Review of My Name Is Bruce (2007) by Brad R — 25 May 2011

FULL REVIEW!

Bruce Campbell is, er... himself and must fight off Guan-di; a Chinese spirit that's killing off the population of a backwoods mining village in My Name is Bruce- a film adaptation of the Dark Horse Graphic Novel by the same name.

I should probably start by pointing out my love for the actor Bruce Campbell. Rocketed into a legend of kinds by the Evil Dead trilogy he has sadly never got the recognition he deserves for being a great actor (and great guy!). Cult stardom seems his only achievable goal- and achieved it he has! I know for a fact that I'm only one of an army of loyal fans, taking great pleasure in spotting his cameo appearences and forcing his greatest TV/movie moments onto others. His autobiography "If Chins Could Kill" only reaffirms what a down to earth and likeable guy he is (the book's an interesting read too!), and it's little wonder that over time he has kind of become his own brand.

With a terrible B-Movie premise and a cast of nameless B-Movie actors (the majority of which are old friends of Campbell) there's only so much you can expect in terms of quality here (funnily enough the majority of the film was actually recorded in Bruce's back garden!). The film's villian really is no more then a guy in a costume and there's little in the way of special effects or blockbusting action. Neither is there moving Drama or riverting plot twists. What there IS is Bruce Campbell, playing (and directing) himself as his fans see him; a self-confessed hero of the people with a dork and a coward hiding underneath, and I can't help but love him for it. The combination of his great-guy charisma and his trademark geeky-slapstick demonstrates his ability to take an average film and make it better with a dose of Campbell. This film will never win any awards or much recognition, but it's the kind of film you will have in your collection because it has Bruce Campbell in it.

Don't get me wrong, there's some genuinely funny moments here- such as the bit where Bruce runs away from the monster whilst shooting wildly behind him, hitting several of the villagers he is supposed to be protecting. There's also a great deal of humour put into mocking both himself and the B-Movie productions he acts in. There's also much to be said on the subject of psycho-fans. The problem is that most of the humour is funny because it's about Campbell, and uninitiated viewers probably won't get anywhere near as much out of it as fans will.

Maybe in this regard My Name is Bruce left me kind of disappointed- if they could make this guilty pleasure of a film that will probably only ever be truly appreciated by fans then why not turn "If Chins Could Kill" into a full length docu-drama instead? It has some great gags and all of the stuff that made this film good plus a load more! With Bruce Campbell's endless charisma at the helm it would be a gem to watch and a proper recognition of his talents and achievements. You heard the If Chins Could Kill docu-drama thing here first!

THE VERDICT?

My Name is Bruce is all about Bruce Campbell. What you think of him as a fan and how much you like his films will make or break this otherwise average B-Movie for you!

LIKED THIS?

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BUBBA HO-TEP.

By far one of the most accessible and reasonably classy feeling films Campbell has stared in recent years, it's another piece of Bruce magic!

EVIL DEAD 2.

An immense cult film which far out-shine's its original video nasty title, Evil Dead 2 has a lot more fun amongst the blood and gore and is definately the movie in which to see Campbell in his most iconic role.