Perseverance through power! Unity will prevail! And the Attackazoid armada will surely crush the uprising. Make sure you do your part by watching the inspirational — and bloody — propaganda video Attackazoids, Deploy!!, directed by Brian Lonano and Jeff Jenkins. Hell, this short film has me all ready to donate my cookware to create giant, laser-blasting, alien-killing giants.

Attackazoids, Deploy!! is, of course, the sequel to the hit short film Attackazoids!. Like all good sequels, Deploy!! doesn’t simply just try to recreate the magic of the original. Instead, Lonano — who solo directed the first film — expands on the original premise and enriches the sci-fi world he’s created. I previously reviewed Deploy!! on the Underground Film Journal and I’m glad that the film is online for more people to enjoy.

In a risky move, the giant robots running wild, blasting terrified victims into gory bits that made the first film so entertaining actually take a bit of a backseat in their own sequel. Yes, there’s still some fun violence on hand, but now we get the so-called “secret origin” of the death-dealing machines of destruction.

What really makes both films so successful, is their distinct and unique visual style. Deploy!! has a really terrific, comic-book-y combined with classic newsreel footage look. This film is much brighter and more vibrant than the original. And, even though they don’t show up for awhile, the real stars of the film are the still extremely cool looking Attackazoids.

In the underground film world, one doesn’t see many franchises being born, but the Attackazoids one clearly has a lot more ideas left in it. So, hopefully Lonano will continue this into, at the minimum, a trilogy. And, at the same time, it’s good to see him branch out working on other projects as well, including the groovy 8bit Ghost Hop! and the opening sequence for Spooky Movie Television.