Black Out - Killer, Koks und wilde Bräute

This kind of works like a Hangover style thriller and it does so very well. I'm pretty sure an American remake is on its way or is at least in the development stage at this very moment. This is really good and you shouldn't let the fact this is a Dutch production put you off. Or the fact you might need to read subtitles. It's totally worth it, because it has all the ingredients a thriller needs.

There is action, comedy and secrets. The comedy might not be everyones taste, but I really loved how politically incorrect the movie is. If you have a problem with those jokes you might not enjoy the movie as much as I did. Still you can't fault the movie for it's near perfect execution (no pun intended).

"Black Out" is essentially a Dutch remake of every Guy Ritchie movie ever (except "Swept Away", thank God), take it or leave it. There's nothing new you'll see in this movie, but it's a pretty darn fantastic rendition of crime movie clichés. The female assassins are vintage Tarantino, the dying crime boss is a lot like Christopher Walken in "Things To Do In Denver", the wannabe-villains having a really stupid hobby (in this case dog trimming) is a joke that I must have seen in a billion different crime comedies, but somehow it all just gels perfectly. In a worse framework the oh-so-clever little dialogues would annoy the hell out of me, but everything I'd usually hate just sorta works in this movie, somehow. By the end a lot of people have died, a lot of friends have become enemies and vice versa, a lot of weird one-liners have been uttered, what more can you really want from stuff like this? You've seen this movie before, but you'll have a great time seeing it again.

Jos Vreeswijk (Raymond Thiry) is a former criminal who wakes up with a gun and a dead man next to him. It's the morning before his wedding to innocent Caroline and his black out leaves him with spotty memory. He is accused of stealing 20 kilos of coke by gay gangster Vlad Omskorski. He has to recover the drugs before it puts Caroline in danger. He reconnects with former running mates; muscle-head Bobbie and coke genius Coca Inez.

This is yet another Guy Ritchie wannabe gangster crime movie. It has some of the style, quite a bit of the energy, but it lacks a charismatic lead. He's more of a stiff henchman type. The story is convoluted which is the norm for this type of movie. It just doesn't have the originality. It's all very familiar and not in a good way.

Not bad, not bad at all, with a bit of humor here and there coming from Willie Wartaal from the hip-hop band De Jeugd Van Tegenwoordig. It is stated as the Dutch Tarantino but I wont go that far. Therefor we don't have enough blood and nudity. In fact, there isn't any flesh to see in Black Out.

The editing was rather good and it is in fact that part with the voice over that refers to the Tarantino style. It isn't a grindhouse or an exploitation. It's just a flick about mobsters. What also is worth mentioning is the make-up used for the death people and surely for the corpse at the beginning of this flick.

You will see some references to Pulp Fiction and of course the two nasty girls also brings back the Kill Bill feeling but for me those two girls didn't work out here in Black Out. They never are the though rough girls going out for a kill. I would like to mention the performance of Raymond Thiry (Jos Vreeswijk), he really was believable.

Good story and acting, well filmed and edited (the accident with the car of Jos and a police car is worth mentioning). Never as brutal as a Tarantino flick but still it offers a few good scene's and situations.

Gore 1,5/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 3/5 Story 3/5 Comedy 1,5/5

Black Out is a Dutch crime comedy a la Tarantino and Guy Ritchie.Which is one of the strongest points in the movie and at the same time could be seen as weak ones since some scenes are direct copies.In stead of heavily criticising or bashing like most Dutch viewers did I actually applaud this effort.Sure this is no masterpiece.But it is a huge step in the right direction.Copy or not,this movie will be appealing to a larger audience outside The Netherlands and in my eyes that is a good thing.The director Arne Toonen of this movie shows he has talent and skill.It's obvious he still has a lot to improve on craft wise but I have no doubt he will manage to do so.Using older experienced actors opposite a younger cast is almost brilliant.Too bad he did not make more use of them.Some characters were screaming for more screen attention.I am not entirely sure about Simon Armstrong as Vlad.He was interesting as the main villain.But somehow a little over the top compared to the others in this film.It would have worked better if more characters and scenes would have been outrageous and absurd as well.The film was begging for it.Yet it remained subtle and calm in places where excess was needed.Overall though I found this to be a very enjoyable experience and honestly think that Black Out (2012) deserves a little more recognition.