This review contains spoilers for Becky and The Wrath of Becky
The Last Temptation of Becky is the third film in the Becky series. In the first installment Becky (Lulu Wilson), still grieving from her mother dying of cancer, loses her father when he is murdered by a group of neo Nazis that recently escaped from prison looking for a key left in her family cabin. This leads to a Die Hard style standoff between the troubled teen and the Nazis where Becky violently dispatches the racist thugs. Her one woman war against Nazis continues over the course of the second film The Wrath of Becky, where in the finale she is recruited by the government to officially fight the hate group for the USA. Temptation finds Becky now working for the CIA, but her inability to follow orders and tendency for violence have landed her in hot water with her superiors, putting her position in jeopardy. However, after the agency loses contact with an undercover agent on mission to infiltrate a Nazi group led by General Wilhelm Reuss (Neil Patrick Harris) operating an Inn as cover out of The Wolf’s Lair, a former Hitler bunker from WWII, Becky is given a final chance to redeem herself. She is tasked with conducting a recon mission and reporting back with what the group is really up to at the bunker, but just like John Rambo in Rambo: First Blood Part II, we know Becky will not be satisfied with just observing and reporting. She is going to want to get her hands dirty.
The Wrath of Becky ended with an over the top scene where Becky, after being recruited by the US government, blasts a Neo Nazi at close range with a rocket launcher. It is a wild escalation in the type of action that proceeded it in the first two films where the fisticuffs were often graphic but more grounded. The Last Temptation Of Becky continues that escalation to even bigger and more absurd heights with an even larger body count and fantastical plot she must foil. The cartoonish escalation is another parallel between the Becky franchise and Rambo films that started off as a serious action thriller but became increasingly over the top with each installment. I found Temptation’s embracing of the ludicrous to be delightful, but could see how fans of the previous more grounded entries might find the shift off putting.
The appeal of the Becky franchise is rooted in seeing her slaughter Nazis in all kinds of glorious and gruesome ways. It’s great wish fulfillment getting to see an angry young woman take out her frustrations on deserving and despicable white supremacists. Temptation doesn’t disappoint in that regard and gives Becky not only the largest ensemble of Nazi goons for her to dispatch, but also some hilariously vile characters for her to terminate. General Wilhelm Reuss, an American Nazi with dreams of reviving the Third Reich also has a comically loathsome family including his wife as well as his goofy Hitler youth daughter and son who Becky must combat. However, If there is a downside to the increased body count and bloodshed, it is that as a result the film relies more on CGI gore than the previous movies.
I enjoyed the blood soaked audacity of The Last Temptation of Becky that felt like it could be an installment of the popular Wolfenstein video game franchise, but could see how this entry would be divisive for fans of the series. While I found the over the top plot and increasingly cartoonish violence a welcome turn, it could be a deal breaker for some. The move away from practical effects towards CGI is disappointing, but understandable considering the scale of the story Temptation is telling. The film concludes in a way that could work as a satisfying end to the franchise but I hope this isn’t Becky’s last mission. Unfortunately, there are plenty more Nazis and white supremacists that deserve punishing.
The Last Temptation of Becky is now in theaters from Quiver Distribution
