Well, this is a strange comedy. Believe me, I usually enjoy Shemp, no matter the movie, except this just doesn't work out. The opening sequence is something that would definitely happen in a comedy with The Boys, and the middle sequence is a mix between good and bad. The last chase thing is a jumbled up mess, except for some assorted gags.
About the opening sequence.. My favorite gag in this is when Moe says, " Hit the dummy!" to which Chopper Kane starts to hit Shemp and Moe explains, " No, not him! The dummy!" and then Chopper goes on to start hitting the actual dummy, which backfires to the point where the dummy keeps on firing back between Moe, Larry, and Curly.
By the way, does anybody notice how much physical stuff Shemp has to take in this film? He takes a bucket of water, a pie in the face, a cream puff in the face, and has his head slammed in a door to generate a door to open. But, he also ends up being the hero in this movie, so all the physical things barely matter, in the end, because Shemp is the hero.
Another good gag in the opening part is when Moe is talking to Larry about Shemp's boxing. " There goes Shemp with a left jab! There goes Shemp with an uppercut! There goes Shemp with a hay-maker!" then we hear a sound effect and Moe says, " There goes Shemp.."
Of course, then they encounter the villains of the movie, where the movie takes a slide downhill. I used to love the movie as a child, except looking back at it now, it's less enjoyable. I just don't like plots like this movie where first we have great comedic stuff and then the movie goes downhill all because of the villains. Even though the villains are very fairly decently played.
The middle sequence... There is great potential for a cream puff fight right here, but the writers must've figured that they had a pie fight in the last movie, so it would've been a bit repetitive.
However the villains strike again this time talking about bets. Bleh. Boring.
The ending sequence ( the chase).. This would've worked well. There's just something I can't put my finger on about this scene. This scene has its flaws, including one thing: It's a bit long! It takes up about 1/3 of the movie, which this scene could've been cut down to a shorter length.
But, there are also things that I do like about this scene: One thing is the part where one of the villains is talking to a villain that was previously knocked out by The Three Stooges, and Moe has to move its head. That scene is quite hilarious, and does get a couple of laughs.
Also, I like the use of Shemp being the hero, for he is the one to release the moth balls that cause the villains to fall and for he is also the one to bonk the villains on the head with a mallet. It just works out good, because in Curly shorts, usually the third Stooge did not save the day, and I notice in the Shemp shorts the third Stooge usually takes care of whatever problems the Stooges usually face.
Then, The Three Stooges are rewarded money, and this movie all ends with a happy ending. All's that ends well.
My overall thoughts: A fairly decent movie that is a sort of jumbled up movie that has various good parts, but also some various parts. Believe me, this was a hard one to rate, except I'm going to go with Metal and rate this a
8/10