Judges

I wasn't sure if I was going to like this film going in. I'm not a huge fan of westerns and don't know that I've ever seen an indie western. But after watching I was pleasantly surprised. A fan of the "bad guy" I really enjoyed the performances of Paul Ricioppo as "Sonny" and especially Terry Jernigan as "the Barber". I thought it was clever having modern day cowboys carrying six shooters and speaking straight out of the 1800's while driving Mustangs and having showdowns in the alley behind a 70's disco club. Makes you wonder, what if justice today was like the Old West. Maybe you challenge the guy to takes too many items through the express lane at Wal-Mart to an old fashioned duel.

This indie was pretty good for a straight-to-DVD movie that are usually reserved for horror films starring an actor no one really cares to see anymore. Instead, there were some refreshing new faces (Sean Doherty and DJ Perry) in a well crafted film. It didn't have to hide its lack of budget in dark shadows or flash gratuitous nudity to get people to say, "well at least that chick got nekkid".

Listen, the story won't blow you away so don't try comparing it to Tombstone or summer blockbusters and yes I think it could have been even better, but it does provide some laughs, a little action and some interesting characters in a movie that is a much needed change from the typical straight-to-DVD garbage that even Hollywood is putting out.

Have you ever seen Kill Bill? Allow me to point out that it was shot in a "Comic Book" style, i.e., EVERYTHING was exaggerated: from the dialogue to the action sequences, to the cinematography, the music and even the characters themselves are exaggerated. The reason why is that most comic books (that I have read anyway) have characters that are bigger than life and the themes are exaggerated perceptions of reality. So naturally, these type of films are going to seem kind of cheesy. Why? Because it is a fable. Nothing about it is based on reality. There are no mutants saving us from the destruction of other mutants bent on world domination, no struggling journalist who possesses spider-like capabilities, and no superhuman that can leap tall buildings in a single bound, and so far I have not seen a vigilante dressed up in a bat costume…well, except for Halloween, maybe.

Try to make a comic book based on the movie "Crash". It's not going to work.

My point is "Judges", like "Kill Bill" was shot in this fashion…an homage to the spaghetti western with a modern flair shot in a comic book fashion.

The only difference is, Mr. Tarantino has had a few features under his belt, had a professional Hollywood cast and crew and is backed up financially by the Weinsteins.

Mr Walker has only made one feature and only had the financial help of family and friends, and had his fellow film students as his cast and crew. The majority of the people involved in this feature were very green when it came to feature films. That being said, I think Mr. Walker did a great job with his first feature film. I have seen worse come from the seasoned "Hollywood professionals" than this newbie director from Virginia.

The plot is rocky. The acting is somewhere south of a Jr. High School play. The cinematography is not bad but it looks like it was cut with a machete. I couldn't decide of this was an intentionally hokey flick or if the people behind it actually thought they were making a good film. Think Death Valley Days meets Mayberry RFD. People running around in a 'lawless' modern town wearing quick-draw 6 gun rigs. It has more than its fair share of 'cutsey' stuff. Picture the Good Guys pulling up to an old farm house, and parking the Ford Mustang right in front of a hitching rail. Picture the clerk in a hotel watching an obviously western (hemisphere) movie sporting a Japanese sound track but with English sub-titles. It's all really strange but might be improved if watching it while partaking in a little peyote. It's a real curiosity with modern parallels to every western movie cliché you can think of. There's even a modern version of the good hearted dance-hall girl, AND a twanging Jew's-harp in the soundtrack. Really! If someone brings this to your home for a Saturday night movie session, tell 'em your DVD player died.

I can see where the film makers were going with this. But they never really reach their destination. It's supposed to be a homage to Spaghetti westerns albeit set in a sort of mythical modern time frame." But unfortunately it fall short in its attempt. It doesn't have that gritty realism that spaghetti westerns are known for. The characters are not vile and desperate enough like their Italian western counterparts. And, failing these two points, it lacks the humor of a successful parody. In fact it looks like they intended to make a serious film, but upon completion realized they had missed the mark so far that it couldn't possibly be taken seriously. Unfortunately, they also missed the humor mark by a mile. A whole lotta bad movie!

Judges is a very unique film. Mixing in a comic book feel with Western and with an old fashioned story line of good vs evil. The actors were great, I especially liked DJ Perry because he carried a strong presence on screen and he played a suave character. The color schemes used in the film were perfect and it really caught my attention and the western music/the score & background music was just icing on the cake. I strongly suggest seeing this film. It was hard to get a copy at the video store in town as everyone already heard of it and waited to see it before I could grab a copy! Get yours today and check this film out with some new faces and talent that should grab the attn of big entertainment industry directors!