‘Dick Dynamite: 1944’ DVD Review
Stars: Snars, Olly Bassi, Shaun Davidson, Mark Burdett, Valerie Birss, Adam Harper, Andy Moore, Irvine Welsh, Graham Scott, Colin Mcafferty | Written and Directed by Robbie Davidson
Let’s get this out of the way… Robbie Davidson’s Dick Dynamite: 1944 is a raucous, full-throttle plunge into wartime absurdity that feels like a Molotov cocktail hurled into the traditional war movie genre and somehow, it works to deliver a loud, stupid, exhilarating, and utterly unforgettable movie!
From the first minute I knew I was in for something audacious. Davidson doesn’t flirt with the idea of parody, he detonates it. Dick Dynamite: 1944 is a pastiche of 1940s wartime propaganda, exploitation cinema, and hyper-stylized action flicks, all layered with a gonzo sense of humor that would make early Peter Jackson proud. It’s a film that, at every turn, seems to ask: “Why the hell not?”
The plot, and I use that term loosely, follows the larger-than-life super-soldier Dick Dynamite (played by the sinlgely monikered Snars) as he tears through Nazis with a gleeful disregard for logic, physics, or sanity. Dynamite is less a character and more a whirlwind of fists, quips, and explosives, mowing down the Third Reich one gloriously over-the-top set piece at a time.
Davidson directs with a manic energy that somehow stays just shy of exhausting. The cinematography is a love letter to grainy war reels and grimy exploitation films, with deliberate film scratches and washed-out colours that give the impression you’re watching some long-lost underground cult classic. The editing is frenetic but not sloppy, with Davidson knowing exactly when to linger for comedic effect or cut hard for impact.
The humour is aggressively lowbrow, think Kung Fury with a nastier edge, but it’s delivered with such sincerity that I found myself laughing more often than groaning. There’s an art to being this stupid on purpose, and Davidson proves he’s a master of it. The film is littered with anachronisms, absurd cameos, and non-sequiturs that border on the surreal. Yet, amid the mayhem, there’s an undercurrent of genuine craft. Davidson clearly understands the tropes he’s skewering, and his affection for the material he’s parodying gives the film an unexpected warmth. It’s the kind of movie made by people who love movies, especially the loud, messy, disreputable kind.
Is Dick Dynamite: 1944 for everyone? Absolutely not. If you demand coherence, subtlety, or highbrow humour, this film will likely leave you apoplectic. But if, like me, you can appreciate an unhinged, lovingly crafted barrage of violence and lunacy, that – at its heart – is a tribute to the high-octane 80s action movie heyday, you’ll find it one of the most bizarrely entertaining rides of the year.
**** 4/5
Dick Dynamite: 1944 is out now on DVD and Blu-ray from Dazzler Media.
