Jackdaw

I anticipated the UK release of Jackdaw after hearing about a film being shot in the north east of England, a place I grew up before moving to London.

I saw great reviews coming out of America's Fright Film Festival and I have to disagree with some of the more negative English reviews, namely The Guardians Peter Bradshaw which came across more on an opinion than any depth to a review with slight observations about the film, it wasn't an anti carter of dullness. It had mood/style which earnt the next "action" moment instead of just hitting you in the face with fast cuts and ridiculous action of bigger hollywood movies.

I really enjoyed Jackdaw, it was a throwback to 80's/90's films, I'll be checking more things with Oliver Jackson Cohen in it and was already a big fan of Thomas Turgoose and Jenna Coleman and I'll be interested to see what comes next from the filmmakers.

I've seen comparisons to the film Drive and yeah I get it and agree.

It was refreshing to see an English film not set in London, what an achievement to get this made in the current times of Marvel movies and everything we can access via streaming services.

Myself and my mates had a great time seeing this at the cinema, if you can see it on the big screen, do it and support independent cinema.

Jackdaw was a surprisingly an alright action crime film. Olvier jackson coen plays jack dawson, a ex army and motobike champion who tries to provide for his brother. He takes a job but it seems very shaddy and you already know that the guy is a double crosser, falsing jack into a fight, after relising it was a distracion to kidnap the brother. We also get jenna colman playing bo, jacks ex who actually has some pretty good fight in her aswell. The actually fighting and action elements worked well in this film, acting was decent enough and believable and I just think overall jackdaw was a good crime film.

Simple gritty scenes of bike chases, raves and fights. A decent movie about family revenge. No-ones going to win an oscar for this but it will keep you engaged for 90-minutes and if you like old skool rave then the soundtrack and rave scenes are great fun.

Don't believe all the negative reviews, you'll know if you like it in the first ten minutes. If you like any sort of revenge / chase movies then this is for you. If you also like bikes / rave toons then you'll love it. It's rare I check out the sound track of a movie afterwards but I'll be checking this one out - some classics that had me waving my glowsticks!.

Director can shoot nice looking stuff, the opening ten mins are suspenseful and well shot/edited.

After that opening, the whole thing collapsed into a badly realised student film type script with no credible characters, terrible attempts at comedy and zero credibility.

Which is a shame as it had a promising set up, and was attempting to do a Walter Hill type action film.

Characters are paper thin badly realised cliches and the dialogue is dire. There isn't a realistic interaction between anyone after the opening ten or so minutes.

Telling, the opening was mostly silent.

Hire a proper scriptwriter next time (if there is a next time).

Missed opportunity.

"Jackdaw" is a dark Brittish thriller that looked like it could be cool with its badass hero and plenty of motorbike action. Plus it also stars Jenna Coleman and "This is Englands" Thomas Turgoose which is a bonus. But I wanted to like it more.

There are some decent little chases and shootouts, and a genuinely scary looking villian. But the plot is pretty straightforward and more and more unlikely things happen as it all comes to a finale that just fizzles out.

Its still decent enough though with its promising start, its overall style and cool music. As well as its nice cast. Still making for an above average gritty movie.