Guns Akimbo

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This one comes to us from slightly green director Jason Lei Howden. The only other film under his belt as far as being director goes is a 2015 horror comedy called 'Deathgasm'. He's otherwise best known as an effects artist with plenty of solid visual effects films under his belt, including 'The Avengers', the three 'Hobbit' films and 'War for the Planet of the Apes' just to name a few. His talent shines through here with the team he has assembled, as this is a fun, action-packed visual party for the eyes.

In what seems to be an alternate near future (as modern references is made, but the environment is somewhat futuristic), Miles (Daniel Radcliffe) works a dead end job, pines for his ex-girlfriend, Nova (Natasha Liu Bordizzo), and uses his spare time to troll an internet sensation known as "Skizm"; a deadly video game-like competition using real people. It could be equated to a modern Coliseum wherein the killing is generally for entertainment value, and it acts very much like your average YouTube channel. If you might recall 'Death Race', it's similar.

Miles trolls the wrong man, however, and soon finds himself thrown into the thick of things when his apartment is invaded, he's knocked out, and he awakens with his hand bolted to a couple of handguns. He's told that his competition is a girl named Nix (Samara Weaving) who just so happens to be the best at what she does. At first, there's a lot of running, but when Nova becomes a part of the game, Miles finds he has to overcome his fears and fight for the woman he still loves.

I loved this movie, but audiences will generally be split. If you came here to see a good story and good character development, you're not gonna get much. The whole concept here is as simple as your average arcade beat-em-up. It hits the ground running, there's a lot of action, plenty of blood and gore, and it's sprinkled with a generous sense of humour. But this is not something you see as a piece of art. This is something you sit down and watch when your day sucks and you need an outlet. It's up there with things like 'Dredd' or 'Upgrade'. You're there to enjoy the roller coaster ride that it is.

This fits in very nicely with that odd sub-category that 'Scott Pilgrim' made so famous - video game movies that aren't based on actual video games (again, I'd lump both 'Dredd' and 'Upgrade' in there). It always kinda blows my mind that movies like this can be made and enjoyed while actual video game-based movies still seem to struggle. That said, I feel like this does owe a bit to 'Scott Pilgrim' for a lot of its style, and 'Deadpool' for a lot of the humour - even taking the "this is NOT a love story" line right out of it. So it's not without a few odd weaknesses.

However, if you've had a rough day and you wanna just unwind with something that's kinda angry but fun all at once, this is a good go-to. Despite a few editing issues (there's a lot of cuts in several action scenes) it's visually appealing, funny, and it gets straight to the point. Perhaps not entirely original, but I'll be damned if I didn't still have a great time watching it. It may seem odd, but it pumps you up. Again, audiences will be split down the middle, but it's a great watch for the audience it's actually aimed at.

4/5

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