Harley Quinn Smith and Lily-Rose Depp ARE Yoga Hosers. It would be criminal if that’s not the poster and trailer. The Canadian convenience store clerks from Tusk are back in their own adventure, a lovely ode to female friendship as an Amblin creature movie.
High school sophomores Colleen Colette (Depp) and Colleen McKenzie (Smith) just want to go to a senior party, but they are forced to work that night. While on duty, the army of little creatures that’s been creeping around town, attacks them.
I guess Smith already revealed the creatures are Bratzis. I would’ve tried to write around it but this saves me. The little Nazi bratwursts are so weird that the obvious CGI works. When their creator explains their mythology it is also a bizarre take on a mad scientist. I wonder if Nazis are a theme in Kevin Smith’s True North trilogy, since the podcast in Tusk was The Not See Party. We’ll find out if there are any Nazis in Moose Jaws.
The main attractions in Yoga Hosers are the girls though. They are adorable, and Smith’s take on social media addiction is perceptive. It’s more universal than the podcasting in Tusk, as everyone uses cell phones and only 50% of people have a podcast. The Colleens are actually singers in a band so they don’t have to sing into hairbrushes. They have real microphones and catchy tunes I want to download. I suppose Smith can sell them on SModCo Internet Radio rather than iTunes.
The Colleens are Yoga Hosers because they practice yoga with an eccentric yogi (Justin Long). His completely fake poses are legit funny. As a practicer of actual yoga, those tickled me, and they give the Colleens their superpowers too. This adventure is somewhat contained, but works as a siege movie. Perhaps they have more epic adventures ahead. There’s something profound about hearing Harley Quinn Smith deliver a famous line from her father’s signature movie. They also talk about girl stuff as openly as Smith’s male characters discuss sex.
Here’s the elephant in the room, and I have good news. Johnny Depp is fairly restrained in this. The fact that he’s credited suggests he’s no longer going method on Guy Lapointe. Here he serves the plot, investigating the Bratzis and delivering just enough self-referential commentary on Tusk and moves on before its self-indulgent.
Seeing Smith find new inspirations speaks to the organic artistic world as a whole. He’d expressed all his personal feelings and I was there when he “retired” from filmmaking, but his other business gave him a new idea. Then minor characters he invented for Tusk inspired him to tell more stories. That’s how art works. Your voice evolves but you never run out of things to say. I really like the Colleens so I’m happy to see more adventures with them, and Franchise Fred approves!