Not Enough Rocketsauce

Tenacious D & the Pick of Destiny (Liam Lynch, 2006) [4]

Tenacious D's shorts on HBO were near perfection, capturing all the ridiculous subplots and self-reference in little tiny bits. Sadly, that's where the strength of the D lies. In short intervals it's funny but it never translates into consistency over the 90 plus minutes of this film. What works about Tenacious D is that both Jack Black and Kyle Gass commit themselves so much into the cheesy stereotypes of metal and all its pre-occupation with Satan, sex, and self-grandeur that it borders on irony. With this film, in trying to create an entire back story for the band and the mythological quest for the pick of destiny, they lose a lot of the loony energy and kind of WTF?! moments that make their shorts and their album so funny. Another bad choice was not using any of the songs that were on their 2001 release in the film. On one level, it would seem to be filler and regurgitating old stuff, but songs like 'Tribute' and 'Rock Your Socks Off' give a better idea of how funny they can be more than this film did. It seems lost in a stoner haze, all the way down to the sound system parody at the beginning. Their earlier work seems more focused and thought out, which makes it funnier.