There Are No Saints

I wonder if there is a film recycling plant somewhere. They take in all the old films, plots, scenes, etc.. melt them down and then reuse. Perhaps this plant has quality control, all the good bits go into a few good films. All the stuff that is left and no one wants, seems to have ended up in this attempt.

Seen it all before and better. There was no acting, in fact it would have been more fun and believable to have wooden mannequins in the film. There was no story. The motivations of the characters was not explained. No idea what Tim Roth's character was about, other than an overblown cockney geezer. Choreography was daft, the lead could seemingly dodge bullets by smirking.

This is an unnecessary film.

Some reviewer has said Tim Roth pulls this movie through, but good as he is, Mr Roth is in it for about 3 minutes (I guess he was cast to entice viewers) But as an action drama bit silly, very violent and visceral, I don't consider my 90 minutes wasted. And Ron Perlman is only in for about three minutes. Found the soundtrack annoying and somewhat out of place, but if you like violent drama, good characters and a story, give it a go.

This is rough, tough, brutal, bloody, sadistic, disturbing, and also bringing some surprises, thanks to Paul Schrader - TAXI DRIVER screenwriter - the surprise being Ron Pearlman has only a very very little supporting appearance at the end. I expected him having the lead role. But who cares, it could have been played this lead character, by Jason Statham. Yes, this is not for the squeamish, not the sissies and it's a pretty good time waster. I don't now this main character but he's good, convincing. The story could be a bit too repetitive but again, that's a badass scheme. The ending is very surprising but could have been better.

Tim Roth is excellent but too under-used, i recognised the lead from Netflixs Narcos, i like Neal Mcdonut (but don't remember seeing brian cox), shannon sossaman used to be hot but not in this.. overall story is ok but not original, some scenes added for shock value but it is just a 90min turn brain off and watch if nothing else is on..

I was actually shocked at all the low ratings for this film. Clearly, most of the headliner names gives it away that it's a B film, so I wasn't expecting much going into it. I almost didn't see it due to the bad ratings, but the trailer caught my attention, and I'm glad I saw it.

Mexican director Alfonso Pineda Ulloa did a great job with this film. The screenplay by seasoned writer Paul Schrader was actually suspenseful and action packed. The story wasn't anything revolutionary to the genre, and still had the typical cliches, but certainly had its tense and unsuspecting moments, enough to keep me engaged. The score was excellent, especially for a B film. The cinematography was on point, and the landscape shots were great.

There were some great names in the casting, and most performed excellent, but I feel José María Yazpik was miscast. His low-tone whisper voice got annoying and unconvincing really quick, and that cheapened the film. His performance was good, and his action scenes decent, but his character's demeanor just wasn't convincing. There was even this scene with Neal McDonough and Yazpik in the kitchen that was just off - McDonough being too aloof and goofy, and Yazpik on the other side of the scale being way too serious. Maybe better cast direction from a more seasoned director would have fixed those type of issues. Tim Roth, Ron Perlman and Tommy Flanagan played their parts excellent and convincing.

It's actually a much better production than I expected, and certainly undeserving of anything under 5. For a B film, I surprisingly enjoyed it and recommend it, and thus it's a well deserved 7.5 rounded up to an 8/10 from me.