Un homme à part

I watched this movie a few days ago, i have to admit it's different from Vin's other movies, the story did not make much sense in some parts,it felt a little overcooked in others., and slow paced in the middle. While the movie had the explosions, gun fights and car chases, I felt that it was not about the violence/revenge as much as it was about Vin's character mourning his wife's death and choosing to do so in anger, it was his way of screaming, letting the world hear his pain.

The thing that really effected me is the relationship between Sean and Stacey, the connection they had, even though we did not see much in the beginning of the movie, i felt that they had a strong bond. The acting - in between the violent scenes is not half bad, specially Vin's scene at the hospital, it's heart breaking. It is a good start for Vin in to do more " human " normal everyday roles, we have to respect the guy for that.

One of those films which I don't think the current IMDb score (5.4) actually captures.

It's a bit formulaic - ex-bad-boy super-DEA agent gets the bad guy, pays with the life of his nearest & dearest, and goes out for revenge. Even I saw the reveal at the end coming way-off (I rarely do), but I still really enjoyed this film.

I thought it was very well plotted and paced; Vin Diesel played it gruff, but mostly low-key (no huge sobbing moments, or tearful walks on the beach, which was refreshing). His character, along with that of his friend, were fleshed out into more-rounded human beings than the usual action hero & sidekick. The enemies were straight out of 'the Big Book Of Drug Dealers and Cartel lackeys', but Timothy Oliphant was amusing and well played, as ever (also a great turn in The Good Girl).

And I found the violence viscerally satisfying & gritty, without being seriously glorified, or venturing (too far) into Bad Boys style Hollywood explosions, helicopter gunships, LA car chases etc.

Most surprising of all (to me) is that Vin agreed to grow his hair out a little - as you would in an extended hospital stay - and roughen up his otherwise clean shaven / macho male model looks. Wandering around with the goatee, he reminded me more of the guy out of Cypress Hill.

Kudos also goes to the ending. It could have finished two scenes earlier than it did, but the tying up of loose ends wasn't done in an overly sentimental or triumphant way, which was similarly refreshing.

Good screenplay, good acting (in a pretty standard film like this), and mostly avoiding the really obvious clichés of plot & character. I really enjoyed it. On the scale of revenge movies - it's not as good as Mel Gibson's remake of Payback, or The Rock in the remake of Walking Tall. But it would hold its own alongside them in a collector's box set.

When I rate a movie or give my opinion of a movie, I try my best to compare it to other movies like it. For example, if it is a drama about family, I use other dramas about families as a benchmark. "A Man Apart" is definitely a vigilante film. Sean Vetter's (Vin Diesel) wife was murdered and he is out to find the killer. If you want a reference for a vigilante film, see just about any Charles Bronson movie, or some of the movies with Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwazzenegger, or Steven Segal. One of my personal favorite vigilante movies is the Denzel Washington starred "Man on Fire".

Comparatively, "A Man Apart" doesn't quite match up. Whether it was how the movie was done, or it was Vin Diesel, I didn't quite feel the pain of Sean when he lost his wife. This type of movie is dependent upon the drive of the main character and getting the audience to understand or feel that same drive. Sure, most of us would understand a man seeking revenge or justice for the wrongful death of his wife, but the character still has to have some type of charisma or believability. Vin Diesel is too one dimensional to show a wide range of emotions, and there weren't enough scenes showing the bond between Sean and his wife for me to be too upset when she was killed. In the end, the movie was about a vigilante seeking justice who I wanted to succeed, but I was still indifferent about.

A Man Apart is nothing special but after the first 15 minutes I didn't think I'd be saying that in my comment. It starts off really well, exciting, good characters and it was moving along nice and quickly. While the good characters and the moving along kept up throughout the movie, the most important thing didn't - the excitement. The action sequences just became like Vin Diesel's acting voice - exactly the same the whole movie. The director tried his best to vary it (bombs, choking .etc) but these things never seemed to have any effect, for what reason I don't know. Also the storyline was unbelievably predictable.

There are a lot of action movie out there, a lot - you're not going to find anything new in this one.

I personally liked the film. Vin Diesel's performance was the right side of credible. Lerenz Tate was a good choice as a partner, as he provides a solid performance as well and provided the comic relief this sort of film needs. The plot wasn't as lightweight as I thought it was doing to be, the script didn't go too over the top (although there was some moments) and the action was pretty impressive. Not too bad for a Vin Diesel vehicle.

My one problem though is that the ending didn't make sense (why did everyone start fighting when he was walking off at the end?)Frankly, I think it would have been better if they had swapped the end scene with the previous scene at the wife's graveside.

Also, did the makers of 'The Punisher' watch this film beforehand, because they are very similar.