Fatal Deviation

I was once seen walking around with one shoe on, upon being asked if I lost a shoe, I responded "No, I found one." This transexisential thought-process was a result of watching this film.

How James 'Jimmy' Bennett hasn't went onto further his career in Hollywood is more to do with his beliefs that he wishes to remain in Ireland and boost the Irish film economy.

All the classic ingredients of an amazing action film are contained in this mementous masterpiece: amazing CGI effects that were partly done on a Commodore 64, insane stunts, a beautifully narrative and the jaw-droppingly stunning Paudie Greene as the leading lady who, for some factual movie trivia, actually came 12th in the Limmerick Rural Lovely Gurls competition in 1997. It even stars Mickey Graham. The seminal pop-singer and 'Nice One' from Boyzone. Mikey shows why he replaced Colin 'Feckin' Farrell in the line-up and shows he can compete with anyone in front of the camera.

This film was touted for the foreign film award at the Oscars and rightly so.

From now on I will no longer be wearing my Megadeth t-shirt, but will be wearing the Fatal Deviation t-shirt I got for signing up to the fan club.

Thank you, Fatal Deviation....the lessons learned from this film can, if watched by more people, boost this country's economy single-handedly out of recession and allow me to continually drink Dark Destroyers while watching this film.

To call this just a film would be tantamount to calling Da Vinci just a mere artist or Scorcese an amateur.

I believe this film has the ability to change lives and should be introduced into School Ciriculums to combat drug-abuse, underage smoking and drinking and would also eradicate underage pregnancies.

The lessons learned in this has already made me stop smoking 100 Mayfair before breakfast, and I've even stopped drinking 3 bottles of Frosty Jack a day, which is around 20% of my daily requirement of Frosty Jack.

The lessons learned in this masterpiece, if viewed by our representatives in Parliament definitely has the power to stop wars and allow some form of united world socialism.

Bless you Shay Casserly, and Jimmy Bennet for introducing me to what can be accomplished with shared vision and a beautiful philosophy that underlies this masterclass of film-making.

A strong effort by Martial Arts enthusiast James Barnett and his pub friends despite having no budget and no knowledge of how to light or edit a movie, nor about how to capture sound.

A solid 7.

Ultra-cheapo Irish martial arts movie, shot on VHS with amateurism running through it from head to toe. If the slightly threadbare Irish aspect of 'Father Ted' ever raised a smile then you should definitely give this a look.

There's nothing in this film that you could consider in any way professional or competent. The acting stinks, it's badly dubbed, the action scenes are arthritic, the dialogue feeble, the direction barely qualifies as such and the whole thing makes very little sense at all.

However.

I don't think I've ever seen anything quite as entertaining in my life, and not even in a "so bad it's good" sort of way. It's impossible to explain - but it works, it just works. A quite amazing movie.

There's rumoured to be a 10th anniversary festival this year in the village of Trim where it was made. If it pans out, I'm there - if only to meet the incredible James Bennett!

I think I read somewhere that this is the first Irish martial arts movie ever - I'm guessing it probably has the distinction of being the last as well. It stars James Bennett, who is Ireland's answer to Tonny Tulleners. His acting level makes Van Damme appear like Richard Burton but I am guessing he was hired more for his martial art moves. It does have to be said though that the fight sequences are absolutely ludicrous and the hero has a mysterious mentor who seems to be a magical monk from a forest. The film itself has been shot on video and, consequently, it truly looks appalling. Story-wise, like this genre in general, its generic in the extreme - its sort of like Kickboxer or something. Ultimately, it is kind of interesting seeing what an Irish martial arts action movie is like - it's sort of like a low end chopsocky flick...but worse. But fair play to them, they made a movie.