Hottoceame The Age of Commercialism

WasAnnon Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Cheryl A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Jonathan Roberts Director Nick Love has enjoyed a certain level of success in Britain, being the creative force behind 2004's 'The Football Factory'. This film, 'Outlaw', was released just three years after Love's most famous work, but he seems to have lost something in between the two titles. Fortunately, he managed to gain the interest of a strong, charismatic leading man - without whom this film would have been virtually unwatchable. Sean Bean has delivered some great performances, but 'Outlaw' isn't one of them. He acts capably, but without strong lines he never comes close to unleashing his potential. Bean is joined by other well-known talents, including Bob Hoskins, Danny Dyer and Lennie James (the latter being best-known for playing Morgan in 'The Walking Dead'). These actors, like Bean, are held back by lacklustre writing, but I found Lennie James rather impressive in a couple of scenes. The technical aspects of this film (cinematography, editing, effects etc.) rarely impress, but I don't recall finding any of these elements bad. They're probably average for the Brit-crime genre… like pretty much everything in 'Outlaw'.

Roel1973 Outlaw is a stupid revenge movie from hooligan filmmaker Nick Love. Ever since his successful debut feature The Football Factory Love likes to point his camera eagerly at male aggression. Such is also the case in Outlaw, in which the ever reliable Sean Bean plays a disillusioned war veteran who trains a group of vigilant citizens to wipe the scum off the streets, Bronson style.The problem with Outlaw is that the transformation of seemingly normal guys into merciless killers isn't anywhere near believable, especially the prosecutor who joins Bean's gang when his wife is murdered by a powerful mob boss. I mean, even Bronson in Death Wish started out with a sock of coins. These white collar guys have no problem handling automatic weapons. Also, it doesn't take them long to develop a taste for cold blooded murder.All this is very unconvincing and rather silly, but that doesn't stop Love from serving it all up with great solemness and false cowboy romanticism. And what are we to make from the development of office worker Gene (would-be tough guy Danny Dyer), who starts out getting kicked and beaten by some street punks and ends up a "real man" in the finale, ready to shoot someone in the head? It's as if Love really believes this crap about a rite of passage through bloody violence. It left a bad taste.

FlashCallahan Sgt. Danny Bryant comes home from a tour of duty in Iraq to find that things aren't what they once were. A gang of thugs has moved into the neighbourhood, and his wife is with another man. Gene Dekker, is beaten up by thugs, and he sets out to get revenge on the men. Terence Manning, a gangster of London's underworld, is currently on trial, with lawyer Cedric Munroe heading the prosecution's legal team. Manning's men attack both Munroe's wife, and persuade Munroe's bodyguard Walter not to intervene. The men from an alliance, and set out to even the score against those who wronged them, though their contempt for the law puts them outside the lines of conventional justice.....Yes, it's a trashy, exploitative movie, but its one of my all time favourite guilty pleasures. And it's because its starts off silly, goes a little cuckoo in the middle, and then, the third act is just beyond, beyond bonkers.But Love is one of this directors that doesn't really do anything other than over the top British bulldog B-movies. And they are all full of another word beginning with B, but with his films, you can just switch off, and forget everything else for ninety or so minutes.The cast are all fine, and do what you would expect them all to do in films like this. Bean meets all the rest of the group whilst really angry, and this anger makes them angry, and Bob Hoskins is there to overlook everything.Imagine The Avengers after fifteen pints of strong Lager, and Pie and Chips?, then this is your movie.It's pretty visceral stuff, the camera work tries to make it look realistic, but it looks like it must have been cold on the day.To say the third act is beyond ridiculous is an understatement, but by the time it arrives, you couldn't care less.If you like this type of film, its a riot,if you don't, fair enough.

Enchorde Recap: A few honest men that feel betrayed by society form a loose group that is out for revenge. Fed information by a disgruntled old police officer that is fed up with corrupt officers that is promoted before him their target becomes those criminals that the has escaped too easy from the law. Their prime target is Manning, a known crime lord. The men is led by an old army ranger, Bryant, but the rest is ordinary men. Dekker and Mardell wants revenge from beatings, Munroe wants revenge after two hit men murdered his pregnant wife, and Hillier is just longing for violence. The brutal ways of the group tear at them and soon they find themselves under attack, both from within, from Manning and from the police.Comments: A decent action movie with a little different set up. It is pretty brutal and honest and doesn't use any typical action movie tricks. There is no extra explosions or glorified violence. Instead it tries to show the ugly truth. So, unlike other action movies, the action scenes is nothing you really enjoy, and I suppose you are not supposed to.What is interesting is that there is really no difference in the criminals hits and Bryant's group's revenge. Both play equally dirty and their violence is equally summarily and brutally distributed. And that may be the movies biggest trouble. As realistic that may be, and even if that might be director Love's intention to show that violence is violence irrespective of the perpetrators intentions, this might be the biggest fault. Because I had big problems to feel any connection or any sympathy for or with any of the characters. I certainly didn't feel for the criminals but couldn't find any reason to feel for or root for the avengers either. There was just two groups that fought it out between them and the one wasn't better than the other.And when there is no real interest in any of the characters there is hard to get that real interest in the movie. I didn't find it anyway. It's a good idea but might have been done better if done differently. Or it is a message that need to be shown in a world that feels like it grows increasingly violent world, but it wasn't that funny to watch.5/10