Stiff was a terrible misfire for Adult Swim. It failed on every level. All attempts at comedy fell flat.
First of all, Stiff tried to copy the screwball action style of Sam Rami's Evil Dead films, especially Army of Darkness, during the fight scenes. But it failed. When the hero battled a zombie while the zombie trash talked him, it was just dumb. And the hero didn't have half the charisma of Ash.
Second, Stiff was basically meant to be a parody of those Saturday Afternoon Action Comedies that air on various networks. But the creators mistook imitation for parody and simply made their own particularly bad Saturday Afternoon Action Comedy. And it wasn't bad in any kind of fun or interesting way; it was just boring. When the heroine did a slow-motion flying kick and winked at the camera, again, just dumb. They copied the formulas of the genre, and then they left it at that. In scenes that were played straight, they lost the sense of fun that actual Saturday Afternoon Action Comedies have. The characters were dull and lifeless. And in terms of talent and ability, everything about the production was below B-list. Way below B-list, even for the genre. A level or two below what is involved in the shows that inspired it.
Stiff simply wasn't funny. It stunk.
First of all, Stiff tried to copy the screwball action style of Sam Rami's Evil Dead films, especially Army of Darkness, during the fight scenes. But it failed. When the hero battled a zombie while the zombie trash talked him, it was just dumb. And the hero didn't have half the charisma of Ash.
Second, Stiff was basically meant to be a parody of those Saturday Afternoon Action Comedies that air on various networks. But the creators mistook imitation for parody and simply made their own particularly bad Saturday Afternoon Action Comedy. And it wasn't bad in any kind of fun or interesting way; it was just boring. When the heroine did a slow-motion flying kick and winked at the camera, again, just dumb. They copied the formulas of the genre, and then they left it at that. In scenes that were played straight, they lost the sense of fun that actual Saturday Afternoon Action Comedies have. The characters were dull and lifeless. And in terms of talent and ability, everything about the production was below B-list. Way below B-list, even for the genre. A level or two below what is involved in the shows that inspired it.
Stiff simply wasn't funny. It stunk.
