Lesson Plan

I enjoyed this. The main character, Damian, is believable and sympathetic, plus we feel sorry for him because his wife was murdered by some really serious bad guys. The baddies in this film are suitably loathsome, the love interest is cute and we are encouraged to root for the good guys from the word go. The high school setting is convincing, the locations are dark and threatening and everything generally goes the way we want. Not cinematic history but a good thriller with a different setting from most. I can see where the comparisons with Reacher come from but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Watchable and satisfying, once you've had a drink or two.

What takes away from this film immediately, is the poor choice in music. There has been an increase in opting for this type of music, across many mediums and platforms and it lowers the quality of the films.

Rock, Hard rock, would be more appropriate. Or any other kind of music rather than what was selected. I was really looking forward to the film. Within the first minute, and within first ten minutes the choice remains the same, causing me to simply have to pause the film. To all producers of film, please choose something else- the audience is not impressed by such a choice. You put in a lot of hard work to have it tainted with such low class music.

This movie is the epitome of a cliche factory. School full of supervillains, teaching kids to stand up for themselves, women getting all hot and bothered cuz a guy defended their life, drugs are SUPER evil, fight scenes near electrical wires that will clearly end with the bad guy getting kicked into the wires...just, all of them.

BUT...who really cares? Saw reviewers giving this a 1 and 2, really? This is a clear cut sign someone has never truly seen a 1 or 2 star movie. Me? I managed to sit at least 50-60% through Insane Clown Posse's "Big Money Rustlas" (I don't even like ICP) and I watched all of "Money Plane", which is closer to a 1 or 2 star movie than this could ever hope to be. I'd still give it like, a 3 though.

What you are actually watching is the closest thing I've seen to a live action anime/comic book film set in Poland. I've watched very few Polish films/shows (so none of these actors are recognizable) and I'm awful with faces, but lucky for me, every single bad guy is distinctively designed from the rest of the cast...from primary bad guys to the randoms he fights, like the striped polo gang in the bar. Every issue can be solved with a fist fight, the main character just happens to show up at every location/scene they're needed at that time, and the bad guys only ever bring as much back-up as is completely necessary at the time, super convenient.

If you are looking for a movie that is going to make you think, make you ponder hard truths, and blah blah blah...this is not for you. PLENTY of those out there as every camera comes with a soapbox these days, but this is great for about 90ish (without credits) minutes of entertainment. I'd rate it a generous 7 but the action scenes lack impact...which, you'd think would be the only thing they'd definitely get right, but, alas.

Not only does the story move at a glacial pace, the action moves just as slow. Every move looks over-choreographed and lands so slowly it looks like it does no damage. Not only that but even when the main character's life is threatened, he rarely does any permanent damage to his opponents. He leaves random drunks with more bruises than those responsible for his friend's death. It completely breaks immersion.

Overall, the story itself isn't a bad one and the film could've been an entertaining if unmemorable action flick if some sort of action coach had been hired and a script editor hired to remove the cheesy, recycled lines from old kung-fu movies. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case and it instead ended up disappointingly average.

A decent low budget martial arts film coming out of Poland. The total is greater than the sum of its parts as the script about undercover teachers trying to break up a drug ring at a school is not that believable. The Characters, too, very cartoonish. The direction and cinematography are very 1980's and low budget. Predictable. However, it works pretty well for what it is. The cast is watchable. The star is believable as a broken undercover cop trying to make good on a failure to his deceased friend. The actress that plays the lead female teacher is very good. The fighting is plentiful and decent. It has heart, for sure.