Sunset Superman / Don’t Mess with Grandma (2024)

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Posted By: brian@brianschell.com September 23, 2024

Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone

This was awesome fun. There’s always a hint of a horror element to home invasion and being cut off without the ability to call for help, but this one is more humor and action than anything else. We really enjoyed it.

Spoilery Synopsis

JT delivers food to an old man with a goose that hates him; the goose, not the old man. We get flashes of how hard his job can be sometimes; it’s a sort of Meals on Wheels organization, and he’s not very good at it. His coworker Trent asks if he’s talked to his grandma about a nursing home; she lives two hours away, and he visits every day.

Credits roll as JT makes the long drive to Grandma’s house, listening to awful audio books. Grandma’s dog hates JT, just like the goose. The bossy old lady has JT carry a bear’s head and hide upstairs. They’re having chicken corn chowder for dinner, but there’s no chicken– or corn. Grandma’s house is full of taxidermied animals, work done by the now passed on grandpa.

 Grandma’s sink upstairs is broken, and JT gets to work on fixing it; it’s either that or read erotic novels to Grandma. While he’s upstairs working, several men wearing pig masks and carrying knives break in the window. As one of the men approaches Grandma, JT beats him silly. The other man tries to stab JT, but stabs her accomplice accidentally. When the stabbed man starts to cry and scream, JT orders him to shut up before Grandma finds out. He literally throws them out the window onto the porch as the guard dog sleeps in the corner.

Ted, Carl, and Kim argue about the useless masks; they couldn’t see anything during the fight, and Kim stabbed Ted in the back since she couldn’t tell who was who. They weren’t expecting JT to be there. Kim things JT is probably a Satanist; they all come out here for orgies and sacrifices and stuff.

Indoors, Grandma continues reading her pornography. JT hunts around and finds a gun and some ammo. He takes Grandma’s hearing aid so she can’t tell what’s really going on. JT goes outside to find that the three bandits have turned into seven. Stan is the leader, and he’s not especially smart either.

Every time JT gets the drop on the bad guys, Grandma interrupts wanting something; now it’s dinner time. They sit at the table, and he talks about a nursing home. She lays on the granny guilt about being an inconvenience to him. Carl offers to ransack the house and JT and Grandma can just sit on the porch. They want something in the house. Carl makes it inside and meets Rufus the guard dog, who finally decides not to like him either. There is much screaming, and eventually JT comes back inside.

Inside, JT and Rufus debate over their next move, and they don’t seem particularly upset. Bill, one of the baddies, tries to crawl in the bathroom window, and Rufus tears him apart– we have our first fatality! Grandma comes up for her bath, and JT has got all the blood splatter and corpse cleaned up. “Why is the water red?” “It’s the raspberry soap, Grandma.”

“Grandma is literally bathing in the blood of my enemies,” he points out to himself. Pam gets into the house, and she fights with JT; she’s undefeated with her Ju-Jistu black belt– until now.  JT argues with bandits over the meaning of the word “defenestrated.”

JT grabs a hostage and takes him inside. Grandma finally sees him– it’s Carl, the guy who brings her groceries. She invites him for chowder and a card game. Meanwhile, the idiots outside try to figure out what to do with Bill’s body. Even after dinner, Grandma is still oblivious to the burglary. Carl and JT talk about medical school and crime. Stan and Jan have been doing this regularly to rob old people. This time around, they want that bear’s head– it’s an extinct California Grizzly. It’s priceless, even with the googly eyes.

Grandma finds a pamphlet for “Shady Acres” in the trash and starts to read it. She discusses the idea with Rufus, who won’t be able to go with her. JT gives Carl the bear’s head.

Outside, Stan has called in reinforcements, and there’s at least a dozen of them out there now. JT and all the others call each other names for a while. He offers them Carl and the bear head, but Stan wants more. They want the copper pipes from the house too, so they turn down the offer. The new group has some big goons but they don’t fare well either; now JT actually looks angry.

Grandma goes up to the attic to look at old photos and memorabilia. Does she really want to leave her home of so many years? Meanwhile, JT fights about a dozen guys in the front yard. They finally overwhelm him, and he sits up and talks about being a loser as he gets right back up. Fully recharged, he goes into ass-kicking mode and gets serious. “I’m gonna be sore tomorrow,” he tells Rufus, “and I’m pretty drunk.”

Stan himself finally gets into it, but JT isn’t fazed. Stan whines about not being able to afford the down payment on a boat. “Go home! We’re done here!”

JT’s friend Trent from work shows up and helps JT back inside. JT brings Carl in to look at Rufus. Stan whacked the dog with his shotgun, and the dog was injured.

Grandma catches up to JT and admits that she’s been too hard on him. She pulls out the Shady Acres pamphlet, and she thinks maybe that might be a good idea. As they talk, Carl fixes up Rufus, so he’ll be fine.

Grandma wants JT, Trent, and Carl to play Rummy. Pam brings back the bear head and gets roped into the game too. The baddies are outside, packing up to go home.

Brian’s Commentary

It’s a very serious, terrifying home invasion film. OK, well maybe not so serious. The writer said he wrote this specifically to see “Michael Jai White punch as many people as possible in 80 minutes.”

JT laughs and wisecracks throughout the film; he never gets angry and sees the whole situation as amusing. His attitude and self-narration throughout is the best thing here.

Kevin’s Commentary

Michael Jai White is perfect in the role and the script was very fun. I liked everything about it.