A Man Apart

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.

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.

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.

This movie is alright for a gritty action film because it reminds me of the grittiness of Narc with the action sequences of XXX. The acting of Vin Diesel as a DEA agent is going out for revenge after his wife was murdered is good and alright and the acting Larenz Tate as his partner is alright as well.

Overall, I find this movie a good gritty action flick to entertain yourself any time.

Lately, i do not watch too many ‘old-fashioned' action films like this. This has mostly to do with the fact that action films are somehow always the same. The only things that can make an action film decent are not too many corny scenes and some comedic elements. Take for instance Cradle 2 the Grave, which I saw a couple of weeks back. Now the action was pretty OK, there were some funny elements, but there were some stupid things as well (such as a corny ending). Or Bulletproof Monk, which was a bit corny overall. While A Man Apart is certainly not a good film, it is one of the better ‘old school' action films I've seen lately. The acting is decent, there are no corny elements and there is a good mix of emotion / softness and action. The film might not be suited for the big screen, but it does well as a rental (BTW: the film was shot between 2000 and 2001 and got shelved at first). The film certainly has some interesting elements and is better than most of Seagal's or Van Damme's new films. I was not disappointed to have rented it.

6,75 out of 10