Fatal Deviation

Ultra-cheapo Irish martial arts movie, shot on VHS with amateurism running through it from head to toe. If the slightly threadbare Irish aspect of 'Father Ted' ever raised a smile then you should definitely give this a look.

There's nothing in this film that you could consider in any way professional or competent. The acting stinks, it's badly dubbed, the action scenes are arthritic, the dialogue feeble, the direction barely qualifies as such and the whole thing makes very little sense at all.

However.

I don't think I've ever seen anything quite as entertaining in my life, and not even in a "so bad it's good" sort of way. It's impossible to explain - but it works, it just works. A quite amazing movie.

There's rumoured to be a 10th anniversary festival this year in the village of Trim where it was made. If it pans out, I'm there - if only to meet the incredible James Bennett!

I don't know how the Irish martial arts cinematic scene is doing, these days, but I would not be surprised if the last 17 years have not been enough time to recover from this debacle. To be certain, FATAL DEVIATION – apparently the first Irish martial arts film – is a no-budget feature that deserves some slack given its obvious limitations, but I just couldn't find any fun in it to justify a higher rating. This is a simple movie made with the most basic means, but unless you like "bad" films for the sake of badness, I can't recommend it to you.

The story: A young martial artist (James Bennett) returns to his hometown to avenge the death of his father at the hands of a murderous drug lord (Michael Regan).

The only substantial thing the film has to its credit is its lead star. James looks great and has some cool moves, and I was genuinely surprised to realize that he's had nothing resembling a solo career since this picture...but then I remembered that the world already has a Jean-Claude Van Damme. Admittedly, no Caucasian karate star can avoid being compared to Van Damme, but both Bennett and the filmmakers go out of their way to make this as much of a JCVD homage/knockoff as possible. Bennett's character (1) must avenge a family member, (2) enters a tournament, (3) is trained by a master, (4) performs the splits, (5) performs helicopter kicks, and (6) must topple an unbeatable opponent.* Aside from such general resemblances, there are several blatant lifts from HARD TARGET, and man! – does it ever look silly to see these guys trying to ape John Woo's style without a penny to their name.

However, the vast majority of the film is unambitious to a fault. On one hand, I commend the filmmakers for knowing their limitations and keeping the plot as basic as possible, but on the other, it's disappointing that they did not exploit the creative freedom intrinsic to indie filmmaking a little more. But perhaps I am asking for too much, because these guys really don't have much to work with: there isn't a skilled actor among the cast and the technical limitations of the filming equipment are apparent in every poorly-lit and color-blinking shot. The fight scenes are the only aspect captured with anything resembling flair, but despite their quantity, few fights are filmed well enough to stand out and few fighters other than Bennett have enough screen time to make an impression.

Despite its short runtime, FATAL DEVIATION has a meandering pace that makes it a chore to watch, and the odd pop-polka soundtrack certainly did not help me pass the time faster. Simply stated, this movie is no triumph. While I would be delighted to see James Bennett headline another feature, I desperately hope for any kind of a budget for the poor guy.

*Credit to the original "Van Damme Checklist" belongs to Jason of Amazon.com.

A strong effort by Martial Arts enthusiast James Barnett and his pub friends despite having no budget and no knowledge of how to light or edit a movie, nor about how to capture sound.

A solid 7.

I think I read somewhere that this is the first Irish martial arts movie ever - I'm guessing it probably has the distinction of being the last as well. It stars James Bennett, who is Ireland's answer to Tonny Tulleners. His acting level makes Van Damme appear like Richard Burton but I am guessing he was hired more for his martial art moves. It does have to be said though that the fight sequences are absolutely ludicrous and the hero has a mysterious mentor who seems to be a magical monk from a forest. The film itself has been shot on video and, consequently, it truly looks appalling. Story-wise, like this genre in general, its generic in the extreme - its sort of like Kickboxer or something. Ultimately, it is kind of interesting seeing what an Irish martial arts action movie is like - it's sort of like a low end chopsocky flick...but worse. But fair play to them, they made a movie.

Too call this film an Oscar winning performance is an understatement. Bennett has the qualities of a master, more agile than Bruce Lee but with the funny bone of Jackie Chan. From moon kicks to standing on logs he can do it all. From a young age he was trained in one of the finest schools in Europe, the school of Bennett in Trim. His dad was a master of the sport and has always been proud of his son, he is now and he was then. His first and only film "Fatal Deviation" reached box office success with packed out shows in his home town of Trim. Hes his own stunt man and cos of his recklessness his friends dubbed him "Johnny Square Ass". Hes so crazy he even did his own car stunt in which he nearly died, yes hes that mental! So crazy in fact that after the stunt he gets out and laughs, what a guy!!

My friends and I have watched this over 50 times minimum and still watch it bi monthly. It is without a doubt my favourite film of all time and a piece of Irish film history, way better than your Michael Collins or any other wannabe Irish movie. If your looking for authenticity well then look no further.

This film makes me proud of my country..

It makes me sad that the guy down below that gave this piece of brave film making a 1/10, obviously s/he just doesn't get the films plot and insane action. Its probably not Hollywood enough for him but if you can appreciate a film for its roaming shots of rural life, tricky martial art stunts, harrowing love interests and som eof the finest acting this side of the world, well then take a seat, open your eyes and set your mind to stun.

(p.s: the priest can still be seen roaming the church grounds but only "after training").