L'uomo senza legge

I am sure that this kind of film, if made in the seventies, would have been a very exciting yarn. This one is OK, but from the beginning, I don't understand why those criminals, and not simple thugs, chose precisely the home of this man to commit a gratuitous murder. Why? The villain if of course excellent in terms of cast, but I don't understand why he killed the main character's wife...Why? Because, I repeat, those hoodlums looked very like professionals. The rest of the film is just OK for me, not more. Gritty, yes; tough, yes; a good time wester, yes. It is a British film, not American, and there are not so many British crime movies those days, since the late nineties. Or very few are really good. Most of them are lousy.

A pilots pregnant wife is killed by a band of thugs who break into their home. The gang is caught and sent off to prison. Wanting to see that "justice" is done the pilot stages his own death and then gets himself arrested so he can hunt the killers in the prisons into which they have been sent.

To be honest the story is a bit clichéd with the plot taking some obvious paths once things are set in motion. Normally that would be a bad thing but here the film works largely thanks to a very good cast of mostly unknown actors. The stand out is Andy Serkis, best known for playing Gollum in the Lord of the Rings movies. Here he's the head of the nasty band and his vileness seems to drip off the screen. If you want to know why Peter Jackson chose him to play the tortured creature in the big budgeted epic look no further. Serkis isn't on screen much until the final portion of the film, but his evilness in the early part of the film hangs over everything like a dark cloud.

Definitely worth a look for those who want an undemanding thriller, and those who want to see what Andy Serkis is capable of when he isn't doing just a computer generated character. 6.5 out of 10.

all i can say is "Wow!" this film took me totally be surprise. I found it for a tenner in my local Blockbuster, and i was inspired. It is proof that us british film makers, are capable of producing compelling stories, great action and high class performances in a blend that hollywood has trouble doing.

Indeed, it infuriates me that an excellent piece of work like this should go straight to video, whereas utter trash like Jackass the movie gets a full cinematic release worldwide.

This film brings hope to all of us independant film makers, that it doesn't take a huge budget to make a good film, and also reminds us that the primary reason people should make films is to entertain, not make money.

a Solid 9 out of 10

and i do mean drama.this is not an action packed movie.the emphasis is definitely on the drama.it's all about the trouble a man goes to to get revenge on a guy who killed his wife.it takes quite awhile to get there,and when it does,it's almost not worth it,at least in my opinion.i don't mind if a movie takes awhile to get to the payoff,except in this movie,there isn't really a payoff.i sorta wondered to myself if it was worth all the trouble the guy went through.but the movie is at least watchable.plus,there is a bit of character development and there's some pretty good acting.plus,it's not as if the movie is drop dead boring or anything.i just expected more.if you're an action junkie,you should look elsewhere for your fix.you won't find it here.when all is said and done,i think The Escapist is worth a 6/10.

What can I say?! This film is under rated and the actors and actresses deserve all the credit in the world for a truly entertaining performance. Hats off to Johnny Lee Miller and Andy Serkis; they blew me away. This film has it all; comedy, (Johnny's face in the plane!), drama (his wife), and the bit with Vin is truly heart wrenching. I really felt for Johnny's character and how much he NEEDS revenge, amazing! This is a film for young adults/adults. Due to the sometimes graphic nature of the images shown I wouldn't recommend this for children of 12 or under.