I dont think I was quite prepared for the finale of the ‘Evil Bong’ franchise, but then again, when you have a series that’s revelled so unashamedly in not giving a crap about continuity or plot or…character development…or characters really for that matter. What did I really EXPECT this thing would do in its *alleged* final installment? Because the answer is…not a whole lot.

If you thought with this being the final installment (for now) that things would at least get tied up somewhat. You’d be gravely mistaken, the closest thing I can compare this film to is it feels like two young teenagers huffed paint, watched ‘End of Evangelion’ skipped about 30% of it, didnt get the philosophy and then wrote this based on their experiences.

It’s a film that tries to have its cake and eat it too, for a starters; the film totally ignores the storyline and cliffhangers that we’ve been developing now since ‘Evil Bong 420’. Gingerdead man? Gingerweed man? Sexy Hell? Larnell and the guys? the weird clown girl who suddenly joined the series around part 6? Sarah Leigh? All gone. no mention, not even a passing reference.

Given that 420, high 5, 666 and 777 were so closely linked and dealt with the ongoing plot to open a portal to earth in order to bring sexy hell to the mortal realm. AND given that 777 ends with Rabbit and co staring down the sharp end of an axe. The audacity of this movie to just, pretend that whole plotline doesnt exist…BUT THEN TO REFERENCE CHARACTERS AND LOCATIONS IN PASSING IN THIS MOVIE. Had me reaching for the blood pressure medication.

If you want closure on any of the plot points from the last 4 movies, you’re out of luck. this film raises a firm middle finger to you and tells you to grow a pair because we’re doing something different.

So! Ignorning that half the cast are missing and not even mentioned, AND ignoring the finale of ‘777’, ‘Infinity High’ opens with Rabbit having somehow escaped being axe murdered to death, 2-3 years have passed, the pandemic happened and now for some reason Rabbit is now the owner of a restaurant. Its opening night and he’s got two ditzy girls running food, an *implied* nazi chef and Ebee is helping keep the food ‘well seasoned’.

Its here we get the main selling point of the movie, Diana Prince as ‘Tom Atkins’ (…not THE Tom Atkins…its just a nod and wink…expect lots of those in this) Whos a down on her luck waitress, who doesnt do waitressing…Rabbit sets her up as a front of house greeter…and with that what follows is approximately 30 minutes of total non story filler in which various characters, some new, some from previous ‘Evil Bong’ movies and some from different franchises. Turn up, eat Ebees ‘seasoned’ food and either go crazy, or get horny and naked.

All the while, Rabbit is fighting his urges to not get high and ‘head empty’ because doing so seems to have the magical ability to pull people into his mind.

The ending is LITERALLY the end of the TV version of ‘Neon Genesis Evangelion’ but instead of a teenage boy, its an old man. I…am lost for words.

Besides the fact that I STILL cant believe these film makers would have the UTTER contempt for a loyal audience who’ve sat through 5 films at this point looking for closure, only to airlock any and all of it in favour of 60 minutes of ‘goofy restaurant shenanigans’. The script is limp as a wilted lettuce leaf.

the act structuring is awkward, with the first act getting about 10 minutes, the 3rd act getting about 5, and the 2nd eating up the rest of the runtime. Characters are almost factory reset to just being one note versions of themselves. the cameos make ZERO sense and feel ultra forced. the tone is all over the place with no clear drive for what makes it worth your time to watch this thing (though, to the films credit…at least it handles itself better in that regard than ‘777’ did)

The best way to describe it, is that it’s a film that gets stuck in one gear around 10 minutes in and then never manages to pull out of that mode. Its depressing to me that at 10 entries, The ‘Evil Bong’ films STILL havent decided what they want to be. Ebee is one of the most confusing villains in cinema history, she says what her mission is in almost every movie, and in every movie she somehow manages to achieve less and less. with some films barely even having her appear.

Its just…SUCH a nothing film. and if it wasnt for the fact that theres literally just one or two things that stop me outright hating this thing. it’d be at least a star lower for me.

The direction and cine in this is some of the best the franchise has had to date. Barring a particularly grotesque looking greenscreen shot at the very VERY end of the film, it looks professional, is decently lit, gets creative at times and uses decent composition of shots, solid colour coordination and a tight edit (that feels comfortable at 60 minutes, but could have been shorter) to showcase some really nice visuals…its a shame that theres barely anything happening in this nicely made up shots.

Diana Prince is probably the best part of this movie, shes a little stiff in places on delivery, but does have some really decent comic timing and gets the tone that this thing SHOULD be aiming for through most of the runtime…It’s just a shame the rest of the cast didnt seem to get it. there are one or two cameos that were a nice surprise, but they’re ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ in length and left me quite upset that we didnt get more.

Honestly? this film feels less like a warm and affectionate goodbye to a much loved franchise, and more akin to the cinematic equivilent of taking a franchise out back and seeing it off like ‘Old Yeller’ If this IS the final ‘Evil Bong’ movie, I think its fitting that a franchise that gave not ONE fuck for its audience, a franchise that seemingly believed its viewership consisted of people SO stoned they were worried they’d load toast into their bluray player and eat the disc, and so didnt BOTHER to tie ANYTHING plot wise off…or even to have a base line of style or continuity or tone. Ends the series with a totally removed entry that adds nothing to the series, take nothing away and is just as confusing to watch for someone who’s sat through 10 of these fuckers, as it would be for someone who’s never seen a single one before.

Technical mediocrity and some half decent performances is the only thing keeping this thing above water for me. in every other respect this is dire…DIRE viewing and it’ll likely be a cold day in hell before I bulk rewatch this franchise. DAMN I need some Tylonol.

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/evil-bong-888-infinity-high/