STAR RATING: ***** The Works **** Just Misses the Mark *** That Little Bit In Between ** Lagging Behind * The Pits
Horrified by the indiscriminate killing of innocent civilians he witnesses as a police officer in South Africa, Andre Stander (Thomas Jane) becomes disillusioned with the law forever and carries out a series of bank raids. The film follows the exploits of his nefarious activities, from getting caught and locked up, to breaking out with a group of other cons and forming the now infamous Stander gang.
At first glance, I thought this would just be a sort of video follow-up to lead star Jane's growing action career following from his lead appearance in the recent adaptation of The Punisher. But like a lot of video works, it's a few years older than it really is and has probably just been released on the back of this.
It's a well known fact that fact is often stranger, and sometimes more interesting, than fiction, and this depiction of the true story of the Stander gang actually certainly does prove more intriguing than any other fictional actioner that could have hit the direct-to-DVD shelves. It's an interesting and sombreing look at a man who feels less of a criminal by actually being one than serving on the very force that's meant to protect society from them. But it's the style and presentation of it that proves to be a blessing and a curse.
It's a South African movie, not an American one, and the style of filming is a little funny. I would have found the story more involving if there'd been voice-overs provided by Jane and a more snazzy soundtrack, but it's all just very cold and sterile and I don't think the production values would allow it to be any other way. Plus Jane talks through-out in an awkward, funny South-African dialect that detracts even further from the more American movie I hoped it'd be.
Still, the film manages one or two effective scenes and as I said it's certainly more intriguing as a true story than another bland fictional one. ***
Horrified by the indiscriminate killing of innocent civilians he witnesses as a police officer in South Africa, Andre Stander (Thomas Jane) becomes disillusioned with the law forever and carries out a series of bank raids. The film follows the exploits of his nefarious activities, from getting caught and locked up, to breaking out with a group of other cons and forming the now infamous Stander gang.
At first glance, I thought this would just be a sort of video follow-up to lead star Jane's growing action career following from his lead appearance in the recent adaptation of The Punisher. But like a lot of video works, it's a few years older than it really is and has probably just been released on the back of this.
It's a well known fact that fact is often stranger, and sometimes more interesting, than fiction, and this depiction of the true story of the Stander gang actually certainly does prove more intriguing than any other fictional actioner that could have hit the direct-to-DVD shelves. It's an interesting and sombreing look at a man who feels less of a criminal by actually being one than serving on the very force that's meant to protect society from them. But it's the style and presentation of it that proves to be a blessing and a curse.
It's a South African movie, not an American one, and the style of filming is a little funny. I would have found the story more involving if there'd been voice-overs provided by Jane and a more snazzy soundtrack, but it's all just very cold and sterile and I don't think the production values would allow it to be any other way. Plus Jane talks through-out in an awkward, funny South-African dialect that detracts even further from the more American movie I hoped it'd be.
Still, the film manages one or two effective scenes and as I said it's certainly more intriguing as a true story than another bland fictional one. ***