Vigilante Diaries (2016) User Reviews

What the heck happened in the second half of the movie?

[Seth_Rogue_One · 5/10 · 18 August 2016]

First half of the movie was pretty straight forward b-action that worked pretty well, but then the second half just inexplicably decides to jump forwards in time one month, just in the middle of a crucial point for a couple of the leadcharacters.

And Michael Madsen without spoiling anything (I couldn't spoil it even if I wanted to as it's never explained) simply disappears from the movie, like literally he goes from being an important figure who just did something crucial for the plot to just never be seen again.

That's not really true he actually does show up in the last 5 minutes together with a person who died 10 minutes prior to that, so clearly that was a scene that was in actuality meant to be shown a lot earlier but I guess the editors thought that no one would notice and it somehow would make sense.

My only guess is that Madsen was problematic on set and he was fired or simply didn't show up anymore so that they had to put another character to take over where Madsen left off. And to be fair his performance suggests that he was barely trying to act.

Jason Mewes also randomly disappears in a crucial moment in the first half.

So yeah it was just all really weirdly put together, it's a shame because the movie had potential and it has a lot of entertaining standalone scenes and some entertaining characters (Rampage and Mewes most notably) but as a whole it doesn't make an iota of sense.

A doze-off-and-watch action flick.

[iantrader · 3/10 · 15 May 2017]

I look at the blurb before the cast and writer and director but it didn't take more than a few minutes into this movie to suspect it's a writer/director effort! He really should have stuck to cooking! It comes with a second writer who also stars but that's no great shakes of a recommendation.

It's not a dire action movie, but it does come with the usual action flick clichés, improbabilities (impossibilities!), set pieces, contrivances and, yes, stupidities (when you've got the guy where you want him, yeah, put the gun away and go hand-to-hand! Doh! Moron! (er, that's the writer(s)!)! The bad guys speak English for most of the movie but 2/3rds of the way through they start speaking in their native language and we're treated to subtitles. Oh dear...

Oh yes, the hip hop/rap music is crap, too!

But the movie mainly falls down in the explanation department. It could be me, but trying to follow who's who and who's done what to whom and why, got off to a bad start and didn't really get any easier. However, if you just go with the flow you can enjoy an action flick (with just a twinge of gratuitous torture) for what it is.

The performances are nothing to write home about but Michael Madsen does well (although he doesn't actually do much) but must have been looking for work.

It's all sort of OK, but not brilliant and there's the ever-present feeling that it should and could have been better.

If you've nothing else to do on a weekday night, give it a whirl, but have a few beers with it, accept it for what it is and wonder why you're watching this when you could be watching a 7* movie.

So Bad

[aguynameddrew · 3/10 · 16 July 2019]

Acting? Bad. Writing? Bad. Directing? Bad.

This movie is so cheesy Michael Madsen and Eric Roberts were fighting over who would get a role.

It's just so bad

[wrenchmonkey · 2/10 · 26 June 2016]

You know when a movie is so bad, it's good? That's not this film.

I watched the whole thing—like rubbernecking a car accident—I knew I shouldn't, but I just couldn't look away.

The script was terrible, most of the acting was terrible, the storyline was weak and disorganized, characters weren't believable or even likable, and it was just stuffed full of terrible clichés. I honestly just didn't care about what happened to anybody in the film. I mean there was a baby where I thought, "Please don't use this kid as another gratuitous and clichéd plot device," but even then, it was more of not wanting to see that on the film, and not because there was any emotional investment beyond not wanting to see the depiction of atrocities committed to infants) No spoilers here, so I won't say whether or not I got my one wish.

A little bit of production talent could have cleaned the script up and tightened up the storyline; some technical consulting in the action sequences to actually lend credibility to the idea that these guys are 'operators' who understand even basic weapons-handling, combat strategies, (and even how to use their weapons' sights for f**k's sake), could have taken this weird train wreck and upgraded it into at least a guilty pleasure.

I went into this not expecting a masterpiece. I assumed it would be a 'guilty pleasure' shoot-em up and, as such, I tried really hard to like the film.

Unfortunately, the whole thing just falls disappointingly flat.

Close this diary

[Prismark10 · 2/10 · 9 May 2017]

Jason Mewes stars as vlogger Michael Hanover, who follows an avenger known as the Vigilante. The Vigilante (Paul Sloan) and his sidekick The Kid (Kevin L Walker) are feared for their violent tactics in taking down criminals. Hanover uploads their exploits on to the web and gets popular acclaim.

