Il buono, il brutto e il morto

Another day and another low budget, straight to Pay TV, sub Tarantino action thriller with B movie actors.

Johnny Messner is Brian Barnes who comes around suffering a bullet wound, surrounded by dead bodies and dynamic titles telling you who all the main characters are.

Brian is a bad boy who has managed to get out alive but he needs to piece back his life together because he really had forgotten who he is and how he got into this mess.

Dolph Lundgren is the smart law agent who is investigating the killings. Micheal Pare is the crooked sheriff who has found a case full of money and is tempted to take it all. Danny Trejo is the ruthless crime lord who has lost a shed load of money and is looking to get it. Worse still his son bizarrely ran away to become a policeman and he was also killed in the incident. Trejo wants his son's death avenged.

Conveniently the various plot strands come together for contrived shoot outs as the bad guys drop one by one. Brian gets his memories back piecemeal and completes the jigsaw and Lundgren tries to stay one step ahead. The audience will have got a better grasp of where it's all heading in this poorly written film.

The film wants to be a hip smart thriller but the plotting is just too convenient. Having Vivicia Fox along with Trejo just reminds us too much of better Tarantino/Robert Rodriguez films.

Well almost the title then. Although in Germany they have a different one and kind of seem to want to compare it to a Western (Good, bad and the Dead). And that's not that far off the mark (no pun intended). Unfortunately the movie never really satisfies completely. It tries too much for its own good.

And while Danny Trejo is always a natural and has his charisma just because of who he is in real life, there is not really empathy that the viewer can feel for the characters involved. So the twists and turns that predictably come, do not really shock that much (maybe surprise a couple of viewers at best). Mediocre if you set your expectations low

(2015) 4 Got 10 ACTION

Tarantino-esque similar to the likes of "Pulp Fiction" and "Snatch" with Brian (Johnny Messner) waking up from a gun fight and gets knocked unconscious during the scuffle. By the time he gains consciousness again, he gets amnesia with brief flashbacks. Two sheriffs eventually show up to the scene with one of them shooting the other deputy on the back, when one of them discovers 3 million in cash stashed in a bag. DEA agent, Bob (Dolph Lundgren) shows up at the crime scene with more revelations to follow, including the woman in charge of the case,DEA Imani (Vivica A Fox) who's attempting to nab drug cartel, Mateo Perez (Danny Trejo) who in turn seeking retribution for the death of his brother who we find out later that he used to work as a deputy.

There is just certain characters I liked and the movie chose to kill them off.

What drew me into seeing 'The Good, The Bad and the Dead' in the first place? The reasonably likeable cast, a potentially intriguing story and that it was part of my low budget completest quest and popped up in my recommended for you section. Was also a bit apprehensive, with a less than favourable rating and generally reviews that were lukewarm at best and most being very negative.

'The Good, The Bad and the Dead', when checking it out, certainly could have been much worse. There are definitely worse films about, of the genre and overall. Is it a good film let alone a great one? Not even close. Did it use its potential? No. Is it that bad? Not quite. Does it has redeeming qualities? Yes, but not many. To me, while having learnt not to trust ratings and not worry about going against the grain (though am in the minority here who respects critics opinions and tend to be on the same, or slightly above or below, page as them), the rating is about right and do have to agree with the criticisms here. This is coming from someone who did want to sort of like it.

Johnny Messner and Dolph Lundgren fare quite well and give charisma and engagement. Messner gives the better performance of the two and by far and large the best thing about 'The Good, The Bad and the Dead'.

Some of the story intrigued, with a very promising beginning, and the music while not the most memorable is at least listenable.

Unfortunately, Danny Trejo cannot save it in a role that should have been perfect for him and over-compensates from start to finish of his screen time. Natassia Malfe is just weird and not in a good way. None of the characters are developed enough and are very difficult to get behind, in a film with far too many and some not necessary to the story. 'The Good, The Bad and The Dead' looks cheap, especially the badly organised and sometimes incomprehensible editing. The action is both dull and chaotic, there is nothing exciting and it's choreographed with no enthusiasm or finesse.

The script is too talky and has no tautness, the pace is flabby and the story gets far too complicated, again from trying to do too much, with any twist attempts being extremely predictable. The direction seemed indicative of lack of experience or ease.

Overall, not horrendous but severely lacking in many areas. 3/10 Bethany Cox

Where do older actors go to retire? I don't know - but they're in movies like this one just prior. Stars Trejo, Lundgren, and Pare - older action stars. Also stars several B-listers as well: Messner, Fox, and Malthe, among them. The plot's been done many a time, drug deal gone bad and the money's in the back of the vehicle to be found, and pursued. This could have been a good movie, but wasn't. The production values are pretty good. The acting isn't. You'd be better off watching something else. I rented this one for $4, and wished I hadn't. I didn't find this one to have been worth watching, wouldn't have paid a dollar to watch it had I known better.