Puppet Master: Axis Termination

Well, the "Puppet Master" franchise haven't really ever managed to get back on its feet since after the third movie, which happened to be the best in the franchise. So I have to admit that I was a little bit hestitant about this 2017 movie. But I still opted to watch it, as I am doing a "Puppet Master" movie marathon.

Sure, it was nice to have Charles Band back at directing and writing, but I have to say that "Puppet Master: Axis Termination" just wasn't an outstanding addition to the franchise. The storyline in this 2017 movie felt very bland and generic. You could leave the movie running whilst you go to another room, then come back and still be up to speed with the storyline.

The acting performances in "Puppet Master: Axis Termination" were wooden and rigid, with some performers really carrying the torch for being able to deliver cringeworthy performances. Especially George Appleby's performance and his accent, it was just all over the place. The movie has a single familiar face on the cast list, and let's not dance around the bush here, because Paul Logan is not really top of the line.

Visually then "Puppet Master: Axis Termination" was okay. Not the best of special effects, but they did help make the movie all the more bearable to sit through.

"Puppet Master: Axis Termination" was a weak foray into the franchise, and it is a movie that I hadn't even heard about prior to sitting down in 2023 to watch it. And just as quietly as the movie snuck in under the radar, just as quietly will it dissolved into the mists of oblivion.

My rating of director Charles Band's 2017 movie "Puppet Master: Axis Termination" lands on a three out of ten stars.

The 11th installment, the 5th film in chronological order, and the final in the Axis Trilogy. Although this is by no means a brilliant film, it is the best (by far) in the series since the original. This installment has a much darker tone than the stupid, comical 'Axis Rising', and has a lot more depth. Indeed a vast improvement on the previous Axis films. The acting and dialogue are much better, as well as the effects and tension. The puppets also look much better and are livelier, having been so stocky in previous films. In this installment Captain Brooks (Paul Logan) and a group of people with special powers battle against Nazi wizards to gain control of the puppet serum that is quickly running out. Nazi Puppets Wehrmacht, Bombshell and Blitzkrieg are back, as well. Unfortunately, I found the lighting in the film to be very poor. Hunky Paul Logan makes the film a lot more watchable, as well...

P Puppet Master: Axis Termination (2017) on Tubi is the final chapter in the Axis trilogy. The German forces are prepared to end the puppet threat once and for all, unaware that the puppets plan to infiltrate their base and bring down their reign of terror forever.

Directed by Charles Band (Trancers), this installment stars George Appleby (Game of Thrones), Tonya Kay (Saving My Baby), Paul Logan (Alien Apocalypse), Tania Fox (Art of the Dead), and Diana Prince (Evil Bong 888).

Despite Band's legacy with the Puppet Master series, this film feels notably different from earlier entries, and it's a disappointing conclusion to the Axis trilogy. I'd actually rank it among the three weakest films in the series. Overall, it may be worth watching for dedicated fans, but it doesn't stand out as one of the better entries. I'd score this a 3.5/10.

With their former owners dead, the puppets are given to the military to determine how they move about, drawing attention from a deranged Nazi commandant and his assistant looking to control their own puppets and forcing the two sides to utilize their resources in order to stop the other.

This here was a rather decent enough entry. One of the film's few positives here is the way this one dives into the concluding chapter of the storyline present, making this a rather strong outing. The fact that the dolls are given straight to the military in order to continue their research on how they work and what their orders are going to be for the majority of the film is all given out in the first opening minutes here, wasting no time and getting this plotline going. This quick-moving story enables the far-reaching elements such as clairvoyance and dream premonitions to emerge as quite logical in this universe, introducing the concept of the dueling group of mystics battling to keep themselves secret from each other or the highly enjoyable series of interactions that play up the need to complete the dolls in their own spaces. This setup allows the film to have some rather fun cheesy action with this mix of magic and sorcery. The idea of watching the Nazi's conduct their experiments, including them going through the test subjects in their chambers to the experiments with the captured dolls as well as the daughter, offer up some truly enjoyable supernatural-themed action as the ability to control and manipulate everyone around them to do their bidding. Not only do we see their own soldiers and subordinates being controlled in some rather tense scenes in the compound but the encounter at the refinery allows for a much more chilling demonstration of their powers when mixed together with the puppet action here in the finale. With the gunplay coming into play with the puppets alongside the rest of the battles against the controllers, there's a lot to like here from the kinetic action and fine bloodshed with the dolls in play to hold it up rather nicely. That said, there are a few minor flaws to be had here. The main issue to be had is the lack of obvious puppet action since there's way too much time spent elsewhere with this one. There's way too much emphasis on the mysticism between the scientist and his daughter attempting to explain their powers that really just keep going on in stilted English full of gibberish and nonsensical megalomaniacal threats rather than putting the puppets to work. By having both sides gravitate towards speechifying as well as the overwhelming need for standing around letting their powers take center stage rather than focusing on all-out puppet action, the film takes on more of a fantasy vibe more than any other entry in the series which might be somewhat detrimental. The other factor is the cheap-looking special effects for the puppets, who look for very CGI-based and don't really have much realism in their few scenes. Beyond this, there isn't much else to this one.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence, Language and Nudity.

The eleventh installment in the long running Puppet Master master franchise has the deadly puppets again battling evil Nazis, but this time with the help of powerful psychics to battle an evil Nazi psychic and evil Nazi puppets. The story and characters aren't all that interesting and producer/director Charles Band has made the series increasingly campy on what seems to be smaller and smaller budgets, although they did shell out for some stop-motion puppet animation which was pretty fun. I think my main complaint is that there weren't enough of the puppets doing horrible things. If you're watching a Puppet Master film (or Gremlins or Chucky for that matter), you want to see little things attacking big things, and there was not enough of that in this final installment of the Puppet Master Axis Trilogy. Outside of "Puppet Master: The Legacy," which was primarily made up of clips from previous films, this is probably the low point of the series. Still, I enjoy pretty much everything Charles Band makes and I did find myself entertained, even if I was overall disappointed.