Outlaw

I am surprised at the poor IMDb rating for this film. The film picks up on many of the problems in British society. The failings of the Police are real and the writer paints a realistic picture of a possible future of Britain. Police getting worse, crime continuing, the public let down.

The film doesn't pull any punches, it is grim and hits its message home clearly.

The performances are fantastic. Sean Bean really is incredible, the pain in his face is clear to see, full of emotion, he is brilliant. Bob Hoskins is also great.

The film is not perfect. Any criticisms i would have would possibly be the soundtrack, it would have been good if there was more music kicking in, i think the droning noise was possibly overused.

Overall though, the writer should be credited for a writing a film with a strong, important message and the direction creates a fantastic movie.

It really was a disappointment. Slow start and the last 20 minutes picks up. But I had to give it a 7/10 because of the concept. "Boondock Saints" was better.

=> maybe see it! Better to rent.

Plot: The law & govt in London lets down several average citizens in terrible crimes committed against them and their families. Corrupt officials are in league with the govt who allow criminals to get off. Soluion = vigilante group forms to right the wrongs.

Lot of reasonably well known actors in here but it has a B quality movie flavor. Maybe you could say more of live or real budget production. It moves a long a bit slowly, but despite all of this I really have to draw attention to..

+ves: - it almost follows a pseudo real life pace not a Hollywood blockbuster - the incidents that occur are believable. It could happen in South London. - bully's & punks with top people in collusion with police - corrupts govt and police - a few wrong people pushed too far and of course the social path who is drawn to the group - and a predictable or realistic ending.. Don't worry no spoilers.

-> The longer I consider it the more the movie has drawn me in, like a car crash and it deserves it's 7/10

Bryant returns from the Iraq war one of many burnt out veterans to find his wife gone off with another man and yobs hanging around in the street. Gene Dekker meanwhile gets beaten up in the street (an English street dear viewer!) by thugs after a minor fender bender. Barrister Cedric Munroe however, losing his wife and unborn baby after criminals from the gang of violent overlord Manning send a warning for him to back off the prosecution of their boss.

There is an interesting film in here somewhere and certainly the time to try and find it would be now. Whether it is reality or perception, there is the feeling that lawlessness is rife and that the police are powerless to stop it. Whether it is yobs on the street, rudeness, robbers suing victims, paedophiles living beside schools or whatever, the Daily Mail has never had it so good with plenty of hand-wringing to be done at every turn. Even recently two "ordinary" people have died in different places when they attempted to stop youths or criminals doing something – surely it is only right to stand up to such behaviour. Well yes and no and it is an interesting question but with Outlaw the questions are either answered before we begin or are just ignored in favour of a simple narrative.

For that is what is served up here in a script that never really challenges the audience and seems to be keen to serve the target audience of those attracted to a story about men standing up to injustice, without actually being brave enough to just come out and say "hanging's too good for 'em". This is seen in the "turmoil" that the group goes through, with some all to happy to kill the wrong doers, while others just want to beat the sh1t out of them – you know, the type of complex morality questions that really trouble the mind. Such as it is the script never gets into this aspect of it and indeed if there is a conclusion, it is that vigilantism is the only way to go if you want results.

Having seen other films from love, I am willing to accept that he has written a dramatic script that has no interest in the wider questions but is just using the situation as a setting. As weak as an excuse as that is, following this line of reasoning still left me with a film that didn't engage, excite or interest me. As writer Love did not produce any characters, scenarios or questions that I cared about. As director he seems to be frantically trying to make his drama have the grit and reality that his script lacks but he has decided to do it by doing an poor man's impression of Paul Greengrass by having a child nudge the cameraman throughout shooting. It worked for Bourne but here it just annoyed me and seemed like just a stolen idea rather than a style that helped the film.

The cast offered substance and I would have liked to see some of them actually served with good characters. Bean and James in particular are capable of more and maybe they thought they would get it when they signed up. Both have a good presence but neither really has anything of value to get into. Dyer does his usual stuff but, considering his character is more or less the heart of the film, he does not connect with anything. Hoskins is a good catch for this name but his character is just an easy angry copper.

Overall then, what did this film offer to me? Well not a great deal. Despite a topical and controversial subject matter, there is nothing to think about or challenge the viewer as Love just hammers home a simple dramatic script without the heart to go for blood whole-hog or conversely risk upsetting his loyal male audience by being reflective or thoughtful. Could have been interesting. Wasn't.

From the trailers of Outlaw one could probably say that this film is going to rock ! Guns , girls and gore right? With a cast like Sean Bean and Danny Dyer , Bob Hoskins and Nick Love the man who gave us Football Factory and The Business , we got the Brit Pack ere ! Unfortuntaley that is not the case this time round , don't get me wrong the idea of a vigilante mob that takes the law into their own hands seemed pretty cool and giving the current climate of yob culture in Briton it would help to have someone would knock some heads together. Sean Bean plays a soldier who has just returned from Iraq to find his life is just as bad as it was out there and he seems to do a pretty good job of playing a tortured man that kind made me draw comparisons between him and Robert De Niro's character out of Taxi Driver , he then goes about setting up a group of like minded individuals who just like him have snapped with the wrongs that go on around them. So far so good Nick Love does a good job of keeping the film moving and at times blending in realistic problems with the fantasy side of things. However although I felt all the actors performed well , what they had to work with was very limited and thusly a script that lacked depth really does not make you care about the characters that much. Also I found it to be a little dull in places and then getting very rushed towards the last 30 minutes of the movie with things flying about left , right and centre just made it chaotic. Too conclude Outlaw came across as a movie which could of had a lot of potential and probably could of been Nick Love's finest piece of work to date as it dealt with a subject most of us deal with every day and night whilst on the streets of the UK , but unfortunately a shoddy, shallow script and messy direction made this one lose serious marks. I understand this was made mainly of donations from fans of Nick Love but unfortunately that really is no excuse but Nick's trademark violence made sit all the way through it. My advice is just wait for it to hit the rental shop .

OUTLAW 6.8 OUT OF 10

FIGHTING BACK IN 2007

If you are someone like me who hadn't seen the trailers for this or hadn't actually heard of it, and aren't used to films of this type (i.e. British setting based around violence and crime) then you are likely to really thoroughly enjoy this movie. I thought it was one of the greatest British films in a long time, and is up there in my mind with 28 Days/Weeks Later and the like.

The acting is pretty top notch. I thought Danny Dyer and Sean Bean were fantastic unlike a few of the other commenter's, and their dialogue and actions were pretty moving and inspiring. I thought the camera work went well with the type of film it was, and aided in conveying the action, violence and attitude of the movie. There wasn't too much violence nor too little, and at times i was kept on my seat, cringing ready for the next punch, hit with a bat or pipe, or any other act performed.

The ending was pretty cool too and wasn't what i predicted to happen. It left me grinning and i was just really entertained throughout the film.

I think for the people who were looking forward to the film it was bound to not be as good as expected, but if your after something interesting or something different to your typical action or horror flick, and you like British movies, you should really give this a shot. You wont regret it.