Montana (2014) User Reviews

Revenge Flick is Extremely Violent

[larrys3 · 4/10 · 28 November 2015]

Set in London, this revenge flick is extremely violent, grim, and gritty and is filled with gore, torture scenes, and stacks of dead bodies. However, despite stretching credibility to the limit, it does offer some solid acting and the storyline, at times, has some redeeming qualities.

Lars Mikkelsen, the older brother of Mads, stars here as Dimitrije, a man seeking revenge against those who murdered his wife and young son, during the Bosnian War, some 20 years before. Before the war, he was a trained assassin, and has now left a trail of dead bodies across Europe, as he closes in on the main culprit of his family's slaughter.

The main culprit would be Lazarus (Darrell D'Silva), who is now a ruthless drug lord in the London area. One of Lazarus's couriers is a young lad named Montana, who is not aware yet that this same mob that he's working for killed his father and has all intentions of eventually killing him as well. McKell David makes quite the solid motion picture debut here as Montana.

One night, when he's robbed on his cash, along his route, the mob attempts to "off" him, but is thwarted by the intervention of Dimitrije. These two souls will now have a common purpose in seeking revenge against Lazarus and his henchmen, and Dimitrije will begin to train Montana in all aspects of weaponry and fighting skills.

Amidst all of this, Lazarus is trying to uncover who in his inner circle is trying to take over his business, plus also contend with two extremely corrupt London detectives. Of course, it will all culminate in a bloody and violent showdown.

Overall, this movie, directed by Mo Ali, and written by Jeremy Sheldon and Peter Lowe, may appeal to the die-hard fans of this genre. However, for the rest of us, if you can get past all the brutal and graphic violence, there is, as noted, some good acting and a fairly decent storyline in spots.

Well put together and interesting throughout! 6/10

[leonblackwood · 6/10 · 31 January 2015]

Review: After being disappointed with a lot of movies in the genre from the UK, my expectations wasn't that high, but I really enjoyed this film.  The storyline is very well put together and there's enough material to keep the movie interesting, which means I actually stayed awake through the whole film. Basically it's about a young orphan who lives in a night club and runs drugs for a European kingpin called Lazarus, whose done some bad things earlier on in his life, which eventually catch up with him. After the kid gets the drug lords stash stolen from him, he ends up in the firing line but he gets saved by an old war veteran who was a victim of the drug lords dodgy past. It then turns into a bit of a Karate Kid movie because the veteran trains the young kid to take down the drug lord after finding out that he killed his father. Then it switches to an action movie with dodgy cops and big shootouts, which were professionally pit together. It's good to finally see a film in this genre, were the kids are respecting there elders and actually listening to there advice. I liked the chemistry between Demitrije and Montana and the director showed some depth to the characters which made the film seem realistic. Anyway, its refreshing to finally see a film in this genre which has a decent script and some decent characters, especially as it's based around the gangster world in the UK. Enjoyable!

Round-Up: I was surprised to see Michelle Fairley in this movie, who played Catelyn Stark in the Game Of Thrones, but she only has a few scenes. Adam Deacon plays a loud mouth, trigger happy, wannabe gangster who wants to take over the whole business by taking out his boss but his partner, played by Ashley Walters, thinks that the time isn't right because of the random killings that are happening to the other drug dealers in the area by a mysterious assassin who wears a murders his victims with a motorcycle helmet. This part of the story was a bit sketchy and unexplained, which is the only fault that I found with the movie. Apart from that, all of the actors put in good performances, especially by McKell David who played Montana, but I found the training scenes a bit corny. In all, it's definitely worth a watch because of its intensity and action scenes but it might get overlooked because it went straight to DVD and it didn't get the big budget  advertising treatment.

I recommend this movie to people who are into their UK gangster movies about a young boy whose on the run from drug dealers after there stash gets stolen from him. 6/10

FROM HERE ON, THERE IS NO GOING BACK

[nogodnomasters · 6/10 · 6 September 2018]

Dimitrije (Lars Mikkelsen) is a Serbian assassin who hates corruption. After the killing of his family, he spends the next few decades going after the killer and going vigilante all over the Serbian mafia across Europe. His quest has taken him to London.

Montana (McKell David) is a delivery boy for the London Serbian mob which has dirty cops to help them. Circumstances lead to 14 year old Montana to become a protégé for Dimitrjie as they team up to take down the bad guys and enact revenge.

