John Doe: Vigilante

After reading the plot and seeing the few good actors in the movie I felt it was something I could give a shot, it might be good. Well after 90 minutes of my life I don't feel disappointed. In fact it has made me sit in silence (for a solid 15 minutes) just thinking more and more of the meaning.

It surely doesn't have the effect as say "Her", in a thought provoking sense, though it is a solid movie.

What honestly can be done to forgive someone for such heinous crimes, if you know they will commit them again? This movie asks that question and more.

Over all the movie had some shaky shots, little over the top acting conversely not enough acting, some shots were not needed and could have added a bit more background to the story in a few places but I still ended up questioning myself after. Which I always find as a good sign.

Whats a good movie without a good afterthought?

Movies with a message are by their nature problematic.

David Schwimmer for example did a film about teenage girls and the internet. It was more message than movie and for that reason it may well be already lost to time.

On the other hand Paddy Chayefsky's NETWORK was both a message and a film opus. Fantastic movie and it will live forever on the "top 10" lists of viewers all over the globe.

This Aussie effort, featuring a FANTASTIC performance by Bamber, who, to dig out the old cliché, does silent dialog using only his eyes, gives you a nice slow start and then builds and builds and builds.

The best thing about it is that it keeps the viewer off-balance right to the end, achieved by some of the best editing of "flashbacks" I have seen since the days of Sergio Leone.

There is a particular scene at the 1:19 mark involving a small child who "thanks" Bamber that is likely the highlight. True to form, not even this scene ends the way we might expect.

Recommended.

Having recently watched a Battlestar Galactica marathon, I must confess that the only reason this little movie caught my eye was that Jamie Bamber was in it. As I often enjoy watching what TV actors do after their successful years I must say that this was an experience I did not expect. From the start, the movie throws the audience right in the plot. Jamie Bamber plays a serial killer vigilante that enjoys increasing popularity among the general public. Things unravel in a straight forward manner with the occasional twist. The amount of detail in composing the shots was generally way above a movie with that budget level. It is one of those films where the graphic violence is felt very intensely instead of just being gory, thereby giving away a very gritty and dark feeling. The performance of Jamie Bamber is exceptionally intense. Some might call it over the top but in the context of the movie it delivers very well. The story is endearing to the point that I was grapped right away and wanted to know how it all unravelled. It carries quite a lot of social commentary if you want to be open about those things. If not, it can still be watched as a genre piece that entertains. In comparison with Law Abiding Cititzen with Gerald Butler, an A-list movie with a quite similar general setup, I clearly favor John Doe: Vigilante. It feels way more real and carries more impact. In general, I can recommend the movie to all that like dark, gritty, and intense films and do not have a problem with large amounts of violence.

First of all , I must say that at first look this movie looks like some low budget Australian garbage , The big surprise is that it has some descent actors that delivered the messege very nicely and a very good story . I started watching the movie with low expectations and got hooked up with the story-line .I can gladly say that the storyline is packed with some nice twists . I would gladly give this movie a solid 10 if it wasn't for the Directing job and some flucks that i found while watching it ,i guess there is no perfect movie anyway.. In conclusion i would strongly recommend this movie to every grown up out there, And i hope it will get a little bigger recognition in the future.

This was, really surprising, I just wanted to pass some time and relax, didn't have big expectations for this movie but it really got me thinking.

*** I get sidetracked a bit here, reflecting over the movie ***

Besides the whole vigilante question, we as john and Jane does should do more than just give a like on face book. We should get off our arses and help each other as people, we know the neighbor is beating the sh*t out of the kid, go do something, if you're afraid to go on your own get some of your buddies with you. If you see a group of people harassing others do something, stop and call upon the others to help you. You should of course be reasonable, I've seen brawls where I didn't do anything because it was 4 people fighting each other and I didn't know who to help, the bouncers were already breaking it up, so I let the bouncers break up the fight and let the police handle the rest. I have seen a fight between just two, I helped break them up. I've seen people collapse and followed them home. It's our duty as citizens, as people, as human f****g beings to help one another and contribute to this world without going all "the f*** should I care" if you see injustice.

** side tracking done **

Besides that it was an interesting movie, it had some really interesting points. I was really surprised by the movie, and it managed to fill me up with strong feelings because these are topics that really concern me. This was an inspiring movie and I hope it will inspire other people as well. Now with this review you could probably figure things out about me, if you feel the same way you'll like this movie.