Mayhem

And far better than it had any right to be. Helped a lot by Stephen Yuen, who damn well ought to be in a lot more movies. Samara Weaving (very good in Netflix' "The Baby-Sitter") adds a lot to the film as well.

Think of it as a grind-house Office Space, and you won't go wrong. Lots of blood, profanity, and (oddly enough) the slightest touches of profundity.

Don't expect anything more than over-the-top violence, weird laughs, and blistering payback and you'll have a good, if low-brow time.

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!

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.

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)

This is a movie that doesn't take itself seriously and neither should the viewer. With that in mind, I found Mayhem to be very entertaining. Steven Yeun (a "Walking Dead" regular) and Samara Weaving personalities were both fun to watch and provided good laughs at the right moments without trying to be too cute. This film has lots of violence and blood which I suppose could be off-putting for some, but not coupled with a lot of unnecessary special effects gore, so I didn't find any of the scenes squeamish. All said, I felt Mayhem provided an hour and a half of solid entertainment and would recommend it as an above average watch.