Yes, another vigilante film. Not as pathetic as "Harry Brown" but it could have used Vinnie Jones or Simon Phillips. It is a watchable film, and you pretty much know what is going to happen. Characters are stereotypes. A me-too vigilante film.

Parental Guide: F-bombs. No sex. Dancer in pasties.

An insult to your senses

[santiagocii · 2/10 · 18 March 2020]

A kid turned into a 20-years-trained assassin in just one week. This is more of a chick flick than an action movie.

Good ol Redemption Revenge Movie with UK twist

[clarkmick33 · 7/10 · 18 February 2015]

Montana was one of those movies I had no idea how well it would play out when I started watching it. Lets just say I was pleasantly surprised. This movie format will play similar to the movie "Leon (1994)" and that is a positive comparison to make as both movies played out really well in he form of redemption revenge flick. The story set in the mean streets of UK featuring a good mix of dirty cops, crooked gangsters and Russian mobsters

I like the way Montana character is developed and he is a believable confused kid. The other actors also did well in there parts.

The Good: Good build up of the story, good character development and action sequences. The soundtrack was done well to emphasis emotion at the right moments.

The Bad: It stretches your imagination as to how adept Montana character becomes at fighting but hey its a movie.

The Ugly: The raw, gritty crime world lingering in London (thats ugly in a good way).

Overall quite raw and powerful performances by all this movie deserves more praise.

The movie is not bad except that i've seen better.

[jordondave-28085 · 5/10 · 8 April 2023]

(2014) Montana ACTION THRILLER

"Montana" is the name of the 14 year old played by McKell David, a drug runner for the crime lord, Lazarus (Darrell D'Silva) who wanted him dead. Montana eventually gets taken under the wing of an already trained killer Dimitrije (Lars Mikkelsen) seeking retribution to Lazarus and his cronies responsible for his wife and child's execution.

It's one of those forgettable movies, all the action moments does not add anything new to the genre, for it only works if one had not seen many action movies, and I've seen lots. There is potential but not enough for me to recommend it.

Lars Mickkelson is what brings this rating to 7 stars

[rickswami · 7/10 · 22 August 2020]

The story/plot is great, the script writing...not so great. Given what Lars Mickkelson had to work with in terms of his lines, he did a masterful job. I thought this was going to be a typical UK movie, but I was pleasantly surprised. The only thing typical of UK movies in this film were the gratuitous F-bombs, which I am not a fan of. I think it's just lazy script writing in my opinion. The action and choreography was well done. This movie is worth the watch, seeing an unlikely pair come together and establish a strong bond with each other, and somehow make it quite believable, which can be attributed to great acting.

Good British film

[manofsteele-56526 · 7/10 · 25 October 2020]

Good music. Good london setting. Good plot. Ok acting.

There's no Hannah in this Montana!

[KnatLouie · 8/10 · 8 December 2014]

Directed by the relatively unknown Mo Ali, here comes a violent, but earnest story, about a former ex-Yugoslavian soldier, Dimitrije (played brilliantly by the Danish actor Lars Mikkelsen in a rare starring-role), who has been hunting down the notorious gangster Lazarus (Darrell D'Silva), who committed heinous war-crimes against Dimitrije and his family back in 1995. The chase has led them to present-day London, where hoodlums and gangsters rummage through the streets, looking for victims. The police force is naturally full of dirty cops who spoil countless investigations, which leaves the fuzz pretty much useless, and the citizens of London helpless.

Dimitrije therefore takes it upon himself to clean up the city, and secretly lurks on the roof-tops with his sniper-rifle, taking out scumbags every once in a while, much to the dismay of Lazarus and his cronies. One of Lazarus' henchmen is the young Montana (McKell David), who falls out of grace, and is soon picked up by Dimitrije, who in turn trains him to be a lethal assassin, to help him get to Lazarus.

What at first glance seems like a routine revenge-story, quickly turns out to be more of a father-and-son tale, when Dimitrije and Montana gets a much closer relationship, as they're both seeking a surrogate family, as they're otherwise all alone in the world.

