BlazeLime
Strong and Moving!
Contentar
Best movie of this year hands down!
Nicole
I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.
a_chinn
I feel like I have to qualify every review I make of a Mel Gibson film, so yes, he is an awful, crazy person, but oh man was this an great movie! Mel is a nameless getaway driver on the run with two million in cash, who is arrested by Mexican police within the first two minutes of the film and thrown into jail where he schemes to escape and recover his money. The story and main character have a hard-boiled, lean efficiency that's enthralling, and both also have a nasty violent edge that may not be to the tastes of all viewers (blood and guts Mel co-wrote and produced the film), but much of this is played for for comedy. I really don't want to ruin any of the story beyond the set-up, but Mel uses his wits, charms, guns, and fists to survive a prison like you've never seen. "Edge of Darkness" was somewhat of a return to action for Mel, but this film is undeniably a return to the giddy violent action of "Lethal Weapon" or "Payback", which this film could easily have been a sequel (Mel's character at one point references a partner double crossing him with his wife). Strangely, Mel chose not to release the film theatrically in the US and decided to show it Video-On-Demand instead, but I can kind of see his reasoning, as there are some pretty rough non-Hollywood elements in the film that you would certainly never see in most mainstream action films. Overall, if you're in the mood for "Payback" by way of "Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia", then this is the film for you!
pseudonimo
I do not understand why this movie was released direct to video when it came across as such a path breaking film? The plot was great, photography superb, acting was splendid. What was absolutely great about the film?- Its background score. Massive, Lovable. I could watch the movie a number of times. Its so good. I wish it had a great release. It would have done superb. Seeing this so great, I often wonder if Mel Gibson had just directed it, and it had either Sylvester Stallone, Al Pacino or Robert De niro playing the part. It would have been legendary. Nevertheless this movie is worth the time and just perfect enough to watch.
Asif Khan (asifahsankhan)
Written by Gibson, producer Stacy Perskie, and director Adrian Grunberg (and based on an idea by Gibson), the film feels at first to fit right in with "Payback", right down to the gruff, pithy voice- over from a protagonist happily at home being bad. (Yeah, that's one Spoiler I should've alerted you about but I didn't and you'll know when you'll see the movie yourself) Gibson plays a man with no name -- he gives a number of aliases, (first appear wearing a rubbery clown mask; but he's billed only as the Ryan Gosling character and credited simply as "Driver") an unfortunately timed coincidence -- who commits a robbery and leads officials on a high-speed chase before barrelling over the U.S.-Mexico border. The film, surprisingly went straight to DVDs in the US but getting cinema release in Australia – is really art with a capital 'A'.For obvious reasons, it's hard for reviewers to approach Mel Gibson's films in a genuinely disinterested manner these days, but that doesn't mean it's not worth the effort. Once the audience realise they're getting Mel in classic action-movie mode, they'll come around and see that it's that same old Australian bad-ass handling weapons just like the old days, they'll realise what they're missing out here.It's true The Beaver, directed by his good friend Jodie Foster, was an awkward misfire but go back a little further and I defy anyone who appreciates great screen action to deny the cinematic virtuosity on display in the Gibson-directed Apocalypto. Many critics at the time kind of acknowledged this much but seemed embarrassed about admitting it; entirely understandable, perhaps, but not helpful in assessing the film's legacy. Since when did worthwhile art have to come only from nice guys? All the while, Gibson's nameless character sarcastically narrates, implying that such outrageous measures might reasonably qualify as the cost of doing business as a high-stakes criminal. The tone, inspired by film noir but amplified considerably for 21st-century audience, suggests "Lethal Weapon 3's" battle-scar comparison scene, as if this flashback were being offered to explain a gnarly gash — in this case sustained while breaking back into the world's craziest slammer, El Pueblito prison, based on a real correctional facility, in which inmates are allowed to bring their families to live with them behind bars.Gibson's sensibility remains one that chuckles at carnage and sees torture as the most effective way to ratchet up audience sympathies, but still doesn't take itself so seriously that the actor can't poke fun at himself — or old friend Clint Eastwood in an especially amusing impersonation. Gibson knows how to play to the camera, and Grunberg is savvy enough to maximise what the star gives, spinning a slick package around the crazy scenario.Production values are tops, with special kudos to the team that recreated El Pueblito in a whitewashed Veracruz prison not far from where Gibson and Grunberg made "Apocalypto."
Dark Jedi
I have always liked Mel Gibson and I really do not care how drunk or politically incorrect he might be. I still like to see him in movies and this is a surprisingly good movie. The movie had a proper theatrical premier in most countries except USA where it went straight to VOD which I find a bit surprising. It is a lot better movie than much of the stuff that are shown in theaters. I suspect the politically correct hypocrites had something to do with that.Personally, I found this movie surprisingly good. Mel Gibson fit the role very well and made a quite good performance. The settings with the bizarre prison which looked like a cross between Alcatraz and Freetown Christiania in Copenhagen was quite cool. It was the kind of setting that I would not have been surprised to find in a Tarantino-movie. I also liked the cynical and somewhat ironical voice-over by Gibson.The story was okay. Perhaps not the most believable one but good enough for this kind of action movie. Speaking of action, there were indeed some decent action in the movie but it is not like the movie is overloaded with it. It is nicely spread out and once the action starts it is pretty good. It is also true that some scenes are a wee bit gruesome but I am not sure that I agree with the R-rating. Most of the time that rating felt a bit over the top. Still, I rather have a R-rated movie with cuts than a PG-13 with lots of silly cuts in it.There were some silly bits of course, like how easy Mel could evade the prison and make a "business-trip" to the states when he finally felt like it and the entire business of performing transplantation surgery in a filthy prison. Mel might have found that "put it back" statement funny when he wrote it but it came out rather silly to me.Bottom line is that this was a quite enjoyable movie. A perfect after-work movie when you feel like parking your brain somewhere in the garage with your car and just sit down and watch something requiring a minimum of concentration.
