Fantastic Fest 09: KENNY BEGINS Review

Founder and Editor; Toronto, Canada (@AnarchistTodd)
Fantastic Fest 09: KENNY BEGINS Review
Is Swedish cult scifi Kenny Begins the stupidest movie ever made?  Or, perhaps, the greatest film ever on the power of the stupid to triumph over evil?  I'll take door number two, please.  A hysterical, lofi excursion into the farthest reaches of outer space, this feature film prequel to a small, cult Swedish television show - you don't need to know anything about the show to thoroughly enjoy this, don't worry - Kenny Begins plays like a daftly inspired continental spin on Mel Brooks' Spaceballs.

Kenny has a dream.  A dream of greater things.  A dream of escaping the humdrum world of the family owned hair salon and becoming instead a Galaxy Hero!  A protector of the weak!  A scourge of evil across the universe!  It is a dream he has held since childhood, a dream that has led him into the hallowed halls of the Galaxy Hero Training Academy where he has failed and failed and failed, such a long string of failures that he is legendary amongst his professors for all the wrong reasons and his family has now delivered an ultimatum:  pass this time or quit and come back to the salon.

So begins an adventure of truly epic proportions, an adventure that eventually leads Kenny to our very own earth in a mad race against the evil Rutger Oversmart - ice baron and super villain - to capture the legendary power crystal, a crystal that has been found by a young, outcast boy who is drawing on its strength to make himself more attractive to the girl of his dreams.  Also in on the chase are the most feared trio of bounty hunters in the entire universe:  the evil Earth, Wind and Fire.  Will Kenny find it in himself to prevail?

Loaded with obviously - and hysterically - home made special effects, brilliantly over-the-top villains and a hero naively bumbling his way through life, blissfully ignorant of the danger he is actually in, Kenny Begins is an instant cult film, a film loaded with 'what the hell were they thinking' moments delivered with a sort of blissfully ignorant charm.  This is a film whose hero eats both shampoo and scorpions with equal vigor, a film whose most memorable villain has a jet turbine strapped to his head, a film where a stick of ice is considered a delicious treat.  It is odd and absurd and absolutely, gloriously juvenile. 

Kenny Begins

Director(s)
  • Mats Lindberg
  • Carl Åstrand
Writer(s)
  • Lars Johansson
  • Mats Lindberg
  • Vasa (screenplay)
  • Carl Åstrand (screenplay)
Cast
  • Johan Rheborg
  • Bill Skarsgård
  • Carla Abrahamsen
  • Jan Mybrand
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Mats LindbergCarl ÅstrandLars JohanssonVasaJohan RheborgBill SkarsgårdCarla AbrahamsenJan MybrandActionComedySci-Fi

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