An evil alliance known as The Alliance have taken the
all-American hero known as The Taxpayer (Jimmy Keebs) hostage and promise
to execute him in three days time - that's no ultimatum, just a fact, they
will kill him ... but not before he's exposed to a long line of evil
businessmen, all wanting their fair of the Taxpayer's money as their own
neglect has caused their businesses to fail or their get-rich-quick
schemes just need a little "public funding". Not very
coincidently, The Taxpayer is to be executed on the same day presidental
hopeful Dick Panzy (Douglas Sidney) launches his big campaign rally - an
event highly anticipated, as Panzy is really liked by the public at large
... oh not because of his politics, because he hasn't got any, but he's
got a strong team that attracts a large section of the populace, including
the Bible Thumper (David Otto Simanek), the Freeloader (Matt Tobin), the
Immigrant (Savvy Anavkar), and even (gasp) a woman (KariAnn Craig) ... oh,
and need I tell you Panzy's also the head of The Alliance? With the
Taxpayer at the mercy of the bad guys, the White House is clueless of what
to do, as they don't have the Taxpayer at their disposal to bail them out
... but the janitor (Richard Randolph) knows who to call on to do the job,
Common Sense (Roger Wayne) and Personal Responsibility (Anjel White), two
superheroes who went out of style in the 80s, but who are now needed more
than ever, and they bring with them Birth Control (Anika Reitman), as only
she has the power to take out Panzy's henchman Bad Dad (Jarrod Crooks).
But once this team is assembled, they have to cut through quite a bit of
red tape to actually be admitted to the job ... and once they are, will
they do it in time, and are they strong enough for Panzy's henchmen, let
alone Panzy the powerful public speaker? Dressed up as a
superhero movie, and playing with quite some of this genre's mainstays, American
Rescue Squad is actually more of a political satire, and one that
delivers jabs left and right, thus not really embracing either party's
policies but voting for common sense instead - and I have to warn you
here, not all of this movie is politically correct, plus you might not
agree with all the messages the movie tries to transmit ... but after all,
this is not a political party's pamphlet but a movie comedy, and it will
almost certainly make you laugh every now and again, probably even at
jokes that don't mirror your opinion. On a visual level, don't expect a
polished special effects spectacle à la Avengers, this one
was done on a rather low budget - but that serves the film well, as it's
not a movie about explosions galore but, as mentioned, a political satire,
and a rather light-footed one at that, and at times the (intended)
clumsiness of some of the setpieces is really endearing ... oh, and have I
told you there are several song-and-dance routines in this one, too. Basically,
you better leave your personal political views by the door, then you'll be
greatly entertained!
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