[DVD Review (R2)] SUCKER PUNCH
I had never heard of Sucker Punch. I didn’t know it was being made, who it starred or that it was about. It certainly wasn’t on my “radar” as a movie I needed to see. In fact, the first time I heard about it was when I received an email off the director, Malcolm Martin, asking me if I’d like a copy of his first movie that he had just released on DVD to review. Now, how could I turn down an offer like that?
So while waiting for the DVD to arrive I did a little investigation. Turns out that Malcolm’s first movie was a brand new British movie that starred Danny John Jules (possibly still best known as The Cat from Red Dwarf) and told the tale of “Harley” Davidson, a down on his luck hustler, who teams up with , Buchinsky a mysterious underground fighter, to take on Victor Maitland a notorious small time gangster and a man tied into both of their past.
Honestly, I didn’t hold out a huge amount of hope for it being “great”. But how wrong was I?
Malcolm Martins début is an assured and well executed revenge movie that, if I had to compare to something it would be Shane Meadows Dead Man’s Shoes. Now, don’t get me wrong I’m not saying that its as good as Meadows movie. Its not. But honestly, that’s more likely because this is only Martins first movie and not his second or third and is let down in places by some poor dialogue or performances. Give him some more money and we could be witness to another great UK talent like Meadows taking the movie world by storm.
But its only the supporting characters who let the movie down, as they are, in a few cases, a little generic. Danny John Jules turns in a great performance as the chancing Davidson. His desire to better himself and prove to everyone that he’s not a loser is apparent in every scene and he totally wins you over, even when he’s doing something which should really turn the audience away from him.
Likewise, Gordon Alexander is great as the quiet, moralistic but very violent Buchinsky. You only find out his back story in flashbacks throughout the movie but, coupled with his central performance, it paints a full picture and you soon understand exactly who the character is and what he wants.
The rest of the cast, for the most part, are decent enough. Jimmy Kent as Weed provides quite a lot of comedy, even if some of his acting leaves a little to be desired, and if some of the gangster characters seems a little “cookie cutter” that would be because they are – but then, hard gangsters who speak in hushed tones are ten a penny in movie land.
But the thing that wipes the floor with the poor performances or bits of bad dialogue is the action. The fight scenes are slickly produced, well choreographed and very convincing. And very painful looking. This isn’t a movie where people get into fights and don’t get hurt. There are some very violent fights that have some moments that look like they actually hurt!
For a début movie, this is an accomplished release. He might not be there yet, But Malcolm Martin could well be on his way to being one of the bright stars of the UK film industry and I have no qualms in saying that, with this movie he can be compared to directors like Shane Meadows or Paul Andrew Williams (London to Brighton) and I look forward to seeing what he does next as, judging by this DVD, he’s capable of great things
You can buy the DVD from Play.com for the bargin price of £6.99 and it comes with a host of extras (none of which I had available to me) so go get it!
Credit Counseling - Renegade Motorhomes - Debt Consolidation - Phoenix Landscaping
3 Responses to “[DVD Review (R2)] SUCKER PUNCH”
REALLY?!?
I saw the trailer for this and it looked awful. And I’m a “sucker” (pardon the pun) for boxing/fight movies…
… I’m most definitely going to give this a go based on your review. I just hope to god you’re not being lenient because the director personally provided a copy, ha ha!
I hope it lives up to your write-up!
Thing is, you have to look past the low budget (or more specifically no budget) and limitations that that gives a movie and see it for what it is. Check out the reviews on IMDB or other sites and you’ll see I’m not alone in my opinion about this being a very good movie.
Oh, and you should know by now that I don’t give anything a good write-up just because I’ve been given a copy.
If it’s crap then I’ll say as much!
Yeah, that worked out well for me… I spoke up on THE LOVE GURU and DEATH RACE and I got embargoed to ****!
I was like “But every one else is saying your movies are shit!”
They were like “If everyone else jumped off a building would you?”
I was like “No, but only coz I’m scared of heights so I would never be up there in the first place to jump from. But the two are not comparable!”
They were like “Yes they are! You just followed everyone else!”
I was like “No I didn’t. I watched a shit movie and said so!”
And then they were like “And what the hell does this have to do with the movie Sucker Punch?”
And I was like “…. Er …..”
And then four hours later I called them back and told them to go “**** themselves” as it was all I could think about.
Since my LOVE GURU review, I have never been allowed back into any press screening for a Universal movie. My review was published a good two MONTHS after that film made its US debut and was called the “second biggest turkey of the year” [after THE HAPPENING] and a full 3 weeks after its UK debut…
… And “Gazz at StalePopcorn” is personally responsible some how for this film’s failure?
AND (I’m off on a rant now so I may as well continue) I was ****ing lenient on GURU too. Anyone who reads that review can see that my normal politcal incorrectness is complete absent and I’m writing from the stand point of an unapologetic Myers defender!
Sheesh!
Trackbacks
What's Your Opinion?