Green Ghost and the Masters of the Stone

I just finished watching Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. I enjoyed the Green Ghost movie more. Why?

First, the fighting was top notch. I was quite frankly shocked with how good the choreography was. I've seen indie movie kung fu and it looks bad. Real bad. But this was superb.

The acting was decent. Also a lot better than I expected. The only guy I kinda knew was Danny Trejo. But the others were solid too. The lead reminded me of Johnny Lawrence's brother or cousin. I was surprised as I thought he was just comedic relief. But the dude can really fight.

The special effects were adequate...even good for an indie movie.

There was heart in this movie, a strong message about who your family really is, some laugh out loud humor, fantastic fighting and really good directing.

I definitely want to see them do a sequel or a bigger budget version of this film. Will be following the people associated with this for sure. I'd give it a solid 7.5 out of 10. Will be watching again.

Greetings again from the darkness. Next up in this prime era for Superheroes comes "Green Ghost", a struggling south Texas car dealer who moonlights as a Lucha Libre wrestler with untapped mystical powers linked to the Mayan Apocalypse! Does that sound preposterous? Sure it does. But really, is it any more ridiculous than Thanos' Infinity Gauntlet? With an overall budget that was likely less than that AVENGERS powerful glove prop, writer-director Michael D Olmos and co-writers Charlie Clark and Brian Douglas deliver their version of a gently comical, semi-serious genre film saturated with martial arts moments and finding meaning in life. While certainly no cinematic masterpiece, what's obvious about the film is that it was a labor of love ... a true passion project.

Charlie Clark stars as Charlie Clark, aka "Gringo", aka "Green Ghost" (the latter two make for an easy to decipher play on words). The real Charlie Clark is a car dealer in Brownsville, Texas. He's also the star, producer, and co-writer of this project, so obviously it is very personal to him. This movie is not meant to be compared to big budget productions. In fact, it feels more like a bucket list item for Mr. Clark, and he was fortunate enough and committed enough to fulfill his own wish of making a movie (very) loosely based on his life. In real life, Clark was raised in the Mexican culture by his Nana ... photos are shown over the closing credits. This plays as a tribute to her and his upbringing.

In the film, Charlie's dealership is floundering, mostly because he's quick to shirk his duties and head to the latest underground wresting match for his adoptive brother, Marco (Kuno Becker). Charlie supports Marco by donning his Green Ghost spandex costume - one that the crowd loves to jeer, and that causes fellow wrestlers to cringe. At a very high level (and low bar), the story involves a plan by evil forces led by Drake (Marko Zarar), the son of Nana's sister, to obtain the magical and mystical emerald and rule humanity. The defenders of humanity are the trio nicknamed, El Trio de la Luz, and it consists of Marco, his sister Karina (Sofia Pernas), and to his surprise, Charlie. The group's leader is Nana (Renee Victor, screen veteran Renee Victor, who voiced Abuelita in COCO). To prepare for battle, Nana arranges a training program featuring Master Kane (MMA fighter Cain Velasquez), Master Hung (renowned stunt coordinator Andy Chang, "Rush Hour" films), and, best of all, Master Gin, played by the always great Danny Trejo ... who even gets a "Machete" punchline. A "Rocky" montage technique is utilized, replete with a Spanish version of "Eye of the Tiger" performed by (director) Robert Rodriguez's band.

An inordinately high percentage of scenes involve martial arts fighting, and some of the stunt work is much better than we'd expect. And then there are the moments that are meant to ensure we understand the filmmakers are in on the joke ... like the flinging of tortillas, and a protective force field negated by fancy eyewear. We are never really sure how all of the mystical powers fit together, but the issue of corruption by power is pretty obvious, even within a family. The film's best line is, "Every family's not perfect, Charlie. Sometimes, we just have to make our own." While watching, a few other films came to mind. This includes Tommy Wiseau's THE ROOM, and Jack Black's NACHO LIBRE. Perhaps that will help you find the right mindset for this one.

Available VOD beginning June 28, 2022.

IN A NUTSHELL: In a Texas border town, car salesman Charlie moonlights as a masked Lucha libre wrestler going by the name "Green Ghost." When unknown assailants arrive seeking an otherworldly emerald, Charlie discovers that he has superpowers. As he learns to fight from the unconventional Master Gin (action film legend DANNY TREJO), Charlie is told that he's part of a secret warrior "triad of light" with his childhood friend Marco and Marco's sister Karina led by La Nana. Together, they've been chosen to protect humanity from Drake, the embodiment of the Mayan apocalypse.

As a stargate is opened in a Mexican pyramid, Drake seeks the power to destroy humankind - and Charlie, linked to the power of the emerald, is the only one who can stop him. Charlie must harness both his physical and mystical strength to save humanity and go from Gringo to Green Ghost. In the style of comedy-horror martial-arts movies of the 1970s and '80s, director Michael D. Olmos' GREEN GHOST AND THE MASTERS OF THE STONE is a comedic anti-hero action movie filled with adventure for the entire family.

