Postal

When we will learn, when will Uwe Boll learn, and when will the actors that sign up to work in Boll’s films learn? Yet again, a film that no-one wants, directed by a misguided megalomaniac that manages to insult and inflame in exactly the way that its creator did not intend in any way, shape or form.

We know where we stand when the opening shot has the 9/11 hijackers changing their minds on their way to the World Trade Center, having been told by Osama Bin Laden that the number of virgins they have been promised was incorrect, before the passengers manage to steer it towards its intended destination.

A worrying trend seems to suggest that more people seem to be watching Boll's films as the quality descends, since this is also coupled with the fact that just as many experienced actors are happy to jump on board the Boll bus. Surely there are no more video games left for Uwe to plunder, but yet here we have Postal: an average shoot-'em-up from the late '90s that (in a first for Uwe) actually has a plot that deviates from the original game's story. Zack Ward playing plays the eponymous slacker Postal Dude, a frustrated trailer park reject who's trying to better himself. Mindless violence and pointless gross-out scenes spiral toward a pathetic conclusion, as Uwe reaches another new low, yet exploits his biggest budget to date to do so.

Some may get a vicarious thrill from the nihilistic futility of the exercise (child killing, cats on the end of shotguns, innocent bystanders getting slain for laughs, "krotchy" dolls for children). If you really need to see a film where the voice of Flik from A Bug's Life has an extended full frontal toilet scene and J.K. Simmons (so good in Juno and Spider-Man) has a two line bit part, then go ahead and be my guest - just please don't line Mr Boll's pockets by paying to see it.

Extras: Director’s Commentary, Behind The Scenes featurette, Trailer.

Released on DVD on 20th October 2008 by Metrodome Video.

Written by Simon Cole.