If you're following music press outlets around the world, you keep an eye on some of the bigger Groove/American Metal bands, or spend a lot of time on the internet, you may have seen the name "The Retaliators" pop up somewhere. You may have heard someone refer to it as "that movie with Jacoby from Papa Roach", "wait, is it actually a horror movie?", or "isn't that the one with the musicians?" (all true statements btw). "The Retaliators" gets a theatrical opening on September 14th via Better Noise Films and does indeed feature some of the best artists on Better Noise Music's roster -in roles and performances that in some occasions proved to be far from predictable. But we'll get to that.
"The Retaliators" is a revenge horror film, starring Michael Lombardi in the role of pastor John Bishop, an upstanding member of his local community who literally practices what he preaches. When his teenage daughter is brutally murdered by Ram Kady (portrayed by born-to-be-typecast Joseph Gatt), Jed Sawyer (Mark Menchaca), a detective with a dark side, approaches the pastor with an offer he can't resist; one minute with the scumbag who took his kid's life. Everything is on the table except for murder. Bishop halfheartedly agrees and, to his horror, comes to the realization that the bunker the detective built hides more secrets than a simple "torture play room".
Now, this is my first time reviewing a film, and I will do my best to not spoil much. I saw someone mentioning that "the first 40' of a film are fair game" so I will abide to that. With the disclaimer aside, let's go.
In its core, the main storyline is human; any grieving parent would push aside their own moral code if they were to avenge their child's untimely death and get some form of closure by blind justice. The trick however, is to not lose one's self in the process. The stark contrast between the two friends-turned-foes is brilliantly illustrated, as they appear to be the two sides of the same coin; they've both been struck by an unimaginable tragedy, but while Jed is consumed by his grief, and becomes a vindictive and sadistic vigilante with a twisted sense of justice, John manages to stick to his moral compass even on his darkest times and turns up being the hero we -not necessarily needed, but would want to come across if we were attacked by dehumanized criminals in the backwoods.
I think my main complaint is that the movie is slow to pick up, and what you see on the trailer is practically a condensed version of everything that unravels in the first 40 minutes or so. Watching the movie, I must admit I found myself oftentimes muttering "what the fuck", as I was unable to fully connect the dots and comprehend how some seemingly random scenes fit the narration, until halfway through, a glorious plot twist ties everything together (and -surprise!- it was a time jump all along). To be fair, the action starts so organically that you don't really realize when it turns to a full-blown splatter and I quite liked that. Also by that time the "what-the-fucks" had dropped by a lot.
When it comes to the direction, there were some details that I found incredible and which I really want to mention. First of all, the pastor's character development; the narration makes a full circle depicting the transformation from a pacifist who feels he's letting his daughters down when he doesn't stand up to a bully, to actually shocking everyone when he punches another. Even the way these two scenes are presented are nothing alike, as in the first instance we see a dragged out version of the reality being further amplified in the pastor's Christmas sermon, despite his inner shame or guilt, while on the second he turns to his daughter, briefly apologizes and strikes the guy right before the end credits hit. I don't know if I would call that wholesome, but it was definitely satisfactory. Second, how artfully the plot establishes the premise for the final kill -which is spectacular despite being so predictable, by the way- through an almost filler scene with the cutest, loving elderly couple being... Well, a loving elderly couple. The tender interaction between the two is succeeded by a match to the death -and all that while we are constantly reminded that it's still Christmas. You know, the celebration of life, the most wonderful time of the year? Exactly. Brilliant.
Furthermore, I really appreciated the hand-held camera during the detective's wife's murder and his reaction that follows, which I find captivates a "realistic" feel, as if we're witnessing the act(ion) on real time, and therefore making the dynamic of how a good guy shifts sides and turns into a a monster appear more natural. It's almost as if the motion in the picture conveys both the fear of the wife and the seething anger of the husband. Finally, the thing that broke me was the scene in the beginning where Motley Crue's Tommy Lee was playing "Girls, Girls, Girls". In a strip club. Now THAT was iconic -and the definition of "meta".
On the downside, I feel that the action sequences relied a lot on the factor of convenience; earlier in the film we see John casually working out, but doing push-ups at home doesn't necessarily translate into him becoming a combat fighter when his opponents attack him -conveniently- one by one, nor him -also conveniently- finding weapons or items he could se as weapons, within reach, right when he needs them. And he never misses even when hitting blindly! Also, while I was very impressed with the SFX, the various "killings" and "mutilations" after the one-on-one with the pastor sometimes did look like fake props. Lastly, and in a realistic tone, Joseph Gatt's character, no matter how buff and trained, after having sustained torture and being very likely malnourished after days in captivity, appears to be in full Hulk mode and unkillable which doesn't really make sense, even with his survival instincts prevailing...
Overall, "The Retaliators" is an entertaining and ambitious film, where nothing is what it seems. It's axiomatic that there is light inside the darkness and darkness inside the light. To paraphrase Brand New, the devil and God are raging inside everyone; who you choose to listen to is up to no one else but you. The film also boasts both an impressive cast and an equally impressive soundtrack -and the music supervision did an excellent job matching the feeling of the scenes with the appropriate songs. If you like action, horror and gore -and some inevitable clichés, and you're a fan of any of the aforementioned bands, then you probably shouldn't miss the screening.
8/10
0 σχόλια :
Post a Comment