Dead Shot

It doesn't help, when giving birth, your girlfriend's slaughtered, by a soldier who you now want hung, drawn, quartered, since you have your own connections, it's not too long before directions, take you overseas, traversing hostile borders. In parallel, a new recruit enlists (albeit unwillingly), into a group who aims to halt, prevent, desist, all the bloodshed and the torment, caused by terror, threat and ferment, to ensure that law and order can persist. And so unstoppable is drawn to the unmoving, and lives are cancelled out, with both sides losing, it's not all that long ago, when dogmas battled toe to toe, but those troubles left a mark and there's still bruising.

Fine performances all round, deposits you back into a time you'd rather not be reminded of if I'm honest.

Charles and Thomas Guard make their second feature film with Dead Shot, but there is quite a nice time in between. Their first film The Uninvited dates back to 2009. So it actually took almost 15 years for the duo to come up with a movie again. This time a film about the IRA and there has been a time when those kinds of films shot out of the ground like mushrooms. For example, there were impressive films such as In the Name of the Father and Some Mothers Son that created rough and realistic images of the wry war between the Irish and the English. But The Devils Own and Blown Away also belonged to those films, but these were films that were a bit lighter and managed to offer more entertainment. Dead Shot actually floats a bit in between, because on the one hand it is a serious film with a fairly heavy subject, but on the other hand it is just an entertaining action movie.

The film is based on the screenplay by Irish writer and screenwriter Ronan Bennett and inspired by the book The Road to Balcombe Street by Steven P. Moysey. The siege of Balcombe Street was an incident involving members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) and the London Metropolitan Police and lasted from December 6 to 12, 1975. The siege ended with the surrender of the four IRA members and the release of their two hostages. Loosely we see this topic in the story, but really a lot lighter. Henry Tempest is the soldier who shot Michael O'Hara's wife and Michael swears revenge. But Tempest joins the service of someone named Holland, who is steering a team to track down terrorists. Nowhere does the film go into depth on the political reasons of the IRA, this makes the film a simple entertaining thriller, without too much fuss.

It's certainly not the acting because that's just good. The setting is grim and dark and the film definitely has the 70s vibe. The states that are dotted with junk, the gray appearance and the cracked buildings where Jan and everyone lives give a correct picture. But the paranoid that prevails in the streets of London is also well reflected. Especially with the scene where Michael makes a bomb alert to the police, where his comrade is checked by the local police. The bomb goes out too early and a firefight breaks loose. This is really one of the better scenes from the film and also displays a rough picture. The denouement is very strongly done and at least I didn't really see the end coming, that's always a positive thing for me.

Dead Shot has become a great action/thriller, which really grips the 70s vibe. With just under an hour and a half, the pace stays fine in the film and the whole thing is not bored anywhere. In any case, films about the IRA are generally good and exciting, but unfortunately they are not made much anymore. The acting performances are very good and strong. The film does not go into the political motives of the IRA, but the paranoid that prevailed in the streets of London in the 70s is clearly shown. For the rest, it's just enjoying a good action/thriller and the film is highly recommended to set up once.

An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind.

This seems to be the very brutal message in Dead Shot. This is what the critics would call gritty realism, but I just call it honest film making. It gives us a glimpse into the warring factions of governments and rebels and the men that will take it too far to see it through. Charles and Thomas Guard.keep us sometimes uncomfortably close to these people and their brothers in arms as characters on both sides watch what they started fighting for transition to new bosses and directives until the lines have been blurred so much that you wonder who, if anyone we should be rooting for. It is an excellent lesson in grief and revenge, and well worth the watch.

Firstly, as a movie, this is quite entertaining and they have certainly nailed the 70s vibe with the vehicles and fashions etc.

The action is good and overall, the acting is better than average, making for an enjoyable viewing experience.

The story, whilst nothing new, is delivered well enough that you start to build some empathy for the characters involved. Violence seldom improves a situation and perpetual violence is a difficult cycle to break, particularly when you have a personal motivation.

What I don't understand, particularly given the attention to detail with vehicles etc, is why the main military character is described as "An SAS Officer" in the synopsis.

Firstly, he is wearing Sergeant stripes, so he's an NCO, not an officer. Furthermore, there is no mention at any point of the SAS, unless I somehow missed it.

Overall, a good movie and well worth a watch.

Really good.

This is not a low budget movie and a lot of the money has been spent on getting the griminess of seventies N. Ireland and London right.

The actors look a bit too healthy for that period but overall the production designer has done a grand job and even if you don't like the plot car lovers will have fun spotting all the vintage classics.

The plot is ok - not ludicrous - and the action is excellent.

There are only a handful of recognizable actors and it's nice to see less familiar faces get a look in.

This is like a more realistic the Devils Own and all the better for it.

Lots of quite good reasons to watch this.