Backlash

This is a budget action film. Some people seem to think that low budget means that bad acting and worse action scenes are excusable. Anyone whose seen a really good budget movie will know that there's really no excuse. All directors have to start somewhere of course, but this director wont be going anywhere, in my opinion.

The acting in this film is truly awful. There's not much I can say to redeem it. The mood of the film flicks between over-serious and Benny hill trash comedy (an apparent attempt to reproduce the comedy style of some Japanese action films, which doesn't work). The car chase being a good example; what the hell is with the stupid music and unfunny attempts at comedy when the rest of the film is trying to be serious?!. It makes no sense and gives the feeling that the director was either high, a clueless student, or both. There are some hot babes in the film but nowhere near hot enough to make the bad acting bearable. Bas is a hero to any fighting fan but I'm afraid to say his appearance is so short I can't even recommend the film to his die-hard fans.

A previous reviewer forgave this film's misgivings giving it 8 stars, and I can understand that there are times when budget movie-trash is sometimes a good laugh, but there are so many much better budget films than this that I can't find it in my heart to recommend it to anyone other than the directors mum.

There are many many low budget movies on the market and what I cannot stand is when it reeks of low budget qualities. Bad sound, bad music, horrible acting, bad cinematography and my goodness bad picture composition etc. Backlash does have its faults but it surely gives us a bang for our buck, for what I presume was a very low budget film (no real star names etc) . In my humble opinion, which is worth nothing really except for the fact that I watch a lot of lower budget films, is that the acting in Backlash is competent, the cinematography is beautiful, the soundtrack and composing I totally enjoyed. Backlash surely took action and gave us a beautiful location to look at as the backdrop and the director surely put us in a movie world that was not to be taken seriously and he did a damm good job of that. The film does have its faults. How can you shoot so many times at a car and not have windows being broken, why did some of the fight scenes look like they were not really hitting each other. Why was some of the editing so choppy? My god couldn't the producers and writers come up with a more creative twist of a story? But unlike most critics, I don't stand on a high horse if I don't think I can do any better and when I look at a film like this (and I guess this comes from something my mother taught me as a kid) I try to put myself in the producers shoes and think, well maybe time was a factor while shooting, maybe there was no time to get all the fight scenes the way it should be, etc etc. But I am not here to give this film any excuses for its faults. But in my humble opinion, the colors, the music, the girls, the pacing, all gave it a kind of beautiful music video feel, except that instead of 4 minutes in length, it went on for 90 minutes and I do feel that music videos are sometimes too short anyway, especially the exotic ones. Backlash and I am sure no one will argue with this point, was surely one big exotic music video that lasted 90 minutes and I surely took a liking to it. Finally I have seen my share of low budget garbage and for sure Backlash is a step way above garbage. Its the kind of film that makes me start to wonder, hmmmmmmm, I wonder if I could go out and do better than that. When that thought hits my mind on any film I view, then I know its at least worth giving it a thumbs up, if for anything but a big EFFORT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

...and step away from the rack. And keep your hands above your head! If you don't you might make the same mistake that I did. I picked the DVD up (the cover 'hooked' me for the obvious juvenile reasons) and noted that, hey, Bas Rutten is in the cast. Bas is da man.

Well, Bas is in an opening action scene and then is cuffed and hauled away, not to be seen again except in brief backlashes... I mean back flashes.

But there are two hot chicks, which never hurts. Unfortunately there's everything else. How about the story? Secret agent Danielle Burgio is doing R&R in Trinidad. Someone leaks her location and a few minutes later Lauren Kim and Kevin Levrone show up. Fists, feet, and bullets fly, Danielle escapes and history repeats itself again, again, and again. We get foot, car, and boat chases but we don't care as they all suck.

And just who is leaking her location? Only a ground sloth will take more than 30 seconds to figure it out.

So how are the fight sequences? They're like the foot, boat, and car chases... bad, very bad.

I don't mind dumpster diving for 'great' bad B films. But this offering is just bad. I gave it three stars because I'll give any film one star and I awarded one star each for the two good-looking females.

If you are in the mood for a great trashy film, try and find a copy of Massacre in Dinosaur Valley, starring Michael Sopkiw and the incredible hotty Suzane Carvalho, a much better time waster.