Arma micidiale

50 Cent's movies tend to have very low ratings, but I tend to enjoy a lot of them still (for instance 'GET RICH OR DIE Trying' is IMO really good and 'SETUP (2011)' plus 'STREETS OF BLOOD (2009)' provides fairly good entertainment despite their flaws).

So even though this had a 3.8/10 I thought it could still be decent.

But no, this one actually deserves it.

Poor writing (by 50 Cent himself) and unfocused story with too many scenes of the police (which wouldn't be a problem if 50 knew how to write for cops, which he clearly doesn't and gives them extremely redundant dialog to work with) and the acting is not very good.

AnnaLynne McCord I usually like but her role is fairly pointless (basically in it just to be a girl for 50 to seduce), but then I suppose most characters in it are, none of the characters feel real and it just doesn't really quite work on any level.

Danny Trejo is in it for just one scene, but that's something I've come to get used to when his name is attached to something.

James Remar has a fairly big role, and he doesn't pull a bad performance but he's just not given much to work with.

And Val Kilmer... I don't feel like kicking someone who's already lying down.

Not much more to say about it really. I mean the end does show that their were some decent intentions with the script but it just got lost in the way of trying to make 50 look as gangsta as possible.

Even 'BEFORE I SELF DESTRUCT (2009)' was better than this.

All I can say about this film is I really hoped it was better.

But unfortunately, I felt as if I was watching a long sequence of cheap tied together 80's and 90's crime drama/action films.

The dialogue was so run of the mill it was comedic.

Even the deals took place in abandoned warehouses where every crime lord must do business in Hollywood.

And there's even the villain reveling in his proverbs and monologues that are supposed to be far-reaching tests and messages to his minions.

This film was so formulaic it makes you wonder what the hell happened when they test screened it.

Do they just aim for low socio-economic teenagers who revel in slickly produced violence and crime?

Chock full of African American gangster caricatures and dialogue?

I remember when I was a teenager I loved ninja films, regardless of the quality.

So perhaps the target audience is similar - young men who care less about the finer points of film-making and are only impressed by the most violent, uncompromising, bloodthirsty and cold-hearted characters who display a ruthlessness in making money and a blithe attitude towards life and death.

The question is: Is this art? I say if the intention is to create art then yes it is; whether it's worthy of Kudos is another matter.

Lastly, one gets the feeling Curtis Jackson is attempting to make a living from telling his life story in different ways.

Is his life imitating art or is art imitating his life? I suspect the latter.

Though I have no clue how the gun trade works on the streets, and I have no real insight in the world of this kind of crime, the movie proved somewhat interesting.

The movie did, however, move forward in a somewhat slow pace. There wasn't a lot of drive to the movie, but it was bearable. And the moments that there was action, it was direct and to the point.

As for the cast, well I am not a fan of musicians turning to acting, and I believe this is actually the first movie I have seen with that '50 cents' guy in it, and I wasn't impressed with his acting. However, Val Kilmer put on a really good performance in this movie. He was very well casted for his role, and he carried this movie, though he had some help by James Remar who played the lead detective.

The ending part of the movie with Val Kilmer was actually quite good, not predictable and it was sort of a good way to close off the movie.

The movie had a lot of really nice camera angles, and I liked the way that it showed off a lot of really good city shots, where you got to see the alleys, worn down houses and such everyday stuff from the street-life.

However, now that I have watched the movie, I sit here with a somewhat empty feeling and the thought "was that really it?". There was something missing from the movie to make it grand and unique. It came off as an ordinary run of the mill semi-action movie, which was sort of a shame, because I think it could have been much more. I guess that I wasn't perhaps in the target audience for this particular type of movie. Perhaps you need to be from a certain aspect of society and life? Who knows...

Well I can't say it was really so bad. The images and sounds are entertaining enough and the story is simple enough, just one bullet is more than enough.

Interesting how the dealer here is so quick to turn against his own crew and stick a new guy (who he met once in the past and was saved by him) and promote him to be number one guy, without knowing anything about him.

I'd say the reality is that these guys got to hang out, and get to know each other pretty well.

Val Kilmer was just so sulky and suspicious looking that he wouldn't have made it further than the first meeting.

The remaining divisiveness in this country. The reviews say it all. There is condescension from some critics about who they think this movie is for. They may have been offended by some of the scenes. Kudos to the actors as they try to erase that divisiveness.