QStrum

This was a charming piece overall. The young girls gave exceptional performances and the writing did exemplify competence in film storytelling. All of the moments worked except for what happens in the end. Inventive way of dealing with the problem of exclusion but it sends the message that everyone should be accepted. For example, a basketball team would now have to accept anyone who goes out for the team and let them play merely because they show up. Forget whether they can play or not, like it used to be, they just have to show up. This is pretty much what the film is telling us and when you see it you will know what I mean.

A highly trained, retired field operative resorts to violence as the only way to free a Russian prostitute from brutal Russian men who are part of an international crime organization. The many years of retirement didn't show any sign of rust on Robert McCall (Washington) as he ran through his adversaries, dismantling one after another, without batting an eye. He made it look too easy. These bad Russian men had nothing for him, which is probably the biggest problem with this film. There is nothing interesting about a Good vs Evil film with weak bad guys. The filmmakers did work hard at trying to make Teddy, played by Marton Csokas, look ruthless and deadly. But I was never convinced, and I doubt whether the many who saw this film with me at the Toronto International Film Festival were convinced as well.

I found the film rather boring for the most part, with a setup unusually longer than anything Hollywood released in decades. The dialogue was heavy handed. The supporting roles didn't provide nothing more than their vulnerability to the scum of society, which beckoned on a hero like McCall to teach them a lesson or two.

And as I stated in my summary, you have already seen this film a thousand times already: the bad guys shooting big, scary guns and rarely grazing the hero, the hero walking away in slow motion from an explosion he caused, bad guys tracking hero down in this sort of cat-and-mouse thing, damsels in distress, high octane martial arts. Wait, the filmmakers did try to make the film unique by excluding a car chase and having McCall kill each and every bad guy in the most unique way every time. A bullet to the cranium wasn't good enough. No. He had to use methods like overflowing bathroom sinks to electrocute someone. He seemed like he was trying to one-up himself every time. The hero doesn't make any mistakes in the process, even taking the time to catch a fly ball to win the company baseball game. The way he swooped in, in slow motion, and snatched that ball from the joker character who thought he had it was roll-your-eyes worthy and completely laughable.

However, when the film got going it started to be exactly what I expected; an entertaining, highly stylized, popcorn film. At the same time, being Fuqua's weakest directorial effort since his first film, I cannot recommend it. 5/10

They complained how bad the movie was and they were right. I knew we were in trouble with that cheaply done title graphic in the beginning, which is odd because they obviously had a serious budget.

I think Adrien Brody was a poor choice for the role even though he gave a solid performance. We were supposed to believe he was this hardened criminal just released from prison. Fat chance, with those flamingo legs of his. And what seems like support for him given by some black thugs he knew from prison was nothing more than exploitation of his services, and his brother's (Hayden Christensen) talent with cars, in helping them rob a bank. And Christensen's character was just trying to keep his life on the clean side, working as a car mechanic. The brothers have a troubled relationship, making it one of the most bizarre reunions between family members in movie history.

The film further trudges along with this love story subplot between the straight-laced Christensen character and an old flame (Jordana Brewster) who happens to work for 9-1-1 dispatch. You see where this is going? Despite the efforts of Adrien Brody and Hayden Christensen, this is the worst film I have seen at the Toronto International Film Festival. It was a Heat (1995) wannabe written by an 11-year-old with limited awareness of reality and the human condition, and directed by an amateur. But none of this didn't prevent it from being bought for distribution immediately upon it's premiere.