They
used to be so polite, but in the dark and stormy future, Canada will be known
for cannibalism. Hard to believe, but that comes straight from a new Canadian-produced
Saskatchewan-shot post-apocalyptic action-road movie-family drama. Of course, the
United States is not much better since the outbreak of the Black Lung plague.
Things are bad everywhere, but there are serious smuggling opportunities to be
found on the lawless titular SuperGrid highway connecting Fargo country to the
Great White North. The guilt-ridden Deke convinces his brother Jesse to come
back for one last contraband run in Lowell Dean’s SuperGrid (trailer
here),
which opens this Friday in select Canadian cities.
Deke
has black lung, but at least he is not dead yet, like his sister. He recruited
her to drive during an unusually dangerous run forced on him by post-apocalyptic
gangster Lazlo. Even though she was killed, Deke still owes him his cargo,
whatever that might be. After some brotherly angst, Jesse agrees to join him,
but the bickering only stops when they know they are in dire trouble (actually,
that is pretty often). Fortunately, Jesse’s ex-wife North and her partner Owl
form the Overwatch security agency are discretely riding shotgun, as an
off-the-books favor to Deke.
There
is nothing particularly original about this foray into the near-future
wasteland, but SuperGrid is still an
enjoyable time at the movies, because it has so much humanity and attitude.
Dean and several of several cast-members of his wildly entertaining WolfCop movies, including the big dog
himself, Leo Fafard, truly bring out the human element in this tale of
estranged brothers. Viewers quickly invest in them and North. The island of
civilization represented by a resilient First Nations community is also a smart
piece of world-building.
Fafard
really commands the screen playing it straight-as-an-arrow as Jesse, the
no-fooling-around brother. He and Marshall Williams really sound like brothers who
get on each other’s last nerves. Natalie Krill also shows some decent action
chops as North. Plus, Tinsel Korey helps boost the film’s intelligence and
sensitivity as Eagle, the First Nations doctor.
SuperGrid has tons of
logical holes, but it is impossible to dislike such a dashed resourceful,
bootstrap-pulling film. Based on this film and the Wolfcops, we would watch anything Dean and his repertory company
took a swing at. But seriously, when’s the new WolfCop coming out? Recommended with weird affection for fans of
the post-apocalypse, SuperGrid opens this
Friday (12/14) in Toronto at the Carlton Cinemat and in Ottawa at the Mayfair
Theatre, with a VOD release coming on both sides of the border next Tuesday
(12/18)—and special thanks to GAT.