The Slammin' Salmon is the latest movie from comedy troupe Broken Lizard of Super Troopers fame. While it's nowhere near as funny as Super Troopers it is on par (although probably a bit below) with their other 2 follow ups Club Dread and Beerfest. While not a comedy classic by any means, The Slammin' Salmon is a good enough time waster with enough one-liners and gross out gags to make most Broken Lizard fans happy.
The plot involves a restaurant owner/former heavyweight boxing camp (Michael Clarke Duncan) initiating a contest amongst the wait staff to see can earn the most money to help save the restaurant from his outstanding debts to the Yakuza. The winner gets $10,000 and the loser gets his or her ass kicked by the champ. Needless to say, many hijinks ensue. There's also a lot of recognizable people who pop up in the cast at various times. Aside from the members of Broken Lizard and Duncan there is Colby Smulders (How I Met Your Mother), Will Forte (SNL), Jim Gaffigan, Vivica A. Fox, Morgan Fairchild, Olivia Munn and Mohinder from Heroes.
If you're looking for an original plot or for well developed characters this is not a movie you want to watch. If you want to see some dumb comedy done competently and with energy you could do worse than The Slammin' Salmon. There are tons of gags throughout the movie and while it is very hit or miss throughout, it does succeed on it's own terms. There were numerous times I laughed out loud at a sight gag or more commonly a random line. Truthfully a lot of the jokes and situations are pretty played out and not overly original but they are executed well enough. It feels like Broken Lizard the writing team let down Broken Lizard the performers and with some more time spent on writing the script the movie could have been
much better.
The best part of The Slammin' Salmon is easily Michael Clarke Duncan. He shows off great comedic timing whether it's his ridiculous mispronunciations of words, his ability to fly off the handle with rage at a moments notice or just his overall presence, Duncan is comedy gold. The rest of the cast isn't given as much to do but each member of Broken Lizard has at least one or two great moments interspersed throughout. The movie also moves along at a brisk pace and with so many jokes if the last one didn't do anything for ya the next one might.
The blu-ray is much like the movie, perfectly acceptable but nothing spectacular. The video looks fine but a low budget comedy like this obviously isn't a movie that's going to be a "WOW" transfer. Likewise the audio is fine as well. Dialogue is the most important aspect and it's always understandable. There's nothing to open up the soundscape at all so the track is very front heave but the movie sounds fine.
No one is going to be mistaking The Slammin' Salmon for a comedic masterpiece any time soon but it's a serviceable comedy that you don't really have to pay attention to. Put it on amongst a group of people (preferably drunk people) and I'm sure it will get some laughs. I will also point out that every Broken Lizard movie so far (with the exception of Puddle Cruiser) has grown on me with multiple viewings so it's very possible this one will as well but for now I can't say it's anything more than an OK excuse to not go outside if it's raining.
Ratings:
Movie 3/5
Blu-ray 3/5
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