Mayhem : Légitime Vengeance

Just saw this at the Fantasia film festival last night and loved every second. A humour-filled, ultra-violent movie which skewers corporate office life -often literally. For anyone who has ever worked in a cubicle or hated their boss. Brilliantly funny and gory in equal amounts. So glad I went!

Mayhem is an awesome movie with a fun premise. It's very entertaining and kept making me smile from how crazy it is. Some good dark humor. Likeable lead actor and actress. Good music too.

Samara Weaving is so damn cool, and it's not just because she's stunningly beautiful. (2 viewings, 8/6/2022)

Excellent action film. The movie never slows down.

I'm sure most people working in a busy office environment have, at some point, had that waking dream where they go postal, slaughtering their colleagues in an orgy of uncontrolled violence (or is it just me?). In Mayhem, an entire workforce flips out thanks to the ID-7 virus, which removes inhibitions, allowing basic instincts to rise to the surface. Quarantined in his office building for eight hours while an antidote takes effect, recently fired attorney Derek Cho (Yeun) uses the opportunity to even the score with the company's bosses, knowing that he won't be held accountable for his actions. Together with a disgruntled client, Melanie Cross (Samara Weaving), Derek tries to get to the uppermost floor (where his 'superiors' work) maiming or killing anyone who gets in his way.

When a film is titled Mayhem, I expect just that: absolute chaos, with the sex and violence pushed to the limit. Director Joe Lynch's film has its moments, but for the most part I couldn't help but feel that it pulled its punches, never quite achieving the level of outrageousness that such a wild concept requires. There is plenty of 'stylish' violence, but it isn't all that graphic, while the sex scene between Derek and Melanie is completely devoid of nudity (clothes-on movie sex is so lame). Also, Derek and Melanie seem to be in complete control of their faculties when it suits the plot, which further undermines the basic premise.

With an excess of graphic gore and gratuitous nudity, this mix of The Belko Experiment, 28 Days Later, and The Raid could have been a classic; as it stands, it's not as good as any of those films. Oh, and Samara Weaving's scream is just bizarre.

So this is one of those "tries to do lots of genres at once" type movies, and they're usually my favourite. The problem here wasn't so much that it felt particularly uneven or tonally conflicted: it was more just that for all the genres it dipped its toes into, it didn't really satisfy in any of them.

Was there comedy? Kind of, but I barely cracked a smile more than once or twice. Was there action? Kind of, but it wasn't particularly well-choreographed or satisfying or memorable. Was there horror? I mean... not really; I wasn't scared for a second about anything. Was there satire? Yes, but nothing the movie said was particularly exciting or substantive. Was it effective as a thriller? Sort of, in the sense that it was fast-paced and structurally sound.

However, the rest of the writing faltered, as the characters were mostly very simple, the dialogue stilted and predictable, and the resolution a little rushed. Steven Yuen does a very good job however and deserved a much better script to work with. Him, the solid direction, and the fact that the movie is not boring and moves at a good pace are a few of the reasons that keep me from wanting to call this movie "bad."

It was all just a little underwhelming, and I can't see myself remembering much about it at all by this time next week.