Mean Guns

I can agree with other sentiments here: "Mean Guns" is more than just the standard B movie. I was lured to this thing by the names involved, but what we get here is not relentlessly predictable stuff.

A crime boss named Vincent Moon (Ice-T) gathers a large group of lowlifes together, people who've "betrayed" their organization basically by being screw-ups. Moon's idea is to put all of them into a "kill or be killed" situation, providing them with various weapons, and the last three standing will supposedly walk away with the sum of $10 million.

In addition to Ice-T, we get several B movie perennials doing their thing; Christopher Lambert brings his own brand of acting to a more jovial - and unhinged - character than usual. Also appearing are Deborah Van Valkenburgh ("The Warriors"), Thom Mathews ("The Return of the Living Dead"), Yuji Okumoto ("The Karate Kid, Part II"), Tina Cote ("Omega Doom"), Kimberly Warren ("Blast"), and Michael Halsey ("Dollman"). Hoke Howell of such classics as "Kingdom of the Spiders" and "Humanoids from the Deep" has a cameo at the outset.

As one will notice, the cast is partly filled up by regulars in the films of the prolific Albert Pyun, and it doesn't matter if the acting ain't ever gonna win any awards; it still gets the job done. Ice is amusing in the lead, and Lambert is actually a hoot, although it's veteran Halsey that really stands out, playing one of the most interesting characters in the whole thing. Van Valkenburgh is likable as the most sympathetic of them all. Mathews and Okumoto have their moments as a consistently bantering pair of buddies.

It's hard to knock a movie that immediately goes for the approach of underscoring the fast and furious action with mambo music, which adds to the humor. Of course, when one sees the ridiculous fate of one of the characters, they'll see this is never meant to be taken too seriously. At an hour and 51 minutes it IS awfully long for this sort of thing, but that kooky charm still pervades the proceedings. And, despite all the violence, there's really no gore at all.

Fans of low budget escapist fare should find this reasonably interesting and diverting, all the way to its unexpected ending.

Seven out of 10.

Albert Pyun has his own way of making films. He is responsible for "Omega Doom" and "Crazy Six", two movies that in spite of having quite different plots, possess in common the peculiar and curious way with which the director accomplishes his works. "Mean Guns" follows the Pyun's formula: many shootings and closes in slow motion,different and weird camera movements, strange characters and a poor script. In this film, Lambert is a murderer who,along with other criminals, is trapped inside a prison and he needs to survive before his chances drain. Pyun substitutes idea and good-sense for excellent action scenes, that remind plenty of John Woo and Sam Peckinpah's best efforts. Unhappily, that is not enough to maintain the interest for this bad film.

To start off with this easily dismissable garbage, I should say that the premise is great. An action picture needs a plot like this one to set up the sequences, but this one manages to be...bad. Very bad.

The direction is probably the biggest weight to bringing it down to the bottom of the barrel. Director Albert Pyun has had a lot experience with the profession, but this movie is directed with a questionable ineptitude. He makes an embarrassing error in setting the film to an elevator music-like jazz that doesn't fit even in the least bit well. This film is obviously on a low budget, but better music would have been easily obtained...this shows a purposeful decision. A bad one at that. The lighting is one of the director's worst annoyances in this movie. The film is shot with a blue filter and the light from the windows shine in, getting in the way. The film looks absolutely terrible . The acting is my next major complaint. Christopher Lambert who, year by year, becomes increasingly more generic gives a generally bad performance. He is cocky, not in a good Bruce Willis "Die Hard" way either. He's like those nerds I used to see in middle school gym class who would walk around like they're the stuff and then embarrass themselves when we would play basketball. Ice T is just himself, an angry, sleazy, platinum-toothed gangster. He is funny to watch and quote in his bizzare and equally bad performance. I don't want to complain too much about the writing, because of the original idea, but the script is filled with Tarantino-wannabe dialogue and weak action, with a laughable climax on top. I didn't expect much at the video store when I passed this one in the action section. I atleast wanted some action, not seaking good direction and acting, but everything is last rate...disappointingly enough, the action scenes.

At first glance one would almost dismiss this movie as being a B-grade action movie. However, while tuning in one night to the late night movie channels I came across this and found myself unable to turn away. The cast in this movie consists of only a few name people such as Ice-T and Christopher Lambert, but to be honest the entire cast puts in some fairly good performances all around. What makes this movie so entertaining is that it combines action with a touch of insight into the lives of a group of criminals who all seem to want different things aside from just money. If you have some time on your hands and happen to catch this flick some evening, give it a look. Despite the apparent low budget, the movie is really quite well done with a good script, interesting camera work, and a compelling ending. Definitely worth your time if you're looking for an action movie that differs from the norm.

Everything about this movie screams B-grade. From the dodgy name to the questionable cast to the dubious premise. The only thing that stops this from being a B-movie, is that it's actually really, really good.

When "The Syndicate", represented by Ice-T, gathers together it's less reliable members in an empty prison for a little game, the probability of violence was always going to be a definite.

What makes this movie different is in large part due to the choice of music. The utterly inappropriate Mambo soundtrack clashes with the violence, giving the movie a sort of trite, macabre humour. This humour gives a consistent feel throughout the movie, backed up by violence that while brutal is strangely un-graphic.

Mean Guns is an action movie with a quirky sense of humour and a brain. It won't be everyone's cup of tea, but it's an entertaining trip.