Lulu Wilson returns for the franchise’s biggest, bloodiest, and most politically charged chapter yet, delivering a gleefully cathartic anti-fascist splatterfest.
It’s been two years since everyone’s favorite fascist-killing firebrand Becky joined the CIA. When we catch up with her in The Last Temptation of Becky, she’s still wrestling with those pesky anger management issues, once again landing in hot water with the director after losing her temper and leaving yet another bad guy dead in her wake. With her future at the agency hanging by a thread, she’s given one last chance to prove she can follow orders.
That final assignment sends Becky to Poland under the guise of a tourist to infiltrate a neo-Nazi organization to gain intel. Leading the pack of cosplaying facists is a delightfully sleazy Neil Patrick Harris, who chews the scenery as a would-be architect of a Fourth Reich he is hoping to somehow summon. Things get even messier when Becky discovers the literal key to the group’s plans hinge on the very same key that set the events of the first film in motion—the one her father was murdered trying to protect.
Given our current geopolitical climate, I couldn’t be happier to have Becky back. The Last Temptation of Becky wears its anti-fascist heart proudly on its sleeve—or, more accurately, across the back of Becky’s jacket, which bluntly reads, “Fuck Nazis.” If there was ever any doubt where the film stands, it wastes no time making its position crystal clear. In light of recent events in America, including white supremacists marching in the nation’s capital on Independence Day, that message feels less like provocation and more like catharsis. All this, while also finally bringing closure to the dangling thread involving the mysterious key that drove the events of the first film.
While Lulu Wilson once again slips effortlessly into Becky’s blood-soaked tennis shoes, this time she’s guided by writer/director Jenn Wexler (The Ranger), who swings big with a sequel that functions equally well as a satisfying finale or the start of an entirely new chapter. By now, Becky is second nature for Wilson. She inhabits the wisecracking, larger-than-life killer with complete confidence, while never losing sight of the humanity that still separates Becky from the monsters she dispatches.
One of my favorite running gags of the Becky films has been their inspired casting of comedians as villains, giving actors best known for laughs the chance to turn heel. While Kevin James and Seann William Scott were inspired surprises, Neil Patrick Harris doesn’t need the novelty factor. Instead, he delivers a formidable “final boss”—a fanatic capable of matching Becky’s intensity and holding his own against the franchise’s increasingly mythic antihero. I would also argue that while the first film is essentially a home-invasion thriller, the second became an action-revenge film, this film plays almost like a slasher at times with Becky occupying the role normally reserved for the unstoppable killer.
Not a bad thing mind you….
These films may exist just outside the mainstream, but they’ve consistently attracted an impressive roster of talent. After all, who wouldn’t want to sign up for a movie about brutally dispatching fascists? This installment is also the series’ most audacious yet. I especially appreciated the pointed subtext that many of the Nazi wannabes terrorizing Poland are actually Americans, a detail that lands with uncomfortable relevance without ever slowing the film’s momentum. Combined with sharp dialogue and rewarding callbacks to the previous entries maintaining the franchise’s status quo while expanding its scope.
If I have any complaints, it’s that a few of the action set pieces feel rushed and lack the precision and punch of the earlier films. Likewise, some of the CGI blood effects occasionally look like last-minute additions rather than fully integrated practical enhancements. This really hurt some of the action set-pieces that sort of feel half baked at times, but that could have been simply a factor of budget given this is the third film in the series.
Even so, The Last Temptation of Becky is a pulpy, gloriously unhinged adrenaline rush—a movie that delivers pure catharsis for anyone who thinks punching Nazis will never go out of style. It also extends the remarkable consistency of one of independent genre cinema’s most underrated franchises, continuing to punch well above its weight while proving that ambition and attitude can more than make up for a modest budget.In a cultural moment that often feels increasingly defined by intolerance, The Last Temptation of Becky channels its rage into a blood-soaked, unapologetic cry of dissent—one that’s as entertaining as it is cathartic.
