
to clone himself with sausage and return 100 years after the war to take his
revenge. Although restricted by their diminutive stature, the bratzis soon take
the form of a giant hockey goalkeeper (made of human body parts) as the girls turn
once again to their yoga skills to save the day.
Your enjoyment of Yoga Hosers will largely depend on whether
you’ve adjusted to Smith’s stylistic shift from indie comedy to b-movie schlock
yet. Tusk introduced the true north universe perfectly and was so dark and
outrageous that it worked. Yoga Hosers leans much more on the ludicrous side
than that film but there’s still plenty to enjoy if you set your expectations. The
rampant nepotism on show tends to impact the quality of acting on show (with
much of the cast dangling from the Smith/Depp family tree) but the girls real
life chemistry serves to compensate for the obvious lack of experience. Harley
Quinn Smith does most of the heavy lifting when it comes to the comedy and is
much more charming than the bland Lily-Rose Depp.
Speaking of Depps. Johnny Depp continues to portray his most
entertaining character since Hunter S. Thompson/Raul Duke and carries every
scene he’s in. The mere pronunciation of much of his dialogue had me laughing
out loud and he will almost certainly prove to be the mvp of the whole trilogy.
Ultimately, I did feel that the film suffered from a lack of strong antagonists
in the form of the various Nazi creations. Clearly, Nazi sausage babies were
intended to come across as ridiculous as possible but, along with the stock mad
scientist character, the whole thing felt like quite an underdeveloped idea.
Coming across as a poor man’s Scott Pilgrim vs The World
(2010) in many instances, Smith’s latest effort will raise a few laughs and progresses
the True North trilogy quite nicely. However, Yoga Hosers comes up short against
it’s predecessor Tusk and fans of Smith’s beloved “Askewniverse” will likely
find little appeal in this kind of b-movie fare.
** 2 Stars
What did you think of Yoga Hosers? Are you a fan of Smith’s
more recent work?
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