Talk about your unexpected picks for franchise promotion: 2020’s Becky was a modestly-budgeted picture, offering the simple pleasures of a furious adolescent girl dispatching a vicious group of Neo-Nazis, including Kevin James in a rare villainous turn. It would have been an inconspicuous release in any other year, but due to some extenuating circumstances — read: GLOBAL PANDEMIC — Becky turned out to be something of a hit, spawning a sequel in the form of 2023’s The Wrath of Becky, offering the eponymous heroine another opportunity to dish out some pain on the worst America has to offer. That, too, found its audience, and three years later we now have a trilogy with The Last Temptation of Becky. The quaint stylings of the original film have here given way to a full-bore globetrotting extravaganza, as Last Temptation aims to be the biggest, most gonzo Becky adventure yet.
Two years since she became the youngest person ever recruited by the CIA, 18-year-old Becky Hooper (Lulu Wilson) is now a seasoned field operative, partnered up with Agent Jordan (Brandon Flynn) under the tutelage of Agent Kate (Kate Siegel). Following a disastrous job in London, Becky’s firery disposition is called into question by CIA Director Baker (Fiona Marr), who finds the brash young woman’s Demolish First, Ask Questions Later approach a poor fit for the agency’s traditionally reserved protocol. With good word put in by Kate, Becky is given another chance, soon heading off to Poland on her next mission to investigate a bunker formally belonging to Adolf Hitler. While staying at the Wolf’s Lair Inn, Becky uncovers a plot to kickstart the Fourth Reich, with plans of world domination put into motion by General Wilhelm Reuss (an aptly-cast Neil Patrick Harris), wife Helga Reuss (Catherine Walker), and mad scientist colleague Dr. Friedrich Metzger (James Urbaniak). Originally tasked with simple recon, Becky finds she can’t just sit back and watch the new horrors unfold, instead returning to her old ways to see to the end of this new National Socialist threat before it can even get started.
The original Becky was a survival thriller, largely set in and around a lone cabin in the woods with a small handful of characters to contend with. The Last Temptation of Becky commences as something of a James Bond film, placing agents Becky and Jordan in a crowded nightclub, working their target in possession of a mysterious briefcase. It’s a layup of pure spycraft, offering covert gadgets, poisoned drinks, and stylish clothes, but the professionalism does not sit well with Becky, who ultimately uses the briefcase to pulverize their target’s head on a dance floor filled with hundreds of witnesses. Little has changed for the character of Becky, as Wilson dials her snarky, foul-mouthed attitude up to eleven, demonstrating blithe indifference to her abrasive nature. After two similar-minded entries, this change of scenery is welcome, and soon Becky is off to Europe, where yet another white supremacist threat lies in wait.
Taking over helming duties for the franchise is Jenn Wexler (The Sacrifice Game), who shares a screenwriting credit with Matt Angel. Together, the pair go full cartoon mode for Last Temptation, leaning into campy performances and splattery encounters between Becky and the Fourth Reich. There’s General Reuss, a family man with a terrible secret, his plans advanced by the retrieval of the cryptic key established in the prior two Becky films. Aiding his cause is his doting wife and two children, who are unafraid to torture a Jewish tourist in order to send Becky a message. And there’s a whole laboratory of horror with Dr. Metzger, who is concocting a dastardly creation in the revived form of one of history’s most deplorable figures. Of course, these are all bowling pins set up for Becky to knock down, doing what she does best as she shoots, decapitates, and explodes any Nazi who stands in her way. Wexler sells the action capably enough, offering new methods with which to dispatch the villains, even paying off a bunch of gadgets from an earlier mission briefing scene to dole out the pain.
Still, despite the new additions and fresh air breathed into the film, there’s a palpable weariness to Last Temptation. The hyper-familiar concept feels stretched incredibly thin, and with an ending tag that suggests a fourth film may be on its way, the real question is has meat is left on these franchise bones. Understanding that the Becky films are not and do not aim to be high art, there’s still the feeling that the screws could be turned tighter here — especially given the new textures introduced — but Wexler and co. are mostly content to let Wilson’s sardonic performance due the bulk of the heavy lifting. Of course, the pleasure of watching death, destruction, and comeuppance enacted upon Nazis will always offer a certain baseline of old-fashioned genre fun, but Becky would do well to mine for new ideas — and see them fully through — if they plan on keeping future installments fresh for the fans.
DIRECTOR: Jenn Wexler; CAST: Lulu Wilson, Neil Patrick Harris, Kate Siegel, Catherine Walker, Brandon Flynn; DISTRIBUTOR: Quiver Distirbution; IN THEATERS: November 4; RUNTIME: 1 hr. 29 min.
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