For fans of Nicolas Winding-Refn (and particularly his "Pusher"-trilogy), this will be a very pleasing experience, as it not only stars Mads Mikkelsen's brother, but also has an extended cameo for Zlatko Buric, who plays his usual shady gangster-type character. And it's violent of course.

Overall, it's a pretty cool master/apprentice revenge story, with lots of people getting shot or brutally beaten (sometimes to death) throughout the film, so it's definitely not for squeamish children or those faint of heart. But if you love a good actioner with likable leads and wicked baddies, then this is the film for you!

Predictable but fun.

[admhr-04373 · 7/10 · 11 February 2020]

If you like the revenge style movie this is fun. Yes it's predictable, but there are some good lines and the acting is good. If you want an enjoyable romp for a couple of hours you could do worse than this.

Not bad

[danmelder · 6/10 · 10 February 2020]

It's an ok movie, and I like Adam deacon. But he should stop playing roles as a "boss" it's about as convincing as ray winstone playing a ballet dancer

B movie action

[kosmasp · 7/10 · 13 July 2019]

What a throwback - into the 80s and 90s. Action movies like this were made back then, with a similar amount of violence and a similar "story" (bare minimum). It is the action scenes that will leave an impression on you. If you care for them that is. The story is not really something you will remember long after watching the movie.

Also Mads Mikkelsen brother - you may not know him, but once you see his name it's like: of course. I first really saw him in House of Cards and even though he is far removed from a Russian or a Serbian, it seems like eastern european is written all over his face. And he really convinces in those roles. A second skin and all that. So sit back, watch the mayhem unfold and enjoy the show if you can

Gritty Gangster Film

[Pairic · 7/10 · 29 December 2020]

Montana: Gritty English gangster film set in London's East End. Drug pushers, bent cops,Serbian gangsters, a teen courier who loses £100k of the drug gangs money, a Serbian assassin. The assassin has a score to settle with the Serbian drug overlord and eventually takes on the teen as an apprentice. Some good shots of boys the training and of police corruption in sink estate. Hands chopped off, stabbings, shootings. Great shootout sequence in a darkened warehouse. This thriller keeps the tension going right to the grand guignol finale. No classic but well worth watching. Directed by Mo Ali from a screenplay by Jeremy Sheldon and Peter Lowe. On Netflix. 7/10.

Brilliant

[alan-wardy · 9/10 · 11 February 2020]

I almost didn't look at it over the low ratings I'm glad I ignored them and watched it. The movie is 8 or 9 star movie not a 5 star. It's a must watch it's one of them hidden gems.

Great Fight Scenes

[ActionMovieFreak · 8/10 · 14 December 2015]

In the Revenge action movie sub-genre, "Montana" is a great protégé movie with compelling characters, a ton of growling (LOVE that! LOL), and great fight scenes.

I highly recommend it and hope you enjoy the morality. It's always good to see the bad guys get their comeuppance. There's a ton of cursing and some of the characters are major jerks. So satisfying when they get taken down. There is some time spent developing the back story on the characters so you care what happens to them.

The title is a nod to Scarface in case you the miss the reference. At first I thought it was set somewhere in Eastern Europe but it turns out to be London's East End. Bits of it reminded me of John Wick.

This is a hidden gem

[superdad25 · 8/10 · 28 July 2019]

Why this film hasn't got more attention is beyond me. Yes it's been done before, yes it's for the most part predicable. That being said, it's a solid film with great acting!

I personally really enjoyed it.

Strange alliance, but movie is full of verve and cool

[robertemerald · 8/10 · 3 May 2020]

Montana is a movie with a big heart. If you don't warm to one protagonist then it's likely you'll warm to the other, and by the end you'll be rooting for both. Both give stand out performances. It's a tight, well made thriller, with good pace. Some of the gangsters are a bit cliche, with characters played by well-know actors such as Alan Deacon being characters we've seen in similar roles before. That's easy to to bear. The fights and gunplay is generally pretty ace. The first half has good performances and a better than average story. The second half may be pretty predictable, but is no less enjoyable for all that. This is a good action thriller. It's a pity the filmmakers didn't pay a bit more attention to a soundtrack. There were opportunities not taken. For all that this is an exciting British gangster movie, and well worth an 8 out of 10.

Great Action Movie

[santurcedc · 10/10 · 15 September 2020]

I came across the movie on Amazon Prime. I decided to watch it and it is a good action film.