First off, the trailers for this film are *extremely* misleading - BadAss is way more serious of a film then you're led to believe; this is not a Tarantino-inspired slaughterfest in the spirit of Hobo With Shotgun or Sucker Punch, and although it revolves on Danny Treyo's "BadAss-ness", there is a lot of content beyond fistfights and generic violence.
Danny Treyo(Frank Vega, "Bad Ass")is a ex-Vietnam vet living a quiet and slightly unhappy life in the suburbs; there is an incident of him beating up some skinheads and becoming a YouTube sensation(thereby acquiring the BadAss moniker), but it's a minor plot device and not as central as they make it out to be.
The main plot revolves around the murder of one of BadAss's friends, the police's incompetence, a corrupt major, and BadAss's stone-fisted investigation; if anything, this film has more in common with Marlowe's film noire dramas than with Death Wish - you will be pleasantly surprised at the amount of content this film has.
Now, let's run through the good and bad.
Good everything. Direction, acting, great supporting characters, many, many scenes that are so real you can smell the sweat. Real writing, great pace, and zero unrealistic plot twists.
Bad: almost nothing. BadAss is a low-flying film, it's not trying too hard and sticks to a well-rehearsed script, but does everything properly. Production isn't up there with the best, but i guess when you wish for Hollywood polish, you also get a lot of Hollywood crap along with it. So all good here.
Now, it's hard to vote this film properly. For some, it will be a nine. For some others a five. What i see in it is a lesson on how to write a film without falling into the commercial pits of easy amusement. This film has a lot going for it; if you can handle it, if you don't have prejudices against this kind of film you should see it because it's great. If you are into more sensational films, like MI3, then give it a miss because you wouldn't understand a minute of it.
A great little film that has many lessons to teach.
My final vote - a politically correct 7/10
Danny Treyo(Frank Vega, "Bad Ass")is a ex-Vietnam vet living a quiet and slightly unhappy life in the suburbs; there is an incident of him beating up some skinheads and becoming a YouTube sensation(thereby acquiring the BadAss moniker), but it's a minor plot device and not as central as they make it out to be.
The main plot revolves around the murder of one of BadAss's friends, the police's incompetence, a corrupt major, and BadAss's stone-fisted investigation; if anything, this film has more in common with Marlowe's film noire dramas than with Death Wish - you will be pleasantly surprised at the amount of content this film has.
Now, let's run through the good and bad.
Good everything. Direction, acting, great supporting characters, many, many scenes that are so real you can smell the sweat. Real writing, great pace, and zero unrealistic plot twists.
Bad: almost nothing. BadAss is a low-flying film, it's not trying too hard and sticks to a well-rehearsed script, but does everything properly. Production isn't up there with the best, but i guess when you wish for Hollywood polish, you also get a lot of Hollywood crap along with it. So all good here.
Now, it's hard to vote this film properly. For some, it will be a nine. For some others a five. What i see in it is a lesson on how to write a film without falling into the commercial pits of easy amusement. This film has a lot going for it; if you can handle it, if you don't have prejudices against this kind of film you should see it because it's great. If you are into more sensational films, like MI3, then give it a miss because you wouldn't understand a minute of it.
A great little film that has many lessons to teach.
My final vote - a politically correct 7/10