When the Vigilante takes on the wrong bad guy all hell lets loose as the dead man's brother goes after him for revenge. There are rifts with rivals gangs and shadowy US black ops types are hanging around in the background. There are lots of torture scenes, frenetic shootouts and hot looking bimbos. It is just that a lot of it makes little sense.

The film has good production values and some scenes are shot all over the world, bits of Glasgow with subtitles for people talking in a Scots accent, some footage in London and Armenia.

The plot feels disconnected and never hangs together. We get chapter titles making it look like that this was a Tarantino film and just to hammer the point home, we get a lot of bizarre talking from Micheal Madsen. As a violent action comedy, the story is not good enough.

The director and the vigilante wrote this crap fest.

[mastercraftsman · 1/10 · 23 June 2016]

This movie is for the simple minded. It has a comic book feel about it. You like gun play .Like stuff blowing up. You like hot Asian chicks. You like a script that makes no sense?

Well look no farther. This movie has all that and more.

This was just awful. Acting was poor to say the lease. Loads of war type action. People getting killed left and right. Man bun documentary movie guy is annoying. No character development. Story jumps all over the place. And so does the vigilante. And can you believe they set this up for a sequel. I guess you would have to been a fan of the TV series of the same title to even like this movie.

Not the worst movie I saw, but a clear contender.

[mumia-1 · 2/10 · 29 June 2016]

There is no point in beating around the bush. This is a terrible movie.

It has big names in minor roles, but the main cast is actually one of the worst talent-less bunch I've ever saw. But by far the worst offender is Jason Mewes. I've never heard of the guy before but I'll be sure to avoid him in the future. He delivers all his lines in the wrong tone, evoking all the wrong emotions. Almost every second he's on screen is cringe worthy. Yes the writers wanted the character to be cringe worthy, but he's cringe worthy for all the wrong reasons, he's all over the place with his acting, or lack thereof.

The main hero / vigilante is your typical dull B action star, who fails miserably each time he supposed to show any emotion. Seems like a henchman level actor, who somehow ended up getting the title role trough some fluke.

And the story is a mess. All over the place. Out of sequence scenes, unexplained, confusing jumps in the time-line, that add nothing to the story or the drama. A prologue that does nothing to explain characters, and an epilogue scene which equally hangs in a void. Offering absolutely no explanation on not just the events in the movie, but you're left absolutely clueless even on what is happening in the epilogue. They even introduce a new character there. (Who is played by Trejo, so if you'd watch the movie because you're a fan of him, don't)

The action scenes suffer from lack of budget. Like they dump the G-Wagon because it's too expensive to do the chase scene with. But in the end they don't even smash up a single cheapo Russian transportation they switch to either. And even in this basic crash-less chase they manage to have some continuity errors. Like the bad guys vehicle changing from a different trim version of the same car from scene to scene. Gun fire is all done in post, so every car and person seems bullet proof in it.

Sound editing is terrible too. Some of the gun sounds are the worst I've heard on screen.

The only thing not messed up is cinematography which I guess could be called good, except for the shaky camera on action scenes, which some directors still can't leave behind.

All in all it's not the worst movie I saw, but I can't find any redeeming value in it. It's not as bad as the worst it could've been, but it's still very bad. Avoid it if you can.

Dime-a-dozen b- action movie (b- as in b-minus) .

[mikezerosix · 4/10 · 14 July 2017]

Most actors feel like they are from cheap TV-shows. The bad guy must be telenovela actor. The script feels like it was written with mad- lips using action movie clichés. Movie is a messy mix-up of elements stolen form well-known action movie. Mostly from Deadpool, like lead actor narrating the story and fourth-wall breaks. Plot of all over the place and bad director makes this movie too both way too stupid for adults to watch sober and too hard to follow stoned or drunk. So I guess the target audience are male tween.

None of the characters are neither believable, interesting or funny.

Movie is not funny enough to be bad-funny movie. While this is not totally bad movie, it's not any way good either. Current rating of 5 is too high, this does not deserve rating above low 4.

You can't really "watch" this movie without at same time surfing on the internet looking for something interesting to pass the time.

Weird, cheesy, but ultimately boring movie

[siderite · 6/10 · 22 June 2016]

This is a hard to rate movie.

