Billy(Jude Law, managing to add a second and even third dimension to the character, on occasion) has just been released from prison, and he immediately jacks a car and takes it ram-raiding(driving through shop display windows, and then stealing some of the goods). He's joined by Jo(Sadie Frost, who plays video games during car chases). They've given up getting a regular life. Because why bother?
I doubt very many people still think about this movie. So I'll start by saying why I'm even bothering reviewing it. I remain fascinated by the work of Paul W. S. Anderson. "The Sight" is now the only thing that he has written and/or directed that I haven't watched yet. If you adjust your expectations, everything he's made is watchable, but, outside of brief, inspired segments, never more than that. The fact that people continue to watch, on purpose... I suppose it's possible that, for most people, it's just that, like me, they find it difficult to look away. We want to see what bad idea he's going to embrace next. I don't think he's beyond learning from his mistakes, though I do feel he tends to pick up at least two bad habits to every good one.
I really appreciate that clearly this has empathy for the troubled youth it depicts. So many of these stories embrace the concept of "scared straight". Too few of them try to empathize, to listen. There are a lot of displays of excellent cinematography and editing. Clearly, there was a vision for this. The fact that it's patched together from A Clockwork Orange, Blade Runner and Brazil doesn't have to be a problem. No, the reason that it is, is a lack of understanding of why those films made those decisions. This has significantly less to say than those do.
This features a lot of property damage(honestly it gets quite tedious to look at), strong language, a little tense and disturbing violence, and brief sexuality. I recommend it only to people who identify with the leads, or who wanna see the earliest work of the guy who made the first Mortal Kombat flick. 5/10.
I doubt very many people still think about this movie. So I'll start by saying why I'm even bothering reviewing it. I remain fascinated by the work of Paul W. S. Anderson. "The Sight" is now the only thing that he has written and/or directed that I haven't watched yet. If you adjust your expectations, everything he's made is watchable, but, outside of brief, inspired segments, never more than that. The fact that people continue to watch, on purpose... I suppose it's possible that, for most people, it's just that, like me, they find it difficult to look away. We want to see what bad idea he's going to embrace next. I don't think he's beyond learning from his mistakes, though I do feel he tends to pick up at least two bad habits to every good one.
I really appreciate that clearly this has empathy for the troubled youth it depicts. So many of these stories embrace the concept of "scared straight". Too few of them try to empathize, to listen. There are a lot of displays of excellent cinematography and editing. Clearly, there was a vision for this. The fact that it's patched together from A Clockwork Orange, Blade Runner and Brazil doesn't have to be a problem. No, the reason that it is, is a lack of understanding of why those films made those decisions. This has significantly less to say than those do.
This features a lot of property damage(honestly it gets quite tedious to look at), strong language, a little tense and disturbing violence, and brief sexuality. I recommend it only to people who identify with the leads, or who wanna see the earliest work of the guy who made the first Mortal Kombat flick. 5/10.