THINGS I LIKED: Danny Trejo is the star power granted to this amateur movie. The cast includes new faces that will be mostly unfamiliar to audiences: Charlie Clark, Kuno Becker, Marko Zaror, Renee Victor, Sofia Pernas, Pepe Serna, and Elpidia Carillo.

Some of the action sequences are pretty funny.

The feature film is based on an old TV show called "Green Ghost and Mexsican" (not a typo).

We get to hear some popping Hispanic music.

Don't expect a professional movie like Marvel's Avengers flicks. Be prepared for a lot of goofy, slapsticky fun.

I love a good, funny, inspirational training sequence.

Lots of goofy humor, both spoken and visual. The cast seemed to be having a lot of fun making this movie. That always makes it more fun for the audience to watch.

The story is about a guy who owns a car dealership and then has an amazing adventure. What's fun is that this movie was also created and produced by a guy who owns a car dealership! He is partly telling his real-life story, particularly about his love for the Mexican culture and his adopted Mexican mother who had a tremendous influence on his life. At the end of the movie, we get to see pictures and video clips of them together, so keep watching during the rolling credits. You can see his genuine love and appreciation for her. He's a gringo, but his Spanish is excellent because he really did grow up with his adoptive Mexican family!

THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE: There are four very long scenes of exposition in Act 1, but they're actually necessary to understand what was going on. It's just a lot of talking.

There are some bad acting moments.

The costumes look like costumes. Of course, they're meant to.

The movie looks like a fairly low-budget movie, although some of the special effects are pretty entertaining.

TIPS FOR PARENTS: You see a man in his boxer briefs. Another time, you see a man's rear end.

A lot of Spanish is spoken without subtitles A lot of violent fighting.

THEMES: Family Identity How we influence others Hope Belief in one's self Working together Greed Good vs. Evil

My friend and I are the only 2 people in the theater which is always a great feeling as we can speak freely (not a slam by the way, this happens to us a lot where we live). We're only watching this because a Texas rule is to consume anything with Danny Trejo in it.

About 10 minutes into the movie, the plot, effects, and acting make us say "Why is this in theaters instead of a free streaming service?" We begin to deconstruct what's happening. As children, the 3 main characters are all the same age, yet as adults, Charlie is 15+ years older so now we've moved on to "Why is this guy the lead?" We start wondering if this is a regular guy who's so rich that he managed to fund a film just so he could see himself on the big screen. We begin Googling... turns out that is in fact the case. A real life, rich car dealership owner is starring in his own film. Wow!

Looking at this movie in a vacuum, it's average at best. The effects are decent enough. The fight choreography is serviceable. The acting is just plain fine. The tough pill to swallow is the storyline. It is remarkably choppy and jumps around with charcter actions not being earned, and the plotholes will take you out of it all completely.

This quickly exposed itself as a passion project by a wealthy guy with a big ego... then we had the rug pulled out from us. The ending credits revealed that irl Charlie was in fact raised by an irl Nana and you are shown a myriad of heart warming pictures of them as they grow older together. It ends up being a really sweet homage to what looks to be an amazing woman by an eternally grateful guy. And I mean, if most of us could give our mother figures the world, we would. The fact this guy actually did it is commendable and you can't fault him for that. I'm sure there's still some ego there (c'mon, guy, you gave yourself first and second billing in the end credits lol) but at the same time, he didn't give himself a 25 year old love interest which is always the case with these. So I don't know, maybe this is 100% sincere. Ultimately, the film resonated with us as a touching Mother's Day gift one week prior to the occasion and made us more appreciative of our own moms who we routinely overlook. And a movie that can do that is a win in my book.

For a silly vanity project, this comedic fantasy may be worth a look as family entertainment. A Texas Nissan dealer named Charlie Clark stars in and co-wrote the tale of a wannabe luchador (masked Mexican wrestler) who finds himself in the middle of a supernatural struggle among ancient powers. He's far less prepared to become THE ONE than Keanu was in The Matrix. His training and the big battle ensue, per the usual course of events for these things. They even play Eye of the Tiger behind the training sequences. The rights to that song may have been the most expensive part of the production.

There are a few laughs along the way, variably offering a fantasy adventure and spoofing the genre. Telling the two apart from moment to moment may be up for debate. Perhaps the basis for one of those drinking games of downing a shot whenever some trope appears. The cast is largely unknown, except for a supporting role from the legendary Danny Trejo as one of Charlie's mentor immortals. He gets in one line during the second half that's almost worth whatever time his fans spend watching this on its own. Someone named Marko Zaror plays the biggest baddest villain with a typical sort of plan to rule the world and eliminate all humans. He looks like a young Arnold Vosloo, which should serve him well for landing a string of heavies' roles in low-profile flicks. Clark's acting career seems less likely to thrive than his dealership, though he comes across as a likeable lug. They show clips of his actual family, adding to the warm-fuzzy factor of the project.

Think of this as plying the Spy Kids franchise waters, on a lower budget, and with a quality somewhere between the delightful first and lamentable third installments of that series.