Malone: Puxando o Gatilho

Former Detective and now freelance vigilante (for lack of a better description) Malone (Jane) believes he was set up and he needs to find out why the box everyone is trying to get is so important.

Watching this movie was like watching a comic book come to life. The dialogue, costumes, and cars from the 1940s made it so. I know many action movies are based on comic book super heroes, but this was going a bit too far and I almost shut it down. And, as far as I know there was no comic book based on the Malone character (I could be wrong about it, but…….I'm just saying).

There is so much shooting and killing in the beginning, sleepy time was coming upon me. But, nothing else was on tap so I stayed with it. Actually, it was quite entertaining and not bad at all. Yes, the shootings and killings went on unabated, but there was a story in there too. Honest.

For those of you (and me too) who forgot who Thomas Jane is let me fill us all in. He is the Punisher in those other movies actually based upon The Punisher comic book. Well, he may as well have been the Punisher in this one too. But as he says, he is a hard one to kill and yet, he does take some pretty hard whacks, and gunshots too. But, not to worry his mother tends to his gunshot wounds.

This Malone character doesn't mess around and neither does Doug Hutchinson appropriately called Matchstick, who likes to light fires every place he goes to kill people. Ving Rhames is a mountain of a man and if I heard it right, his character, Boulder, used to work with Malone back in the day on the job (Police work). The only thing he is afraid of is the story he believes that Malone actually reached in and took the hearts out of the people who killed his whole family and ate the hearts. And, let's not forget Gregory Harrison (as Whitmore), from some medical TV show back in the day. Well, he's a meanie in here and likes to use a baseball bat.

This is non-stop action, shootings and killings,but there is a story in here. Honest. You just have to stay with it. Okay, some twists too.

A meaningless note: sometimes Thomas Jane sounds like James Arness You know from Gunsmoke back in the day.

Oh, one more thing. There is a note at the end of the movie that says: TO BE CONTINUED. Can't wait.

Violence: Yes. Sex: No. Nudity: Yes, a brief shot of Elsa Pataky in the shower. Language: Yes.

I expected this to be my Christmas turkey - but it is actually pretty darn good. The first 8 minutes (no spoiler intended) are excessive - your granny might not like it - and overall the film is raw in places - though not squirmingly so.

It is a good pastiche of the 40s film noir nothing too smart or dumb, some humor, with a psycho arsonist and the obligatory Japanese girl with knives, a high body count, a hardboiled hero, a femme fatale, a decent enough plot, and all in all the time went by very fast indeed.

All in all, an uber violent and cool attempt with comic book sensibilities that fans of Sin City, Shoot Em Up, Wanted, and The Tournament will lap up.

It plays like a noir, it looks like a noir and it feels like a film noir ... So it must be a film noir! And it is. A pretty violent and bloody one, but still. There is everything here, that the formula would need. Except it does seem to play in another universe. Because you can't define it what time period in "our" world this is supposed to be. You have old cars and "old" clothing, but you also have cell phones and other newer inventions.

But if you get hung up on the time period thing or get bothered by the fact, that this couldn't be played out in the "real" world and therefor is not a "pure" noir movie, than you would miss on the entertaining part of the movie. Thomas Jane, who seems the go to guy, if you need a "B-movie" action Hero (Punisher, Mutant Chronicles), but also has the weight of knowing what he is doing as an actor. A very fine choice for the lead role. "The Damsel in Distress" and other characters fill in quite nicely.

After a very powerful beginning (an action scene, that gives you enough entertainment already), the thriller aspect of the movie kicks in. Nicely played (out) and beautifully shot and edited!

I saw this movie recently on bluray and I must say I was mightily impressed. Though I'm not usually a huge Thomas Jane fan,I must confess to be an aficionado of all things Ving Rhames. Frequently type cast as the heavy, it's expertly acted roles such as Ving's Boulder, than makes him the undisputed go to guy when you need a very scary henchmen/goon to strike fear in the hearts of audiences. Ving simply kicks ass in this noir thriller that's a tongue and cheek homage to the 40's style detective movies. Jane does a good job channeling his inner Humphrey Bogart and the action sequence are some of the best I've seen in a straight to bluray film in some time. I won't get into the particulars of the story, but I will say that the film is well acted for the most part(Jane obviously is having a good time in the role) and that there are a few plot surprises. Overall, you could do a lot worse than this with your Saturday evening.

During the beginning shootout scene I could sort of tell what style of movie I was in for, as the movie progressed it is just way more silly and wacky than I expected it to be. It basically is a over the top and ridiculous ambient of film-noir. The acting wasn't that good, but really annoyed me is the character Matchstick who is basically a wannabe Joker. The movie has it's moments and I liked how it didn't really take itself seriously. Thomas Jane who played Malone was okay with his role, especially cause of his voice which has the noir detective feel to it. The characters basically have a cartoon feel to it and not developed very well. And the setting is a mix of the 50's and present, I guess it's cause of the budget or for the younger audiences. The script isn't very well written, but the twist was okay since I didn't see it coming since I thought it was going to be predictable. For a straight to DVD movie, it's pretty good overall.

6.8/10