The actors, I liked a lot of them - and not just the Asian hotties, I'll have you know. I mean the main character is a muscleman with no charisma whatsoever, but there you got Michael Jai White, Jason "Jay" Mewes, Michael "sooo annoying" Madsen, even Danny Trejo and James Russo do some cameos. Add to this serious dudes like Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson and the entire Armenian cast, who did very well, and you got some cool people there with both acting and/or physical action handled.

The story is all over the place, from a vigilante that is called The Vigilante, but doesn't seem to do anything during the movie, to the Armenian mob, terrorist nuke attacks, data hackers with weird 3D air interfaces, getting the captured wife and son back, shadow men that manipulate everything, etc. The problem is the script. It just ... sucks! Nothing is connected, no characters are developed, things go from one place to another with absolutely no emotional impact. It made the whole thing confusing and boring.

Then there is the production values. Expensive cars, weapons, some decent CGI... but the action stinks! The action scenes feel like little kids made them: no tactics, no strategy, people walking in a line without cover, ridiculous fight scenes. You feel it even stronger when Michael Jai White starts moving and you realize how pathetic everything was before that. Jax rules!

Anyway, it was a decent effort, with enough resources to make at least a good film, and with a lot more possible. Unfortunately, it isn't a decent movie: it's barely a 6.

Was that supposed to raise the audiences eager to watch the whole movie?

[cassielPrice · 1/10 · 12 May 2017]

First of all, I can easily say that I have wasted 1hour and 47 minutes of my time to watch this movie.The scenario is completely a mess.It couldn't reveal each character's motivation for what they do. There wasn't any introduction to the characters so I didn't know who even is that black business man. What was the relation between Andreas and that black guy? Moreover, Andreas was an unbelievable character he had power, money and... but he still wasn't right in the head.The process of shaping characters and giving them personalities in this scenario is awful and incomplete the author really hasn't worked on it.The story was ambiguous didn't have any scheduled or planned plot. A scenario must have an introduction, Peak, and an ending.The visual effects were so weak and unprofessional it was really unrealistic the guy was just moving his hands in the air. They couldn't make it touchable for the audience it was like a low graphic game with terrible visual effects. It's better to attend more time to the process of making a movie than just making it anyway without working deeply on details.There wasn't any convincing reason for why Vigilante has turned to a hit-man. Who was the man who contacted him? Yup no idea, no information is given. They have just added characters without considering the details and working deeply on them. And the ending I can easily say that they had no idea how to end it, yes the writer's team was blocked then the ridiculous bombing idea came to their mind.I assume that its OK but where is the motivation for doing such cruel thing? You see? nothing they just wanted to finish the movie anyway.

Obvious Punisher knockoff

[frankcastle-23931 · 8/10 · 13 February 2024]

A clear Punisher clone but thats not necessarily a bad thing. In fact it's one of the better ones. Not high art by any means but pretty entertaining for a free movie on Tubi. Jason Mewes is hilarious in all of his scenes, the action is pretty well done for the low budget, and while the acting won't win any awards its not terrible. The casting is pretty good. Rampage Jackson abd Chavo Guerrero fit pretty well and Michael Jai White is entertaining as always. If you're looking for a decent popcorn flick to kill a couple of hours you can do a whole lot worse than this movie. Guve it a look. I doubt you'll regret it.

Good production values let down slightly by a poor script

[darrenmurray84 · 6/10 · 27 June 2016]

I had been looking somewhat forward to the Vigilante Diaries after reading some interviews with the writer and star Paul Sloan. His enthusiasm for the movie had me intrigued.

The first thing that stands out from the movie is the excellent technical quality of the film. The production values of the movie definitely make Vigilante Diaries stick out from the DTV crowd. The bullet and blood effects are, although digital, done well and give the action a bloody, gritty feel.

The film is also shot in a number of location's, which is not usually seen in a DTV action movie. They travel to Russia, Glasgow, London and others. I ma assuming that Sloan and Sesma done this with their own money, to give the film an international feel. Unfortunately a lot of these scenes are not required and drag the film out. Although it was nice to see places like Glasgow in an American action movie It seems they were used just because the actor/director had the opportunity to visit these places.

Sloan as the Vigilante of the title, equips himself well as the lead. I don't think he will ever be a leading man, but is great at action, and I will look at the rest of his career with interest. Michael Jai White also shows up in a limited role, but does get a chance to show off some moves. Rampage Jackson is also good, in what is actually quite a humorous role. Of the leads, the only bum note is Jason Mewes, who is cringe worthy in some scenes, and wouldn't have been missed if he was cut from the film altogether.

