Michael Jai White Brings Flair to Lackluster Action-Comedy

Jason Krawczyk’s last directorial effort is 2015’s punchy “bullets, blood, and Bingo” flick He Never Died. His comeback project, the Tubi original Don’t Mess With Grandma (aka Sunset Superman), hopes to channel the same indie action gumption. It’s a home invasion action-comedy starring the indomitable Michael Jai White, who exudes his typical kick-ass charms as he defends a helpless old lady.

Jasper (White) is a Meals on Wheels driver for “Trusted Trays” who frequently visits his lonesome and demanding Granna (Jackie Richardson). On his latest stay, while sipping rum and fixing sink pipes, masked stooges break in the front window. Jasper makes quick work of the inept home invaders thanks to his decorated military background, only for ringleader Stan (Billy Zane) to rally his troops outside. Unfortunately for Jasper, his night’s not getting any easier when Stan’s fully-loaded reinforcements arrive. Like a good grandson, Jasper defends his Granna’s home and keeps her none the wiser — bruising and incapacitating anyone dumb enough to enter Granna’s domain.

That’s the gimmick. Can Jasper dispatch below-average country thugs without Granna realizing her precious homestead is under siege? It’s a modest joke when Jasper initially fights back, humorously shushing his nearly unconscious foes or popping Granna’s hearing aids out. Jackie Richardson plays aloof and unbothered with a humorous lack of old-lady patience, but the overall concept only sustains for so long. Jai White is doing his damndest to elevate this one-trick pony of an idea, pouring his grandmother’s blood-tinted baths or throwing himself from second-story windows to avoid her realization — it’s just not enough. The humor of Krawczyk’s scenario holds limited juice before repetition settles in, impervious even to Jai White’s typically impenetrable wits.

Doubly frustrating are the fight sequences, which play as lethargic and underwhelming. Ess Hödlmoser’s trained soldier, Pam, is the only main baddie who can keep pace with Jasper by design, but even their bedroom grapples hit the ceiling. Action choreography has clear restrictions, relying on camera trickery more than crisp martial arts professionalism. Jai White is mustering every ounce of bone-breaking proficiency as a one-person army threatened more by exhaustion than Stan’s cronies, only for uninspired cinematography to undersell his expertise. Don’t Mess With Grandma’s denim-vested Ronnie James Dio disciple is a far cry from Black Dynamite‘s Kung Fu master, and Jai White himself can’t save the production’s mediocre combat excitement.

Humor is subjective, but Don’t Mess With Grandma isn’t remarkably funny. Billy Zane’s Stan is a Ned Flanders clone with a fake-as-hell mustache, played as a blue-collar bozo like there’s an inside joke we don’t know. Krawczyk’s sense of humor is a lighthearted purgatory, stuck in this comedy middle ground that’s not edgy enough to land its punches or sappy enough to steal some smiles. The film settles into a numbing cycle by presenting Jasper’s adversaries as non-threats who can’t hit targets, properly tend to wounds, or pose any reasonable danger to Granna’s protector. There’s a wholesomeness to Jasper’s grandmotherly adoration and momentary giggles when he catches himself drunkenly rambling, but disappointment overtakes once you realize that’s all the film has to offer. It’s a linear experience that operates on a flattened wavelength, missing adrenaline spikes or punches into second gear.

It’s a shame because genuine laughs are scattered throughout Don’t Mess With Grandma. Letterkenny alumn Evan Stern plays a squeaky-voiced enemy with agitated outbursts of silliness, instigating a few comical spats between his cohorts. Rufus the Dog is an unexpected MVP, whether reconciling his differences with Jasper throughout the night or playing house guardian with hilariously violent results. Krawczyk’s intentions are humble, and his dissection of home invasion tropes is not without clever callbacks (You’re Next, for example), but meager executions only exist on base values. It’s listless and repetitive as Jasper bests challengers one-by-one, which in itself is a commentary on dumbass villain types, but falls victim to the same fate instead of production blasé meta entertainment.

Don’t Mess With Grandma pulls its punches as an action-comedy without total immersion into either subgenre. Michael Jai White’s million-dollar presence and fancy fighting techniques aren’t powerful enough to overcome dull scripting and odd performance choices. It’s happy with formulaic approaches and achieves its ultimate goal of being the class clown of indie action releases, but it doesn’t have much more to add. We can have “nice” movies — that’s not the problem. Krawczyk struggles to execute a “nice for the sake of nice” movie beyond that reason, which feels like a movie stuck in idle that rolls from start to finish.