Brutal

First let me say that the movie is very appropriately titled, from the very start the action in this film is a display of total Brutality! If this was filmed in 3D, I believe I would have been covered in blood. I was sitting in my seat thinking "this can't get more brutal" and then sure enough, "splat, pop, eye gouge"! The opening had my attention, I was enthralled and determined to figure out what was happening. Why were these characters in a continuous blood drenched battle? The way the movie unfolded was very artistic and I could see how Mr. Flaherty has matured and grown from his last movie. I also want to say that Jeff Hatch gave a great performance, as did Morgan Benoit!

I was fortunate to attend the screening of Brutal in late 2013. I was very impressed with the films originality. A concept I have not seen before. The fight scenes were as the title suggested "Brutal" the actors were obviously trained fighters as some of the stunts were very clearly done by them.

The story was a times heart breaking and at other times intensely dramatic. Great performances by the leads as well as the supporting cast. The actress who played the mother was very believable and gave the story a real heart.

Morgan Benoit who played the younger of the two lead actors is a name to watch out for. I have seen him in a couple of films now and his fight skills matched with some good acting chops should see him go from strength to strength.

Overall I thought Brutal was great. I think it will do very well on an international scale as the film is not heavy on dialogue and the fight scenes will keep any action/fight fan on the edge of their seat.

I was unfortunate to be suckered in by the shill rating above of a 7.2 that is now a 7 and should be a solid 3 in the weeks to come.

It is a sad state of affairs when a horrid film is pushed, as a favor to friends of cast, writers, producers, etc in order to dupe people who will STILL find the rating false and the movie pure crap

This is sort of like how elections run, I suppose. People claim a thing, tell you it is great then when you are exposed to it yourself you realize it was one big lie

So

Bad acting

HORRID effects

POOR writing

Silly combat

...and, again, a shilled rating that does not reflect the true trash this piece is

This is an Indi film that I watched a screening of a few years back. It reminds me of some old school sci-fi flics I would watch growing up. It's not a big budget action drama that seems to be made every five minutes these days. It has a solid story that I have to admit was a little confusing at first but all gets tied up in the end. Lots of great fight scenes with really good choreography. The camera angles put you in the action for most of those fights and there are a lot of them! Some gore no nudity although there was one scene that I was hoping for a little skin but alas it was for not, bummer. Other than that, I would recommend this to anyone looking for a late night action flic. It's certainly better that anything Steven Segal has put out in decades.

Brutal is a rare look into man's violent nature, set against the backdrop of an MMA style fighting ring, brilliantly contrasting ones will to survive with the need to connect.

Director Donald Flaherty finds a unique platform on which to explore mans psyche, and delivers a deeper meaning to the title "Brutal", as his story unfolds with toe curling fight scenes, chest pounding blood baths, naked moments of innocence, arresting performances, and humor in the most unlikely of places. The stark set design helps to magnify the strength as well as the fragility of his lead characters.

An intriguing moral tale not to be missed!