As mentioned before, Director Sesma does a great job with the technical aspects of the film, and the action scenes are great. Unfortunately the film should have been edited down. Although the movie only runs to 105 minutes, it feels much longer due to some unneeded scenes. I feel bad complaining about a DTV movie being over ambitious considering some of the garbage that currently floods the market. At least I can say that it is miles better than some of the recent Steven Segal films and their like.

I would definitely recommend Vigilante Diaries to action fans, and would have given it a higher score if it wasn't for a few elements which bring it down a bit. Hopefully with Sesma's next film he will get everything right.

Not enjoyable

[skullfire-48012 · 3/10 · 15 July 2021]

The good: Madsen, Russo, Trejo and White shine despite questionable dialogue. Rampage and Chavo show more potential than most of the other secondary players. Most of the women made the scenery look better. The bad: Mews comes off like Jay without Silent Bob. The lead actor is completely out starred. The ugly: Barry, the comic relief, falls flat. I don't mind stories that are told out of sequence, however, the editing on this film is horrendous.

Try Hard With a Vengeance

[daniel-mannouch · 3/10 · 2 February 2020]

Vigilante Diaries sells itself as the best of every male 25 demographic film your saw in the multiplex last decade and the results are muddled.

The closest opposite number to Vigilante Diaries is of course Smoking Aces with it's very, very 2000's approach to screenwriting, blending archetypes and stereotypes seamlessly in an attempt to create plug in and play characters needing as little maintenance as possible from it's cast. Obnoxious would be an adjective, so would be, rectangular and, veggietastic.

I'm flippant, but, that's because I don't know if the film itself is being likewise towards the viewer. This kind of graphic novel film-making is hard to sum up in a few words and that's why i hate to review them. Cause since the pace of the narrative is so irregular, it's easy to lose track of where we are and why we should care. The latter being difficult enough with the cast either being devoid of charm or sleepwalking their way to a paycheck.

From what I could gather, Vigilante Diaries is the worst film for me, a Tarantino light smugfest that has given no reason for the audience to care. The film has put it's money where it's mouth is and the production values are impressive. Shooting over three continents, a direct to DVD star studded cast and even some decent action sequences. But the story is simply not there. The characters are all try hard 90's throwbacks with little depth and lesser sexy appeal.

Combine this with a bloated running time due to some terrible comedy vignettes and Vigilante Diaries truly becomes a slog to get through. Personally, this style over substance really grates on me, but that is not a negative on the film's part. It's good that a film on the level of Vigilante Diaries is trying to be ambitious, but for some reason the writing really grated on me. It combined all the elements I hate about genre film-making, the cliches, the arbitrary meta, the non linear narrative. I just zoned out. Screw this movie.

Could have been great

[BandSAboutMovies · 3/10 · 10 July 2022]

Director Christopher Sesma has been cranking out direct to streaming action films. Co-writing this film with star Paul Sloan, the twosome got this story started as a web series and got seven episodes onto USA before it got canceled.

The Vigilante has been captured and a black ops team with Wolfman (Quinton "Rampage" Jackson) and Tex-Mex (Chavo Guerrero Jr.) as members has to rescue him. And then there's a rescue of The Vigilante's pregnant wife. And Jason Mewes is a filmmaker who got the world interested in The Vigilante. And then Armenian mobsters start shooting up the place. And then there are bombs all over the city. And then there's the threat of Barrington (Michael Jai White) and Moreau (Michael Madsen). And hey - there's Danny Trejo tending a bar straight out of Accident Man or Deadpool.

This movie feels like I got dropped into the fifth sequel and have no idea who anyone is but everyone else does. It also feels like a comic book adaptation for a book that has never been published and somehow we're supposed to know who everyone is.

That said, I want to like this more than I did. I have a soft spot for it. Maybe you will too.

Strong but overly ambitious action flick

[TdSmth5 · 7/10 · 9 January 2017]

Some former Special Forces guy decides to become a vigilante together with his tiny sidekick The Kid. He's recruited for this by some shady character named Moreau. For some reason some net video guy decides to follow the vigilante around and put the videos online. That makes the vigilante a hero. During some mission he goes against the Armenian mob killing the little brother of the big bad Armenian mobster.

That gets the videographer kidnapped and eventually they find the Vigilante as well and torture him. The Kid assembles a new team to rescue the vigilante, who now travels all the way to Armenia to get the bad guy who has his girl and daughter kidnapped.

