Bad Ass: Acima da Lei

This is a low-budget entry in a sub-genre. The Geriatric, OG, Geezer, violent Vigilante Movie. With the aging Baby Boomers we are likely to see quite a few more. It has always been cathartic to see Superheroes and maybe regular Folks standing up to oppression and intimidation. From Robin Hood to Batman to Paul Kersey to Harry Brown, we get satisfaction from their noble efforts.

In this one Danny Trejo gets to show some good acting chops as an against type, soft spoken, good hearted Bad Ass. He is quite good here with more range than usual and demonstrates why he has so many devoted fans.

The Film itself is not very well constructed and has some barely needed and sometimes embarrassing subplots, like the fetching Female neighbor with the cute and wise-cracking Son. But the action is acceptable and quite violent at times.

Not a bad Movie but does not quite rise to the level of a Cult Movie with staying power or a gritty real-life Noir. It really does not know what it wants to be and for that matter and that lack of direction the Film fails to be better than a standard B-Movie.

So... I just watched Danny Trejo's Bad Ass, which is based on the the Epic Beard Man events.

It is a somewhat entertaining film, definitely clichéd and riddled with one liners that are so bad you have to laugh at them, think Batman and Robin with Arnold as Mr. Freeze using his goofy one liners, then take scenarios like a bus running over parking meters and Trejo's Frank Vega saying, "Sorry I don't have any change." I am not trying to say that these eye rolling moments don't make the film hard to watch, in fact given their context they work to an extent.

The film is of course based on Thomas Brusco, the senior citizen who beat up a bus patron and became a You Tube sensation about 2 years ago. Here the filmmakers twist the yarn and give Epic Beard Man, a somewhat touching, if not mushy back story of being lost in today's world. They do try to keep the action moving even to the point that they inter-cut footage from the Arnold Schwarzenegger film RED HEAT to help provide the films climax.

People will try and compare this film to Machete, and in a way I can see where they might get the inclination to make such a comparison, but believe me they are not int he same class.

The primary cast are senior citizens, and if you want to watch a bunch of seniors kicking ass and taking names, this is definitely worth a look. If you decide to walk into the film, keep a VERY open mind. It is a B movie from start to finish.

The best way to describe it is a Die Hard for seniors, but I may be giving it too much credit in saying that but overall, if you're looking for a way to kill 90 minutes on a Sunday afternoon (Or in my case, a Saturday morning) then give it a whirl.

Oh I got so disappointed with this movie... It did really started well it was a clever speech that was opening for a great story. But then it was like they changed director, everything suddenly gets predictable and boring and you are already seeing the ending in middle way.

Well nevertheless the acting is not bad at all (except for some lame parts) and there are some cool fight scenes and some other a bit disordered action shoots. I liked the soundtrack, very nice hip hop themes, and I liked how the main character followed the clues.

It's a movie that could had evolved on something much more thrilling but if you just want to relax with nothing too complex to mess around with your head it's a nice movie. I mean you can even watch it with kids, not a big problem, but for me it's definitely not what I look forward in a movie.

I don't really care where the idea came from, this film was a lot of laughs. Imagine Danny Trejo doing his old and tough routine, but doing it with humour and a physicality that few could achieve aged 68. And it wasn't just him. Ron Perlman did a bait and switch again, appearing only a few scenes into the movie, instead the role of the villain being taken by Charles S. Dutton, who also appears only a few times, but it is obvious he is having just as much fun as Trejo did. Add in a little bit of Harrison Page and you have your geriatric A-team in a film that felt pretty close to real. Even Richard Riehle did a small appearance.

Of course, it wasn't all fun and games. The hero of the city for beating up a few guys, maiming and killing a few others, that wasn't realistic or cool, really. The explosions and gun shot effects were shoddy and low budget, but let's face it, the movie wasn't about special effects. And the girlfriend stuff... let's say it was completely unnecessary and threw me off a little.

But bottom line, this is a low budget, yet very fun film, without being a true comedy. It is full of good humour and references to other films of the genre, like Death Wish. I liked it a lot.

For a movie of this caliber, then "Bad Ass" wasn't actually too bad.

"Bad Ass" is about Vietnam veteran Frank Vega (played by Danny Trejo) who moves into his mother's house after she passes away. He is enjoying an overnight Internet stardom as his acts of beating up two skinheads on a bus was caught on phone camera. Frank's friend gets killed, and seeing the police doing nothing about it, Frank decides to take things into his own hands.

This movie sort of have elements from "Gran Torino" and also some of the old Charles Bronson movies. Sure, it is all stuff that has been seen before, but it actually did come together nicely enough in the movie and worked out great. And Danny Trejo proves that, despite up there in years, that he still can perform and do physical movies.

The story-wise was sort of funny, sure it was unrealistic, but still it proved to be entertaining enough. However, the part with the young neighbor falling in love with him, was a bit too much, and not really a necessary part for the movie in whole. The showdown between Danny Trejo and Charles S. Dutton (playing Panther) was actually fun to watch.

Just don't expect to be challenged by a complex storyline, because it just ain't there. And try not to pay too much attention to the shoddy dialogue, just watch the movie for what it is; an aging Danny Trejo out for revenge.

"Bad Ass" is a no-brainer type of movie, just put it on, sit down and disconnect your brain. This movie is fun to watch and is actually entertaining. However, I doubt that I will watch it a second time at any point, the movie just didn't have enough weight to support that, at least not for me.