I checked this movie out because I was a HUGE fan of the directors' horror film Salvage (if you have not seen Salvage, check it out, because it's one of the best low-budget horrors I've ever seen and just a good movie, period).
This film, though, just didn't have that same magic. The story follows a veteran who returns from war to discover his wife and baby murdered and his neighborhood under the control of ruthless drug dealers. Realizing the police are complicit, the veteran sets out to take revenge.
I guess that my problem with this film just comes down to tone. It tries to have serious moments and funny moments, and in between all of that there's not enough character development. The lead actor is fine (as are most of the actors), but most of the secondary characters are too thinly drawn. The main characters seem to have a lot of contempt for women, and the film itself often treats them as punchlines or sex objects. There's a "funny" conversation between two of the bad guys about how to hit a prostitute to punish her. So, okay, I'm supposed to care about violence towards the veteran's wife and sister, but laugh about the abuse of the prostitutes?
There is a decent stretch of plotting in the middle as the veteran infiltrates the drug organization and begins to play the different bad guys against each other. This was the strongest part of the film and had the best action. But the third act felt sloppy and even confusing. Without revealing any spoilers, I got to the last moments and I was like "What?".
If I hadn't had so much faith in these directors from their previous film, I probably would not have stuck with it. There were strengths to the film, but not enough to overcome the tonal inconsistency and disrespectful treatment of female characters.
This film, though, just didn't have that same magic. The story follows a veteran who returns from war to discover his wife and baby murdered and his neighborhood under the control of ruthless drug dealers. Realizing the police are complicit, the veteran sets out to take revenge.
I guess that my problem with this film just comes down to tone. It tries to have serious moments and funny moments, and in between all of that there's not enough character development. The lead actor is fine (as are most of the actors), but most of the secondary characters are too thinly drawn. The main characters seem to have a lot of contempt for women, and the film itself often treats them as punchlines or sex objects. There's a "funny" conversation between two of the bad guys about how to hit a prostitute to punish her. So, okay, I'm supposed to care about violence towards the veteran's wife and sister, but laugh about the abuse of the prostitutes?
There is a decent stretch of plotting in the middle as the veteran infiltrates the drug organization and begins to play the different bad guys against each other. This was the strongest part of the film and had the best action. But the third act felt sloppy and even confusing. Without revealing any spoilers, I got to the last moments and I was like "What?".
If I hadn't had so much faith in these directors from their previous film, I probably would not have stuck with it. There were strengths to the film, but not enough to overcome the tonal inconsistency and disrespectful treatment of female characters.
