I knew almost nothing about this movie before I went to see it apart from having a look at the trailer and checking IMDB score. It was 8.1/10 when I entered the cinema and 8.2/10 when I exited. Is this movie really that good?
Well, it is good, but not that good. I was initially surprised by the score, but then I looked at the user reviews and there were many of 10/10 ratings. If anything I’ve learned 1 valuable lesson to never trust either 10/10 or 1/10 ratings, especially if you are looking for any sort of objectivity in evaluation.
The movie has a very promising start with a few flashes of brilliance along the way. At one point I sipped some water from a bottle and almost chocked on it due to suddenly bursting with uncontrollable laughter. Mel’s acting is solid and Kevin Hernandez does the supporting act very well… I’ve even heard some people saying that Mel has outdone himself with this one. I seriously doubt that. If you want to compare Mel to Mel, watch Payback (though 7.0/10 seems a bit low for it).
…But the story is predictable, the telling is sporadic. You don’t get many answers about who or why and the bad guys are rather soft and comical. I think I can compare the whole experience to jumping off a boat and swimming to a shore. You get initial depth but as you approach the shore the waters get noticeably shallower until you can stand up and walk in the end. I wish I could get into more details without spoiling it, but I can’t and I don’t think it is really necessary anyway.
And now for the final test – the replay value. Do I feel like I might be able to want to watch this movie again? This is a tough one…. I’d say maybe, though it really should have been a definite yes. So my verdict is 6.8/10 – Entertaining.
KK
P.S. BTW the trailer is pretty misleading 🙂