But there's another really bad guy around, Barrington, who's up to no good and who has remained untouched so far. And eventually the Vigilante will have to confront him. The Vigilante's handler Moreau also will turn out to be trouble.

The Vigilante Diaries I guess is supposed to be made to look like a comic. I don't read comics so to me that format doesn't do much. In my summary I'm tried to go chronologically. The movie doesn't. It is all over the place and I don't think it helped the movie much. Aside from that, the movie is a very ambitious R-rated B-action thriller with some humor as well. It is well-directed, well acted for the most part. And it also offers something unique in terms of the storyline set and filmed in Armenia. There's a lot to like here and I think this movie is recommendable and worth watching, but no, it's not an A-list blockbuster, but for the budget it comes pretty close and does offer plenty of entertainment.

He's good at what he does. He comes back to haunt you.

[nogodnomasters · 8/10 · 19 November 2017]

The Vigilante (Paul Sloan) is an Internet famous crime fighter. We get flashbacks of his origin through narration by Moreau (Michael Madsen), his former boss before Vigilante went rogue. He has a side kick, a photographer and is aided by others through some kind of network. He is currently doing battle against the proverbial Armenians as well as his former boss and Michael Jai White.

The film has a lot of formula action and cliché lines. It appears to spoof action films while trying to be one on its own. Red (Jessica Uberuaga) never appears dressed like she looks on the DVD cover. Grindhouse style entertainment. Seems like they want this to be a series.

Guide: F-word, nudity, at least three hot Asian chicks.

Soo many characters haha. Too much of everything.

[jftherd · 7/10 · 7 July 2020]

The good things: Does not look cheap. Looks beautiful. Effects are great.

Bad: Keep in mind, I own the dvd. Am writing this after my third or 4th viewing. By now, I know what im getting into. Too drawn out. But possibly still entertaining...but also possible to lose interet.

I gave a 7 star because, of the sheer dedication. Soo many locations, costumes, and it NEVER looks cheap or filmed cheap. The props are all great. But kind of funny how many characters there are. There is a prologue, a literary device with the story being told in a bar, then another character does the narrating. There are flashbacks, and even Danny Trejo shows us for 1 scene at the end. I don't understand how this got made. The script must have sounded crazy, super complicated. But must have has good funding.

Good Movie, Good Talent

[geraldyelverton · 10/10 · 23 June 2016]

I recently had the pleasure of screening Vigilante Diaries. It was a pleasant surprise. The action, script and acting was superb.

Seeing notable talents like Michael Jai, Rampage Jackson, Michael Madsen, Jason Mewes, Paul Sloan, and Jacqueline Lord was a treat. I also enjoyed the performance of Kevin L. Walker who I thought was under utilized in the film. He really held his own with the other talents and really put on a captivating performance that made you yearn for more. I would love to see him in another film that would utilize his martial arts talents even more.

All in all it was an entertaining movie. I recommend this for anyone that is a fan of good film. You will not be disappointed. I will be on the lookout for a sequel or another film starring Kevin L. Walker.

Great film with awesome action and tension

[nims-1975 · 8/10 · 24 September 2017]

I have 16 of Michael Jai Whites films on DVD and I think there's nothing wrong or crap about them. 1) Universal Soldier: The Return, 2) Exit Wounds, 3) The Dark Knight, 4) Undisputed 2: Last Man Standing, 5) Black Dynamite, 6) Blood and Bone, 7) Tactical Force, 8) Never Back Down 2: The Beatdown, 9) Never Back Down 3: No Surrender, 10) Android Cop, 11) Falcon Rising, 12) Vigilante Diaries, 13) Deadly Target, 14) Skin Trade, 15) S.W.A.T: Under Siege, 16) Spawn. The films I have of his on DVD are excellent, but Vigilante Diaries is very good, but needs improving. Their should have been more of Michael Jai Whites fight scenes in this film. Vigilante Diaries is a very good film, not a crap film and it does have some very good acting by Paul Sloan, Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson, Michael Jai White, Jason Mewes, Kevin L. Walker, Michael Madsen, James Russo, Arman Nshanian, Chasty Ballesteros and Jessica Uberuaga.

I enjoyed the film

[Filmreader · 8/10 · 13 January 2019]

Not for OSCAR but definitely to have a good time. I enjoyed the film. Maybe some will say is like Expendables. NO, is NOT because the actors of Expendables are like that escaped from... elderly care facilities !