Knuckledust

Or at least this is what the writer/director was probably dreaming his movie's reviews would sound like. Unfortunately the entire film is derivative and badly made, despite a cast with fantastic potential. Maybe the story is not that terrible, but it was telegraphed since the first few minutes. Then the killeresque stylish mystique, complete with individual quirks, contrived dialogues and complicated rules that don't mean much at the end. It would have been great if it would have been accompanied by good action scenes. Alas, they were shot from odd angles, cut at wrong places and censored for PG-13. This could have been a decent film with better actor direction and good editing.

Bottom line: it's not a terrible film, but it is a failure compared with its goal and considering the untapped potential of the cast. There are other films that merit your attention more.

Cannot decide if it is supposed to be an action flic or a caper flic or a self-parody. Just when the viewer almost gets to understand what a specific scene is about, the camera jerks right or jerks left and new characters appear out of nowhere to distract you. The use of color is deliberately over-done (along with garish lighting) to make you think you have a splitting headache when you actually don't. Ditto the music track. And, lest we forget, the title Knuckledust, which sort of leads one to think of this as fight film, turns out, like every other part of this script, to be only a tease with no actual payoff.

I have read the previous reviews. While I get the hate, I have to say there was more talent on display here than is people are giving credit for. This is not cliched or low-effort. I found it to simply be strangely made.

The film has a number of good individual elements that are put at odds with one another. The story ebbs and flows between its B-movie violence and its melodramatic plot themes. The constant barrages of extreme color in the camerawork did not gel with the indie rock soundtrack that blared at times.

The actors were all committed to their roles. The problem is this does not save the film when it moves into more absurd elements.

I actually appreciate these films whether they work or not. Hollywood films are slammed for lack of originality. These movies help keep the other side of cinema alive. I look forward to the director's next effort.

I don't find the humour funny, and there's much less action than I expected. What was there was also rather unimpressive. I found it pretty boring for a long part of the movie. Then it actually gets interesting later on, when the plot jumps around a bit with good twists. Somewhat worth it for that I suppose, if you're patient enough. But I wouldn't go so far as to recommend watching it. There are better things to do.

Better than I expected, but not in anyone's top 10. Definitely Usual Suspects/Snatch-ish.