Justiceiros de Deus

Rarely have I watched a movie that is so consistently bad in every scene; there is not one moment in the whole film that moves beyond bad. Not even a tiny spike. Harvey Keitel plays badly, Florencia Lozano plays badly, John Leguizamo plays badly... twice!

The story is probably recycled from a script back from the 70s and it feels as dated as you can possibly imagine. The only thing modern in the film were the cellphones and there were one or two scenes that featured them. Cops act like they are goons, everybody is Latino, the police work is prehistoric and so on.

Bottom line: avoid this movie at all costs. If you are really bored, try ripping out your own nails, it will be quicker and less painful.

A New York City detective (Celeste - Florencia Lozano) searches for "the ministers," who murdered her father in front of her years ago, and who are still killing. She unwittingly becomes involved with one of the killers (Dante - John Leguizamo).

I came into this movie with low expectations. Nearly every review I saw of it made it look pretty bad, but I will watch pretty much any movie regardless of what the reviewers say. Unfortunately, I ended up having to agree with those reviews.

The acting in this movie just felt really awkward most of the time. Every time Harvey Keitel was on screen it seemed like they just shoved him in front of the camera and threw lines at him without ever letting him see a script. The one scene I'm talking about in particular is when he is crying and begging Celeste to not go...man, it was just embarrassing to watch. John Leguizamo was decent most of the time, but at other times it seemed like he was just goofing around.

The storyline was cluttered and confusing. It really felt like the movie was trying to be a mash-up of Boondock Saints, Se7en, and other crime movies that involve religion. There were too many things going on at once, and none of the elements ended up working.

The ending was HORRIBLE!! I know they were -trying- to be dramatic with it but it just came off seeming un-needed, forced, and cheap. Even if the rest of the movie was passable, the end simply destroys it.

Overall it was an -okay- movie until the ending completely demolishes it.

Final Score - 3/10

This one is hard to watch. The serious tone of the story line, the edgy dual performance by John Leguizamo, and the dark Christian perspective will not win this work any fans in the Bible-Belt, for sure, but they also factor into the equation of elements adding together to make the viewer cringe and pull back not only from the story, but from the characters. By the time you decide whose side you're on, the movie is over and you're left feeling empty and incomplete from the experience. This is, without a doubt, John Leguizamo's "the Libertine," in that it may well be his best performance ever, and maybe 12 people will see it. I cannot say this film is fabulous, but I will say that John Leguizamo purely shines, so if you're a fan of his work, do yourself a favor and redbox this (at least), but if not, you may want to try "What's the Worst that Could Happen?" instead, wherein he costars with Martin Lawrence and Danny DiVito.

All in all? This is one of those dark obscure pools of goodness whose appreciation calls for a genre-fan, or a fan of the principal actor, to really enjoy the work. Otherwise, you may be disappointed.

I love John Leguizamo, so for me, it rates a 7.6/10 from...

the Fiend :.

Barely Watchable and Almost Average Movie that is a Jumble of Laments on Religion, Revenge, Retribution, Loss, and other Such Things. The Cringe Factor is Close at hand and the Intrigue Waivers while the Sporadic Violence is just there.

What must have at first seemed a Challenge for Leguizamo seems Unattainable as Each Twin is Underplayed as to Their Respective Good/Damaged Characters. The rest of the Cast is Hit and Miss and the Plot, when it doesn't Veer off Course, is Interesting Enough to Maintain some Mild Musings as to Motive and Hidden Realities.

Overall it is not a Complete Failure but doesn't Amount to Much after all is Said and Done. In Fact, the Ending may be the Weakest Part in this Weak Film, although there are some other Vapid Sub-Plots that might also be a Contender.

Harvey Keitel is his usual great self in this crime/action/thick-with-religious-fervor film about vigilante justice and highly motivated detectives trying tangle in the perps. The problem with this movie, in my humble opinion, is the less-than-coherent script, which falls short in its efforts to utilize underdeveloped characters and poorly directed scenes that do not seem aligned with the primary storyline.

Rotten Tomatoes correctly ascribes only 13% rating to a movie that tries too hard to unscramble some broken eggs. It's mainly the principal female lead working with Keitel. Few things in life are less attractive than a key character smoking a cigarette. It's totally unnecessary, so shame on the director/writer for making this a necessary part. Yuck. Movies need to END this disgusting habit, period.