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59 out of 81 people found the following review useful: Better than some would have you believe, 14 August 2007 Author: nosferatutwin from United Kingdom
Just spent some time watching this move .. and unlike the previous reviewer enjoyed this film. I disagreed with him so much it prompted me to write my first ever comments on IMDb. In the trivia part of the IMDb description it says that actual events were used as inspiration for the scenes and i thought they were all quite believable. "He's hidin in da countryside"! was one comment i found funny as is in the age of big brother hiding in the city would have made for a very short movie.Somehow i suspect that other people who have watched this film sort of missed the point and have probable led sheltered lives somewhere with mummy and daddy feeding them with a silver spoon as i found the characters true to life as i have met people who talk and act how the script was written.I'm not claiming that this film should win any awards .. however i thought it deserved higher praise and didn't want any other potential viewers to be put off. blair witch scored higher and my little eye scored the same ( i turned both of these movies off before the end). This movie has far more entertainment value than both and after all isn't that what movies are for .. thanks for listening.
55 out of 80 people found the following review useful: Captures the Feelings of Many, 26 March 2007 Author: richardstelmach from United Kingdom
I am surprised at the poor IMDb rating for this film. The film picks up on many of the problems in British society. The failings of the Police are real and the writer paints a realistic picture of a possible future of Britain. Police getting worse, crime continuing, the public let down.The film doesn't pull any punches, it is grim and hits its message home clearly.The performances are fantastic. Sean Bean really is incredible, the pain in his face is clear to see, full of emotion, he is brilliant. Bob Hoskins is also great.The film is not perfect. Any criticisms i would have would possibly be the soundtrack, it would have been good if there was more music kicking in, i think the droning noise was possibly overused.Overall though, the writer should be credited for a writing a film with a strong, important message and the direction creates a fantastic movie.
47 out of 69 people found the following review useful: OUTLAW fails because Nick Love does not have the skill., 10 March 2007 Author: SirYesSir from United Kingdom
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
I went to see the film yesterday.The opening credits ended and the film began, the first thing that I noticed was that it was shot on video, the wide shots look very poor as video cannot handle the detail, particularly wide shots. Then the camera began to shake, like the beginnings of a repressed epileptic fit, I found this mildly annoying but continued to watch.And pleasantly I have to admit that I was actually really enjoying the first 20 minutes of the film. The characters were established quietly and slowly, and I was involved with their lives, I wanted to see what would happen to these characters, the actor who played the CCTV expert was especially good, very scary and believable.But then everything fell apart from the time they all get into a pub fight and do some male bonding. As soon as there was any action the camera would have an epileptic fit of astronomic proportions, then when the action ceased, the camera would rest. Very annoying, it shows that Nick Love cannot handle action sequences, instead relying on pointless gimmicks to hide his weaknesses.Bean supposedly trains them, and for some reason when you want to train a group of vigilantes you hire an entire sports hall to do it, very discreet, although he never trains them, they never train to do anything, they just stand around in their tracksuits while Sean Bean rants at them. One of the most perplexing and unintentionally funny lines Sean bean states is something like this " if you get aids or blow up a bus with a rucksack the government gives you things..." HUH?? Aids victims and suicide bombers, whats the link here please??They fail to go ahead with their plans and inexplicably Sean bean tells them to disband but in the meantime in another inexplicable moment in the film (the film has many of these) Sean bean kills or seriously injures, not sure which, the CCTV guy because they have a row about methods?? Its like Hitler and Goerring discussing whether they should have black or blue uniforms!!! So the gang of pathetic outlaws disband, we are then shown that most of their problems of fighting back have been solved, Danny dyer punches an office bully, while Rupert friend, who does absolutely nothing for the entire film apart from stand in the background, suddenly becomes more confident and girls begin to smile at him and not notice his scarred face. The gang then reforms a few minutes later, by which time Sean bean who is being hunted by the authorities and whose face is on many TV screens being described as a dangerous army veteran, is seen sitting in a busy pub in an army jacket??? Very undercover.Bob hoskins was only on this film for a few days as he is ina handful of scenes and the majority of them he is in his tiny office not he telephone spouting out clichés like a constipated parrot. I think bob collected the cheque and ran away as fast as he could. Its been years since Mona Lisa ey Bob, how the mighty have fallen?It all ends in shoot out in a country mansion, which we are shown is surrounded by the police, but then miraculously we cut to them in a forest and they have gotten away, HOW DID THEY GET AWAY? by this point I didn't really care anymore, they then talk to each and laugh about how Lennie James's character swore at the police, yeah hilarious, they are bonding again, they then all get shot, but again miraculously Danny Dyer rises up like a monkey who has been chewing on amphetamines and runs away making his escape.We then find the head of the crime syndicate, the target of the gangs raid not he mansion, PERSONALLY making a payment to dyers workmate who set dyer and th gang up, this is one of the many ridiculous and contrived bits of the plot, of which there are many, when would a godfather go in a car to pay off some little underling PERSONALLY?? I'll tell you when, when Nick Love needs to have Danny Dyers character miraculously show up in the underground car park and shoot him, so he can end the film quickly.I really have to say Nick love is not a writer or a director of much skill, he doesn't know where is going with the film and he does not have the technical skill to make action sequences riveting. But he also does not have the intelligence to say something with such an intriguing topic. You can imitate Michael Mann as much as you want Nick, you can have muted colours, you can have helicopter shots of London littered throughout the film, you can have your characters spout monosyllabic lines, but the difference is that Micahel Mann knows his characters and knows what he wants to do with them, Nick Love has no idea, he simply wants to imitate the surface value of Mann, without understanding what he is imitating.Its a shame as we need strong British directors working in the industry today, and as I said the film begins with a lot of promise but then just dive bombs into a great big contrived mess.
51 out of 78 people found the following review useful: Disturbing on more than 1 level, 14 March 2007 Author: Dave Robinson (dave@under-five-eight.co.uk) from United Kingdom
This isn't a great film and I was never quite sure whether it meant to be a study of the dark underbelly of disaffected Britain or a crude vigilante flick. A lot of reviewers here have been dismissive of it, but I think it had fleeting touches of real power. Unfortunately, they did not build into anything of substance.The gang members did not convince and their behaviour took the film into a strange fantasy-land world.Sean Bean made a reasonable stab at a two dimensional character and a better script would have brought this to life. Supporting cast made a fair stab at it, but all-in-all an opportunity missed.
30 out of 38 people found the following review useful: Interesting concept, 9 July 2007 Author: kthoran from United States
The idea of vigilante revenge is a powerful basis.This movie shows not only the possibilities of revenge but the reluctance and hesitation to engage in the same.It was well acted and mostly believable but the plot did tend to get muddied a bit at certain points. Gives an interesting view of British home life, office life, and countryside as well to those interested in British culture.Overall, it caught my interest and kept me watching until the rather predictable ending. But predictable ending aside it shouldn't matter to most movie watchers as the action keeps everything moving and keeps it interesting to the end.
26 out of 38 people found the following review useful: Top Notch British Movie, 14 July 2007 Author: adamcarlton from United Kingdom
If you are someone like me who hadn't seen the trailers for this or hadn't actually heard of it, and aren't used to films of this type (i.e. British setting based around violence and crime) then you are likely to really thoroughly enjoy this movie. I thought it was one of the greatest British films in a long time, and is up there in my mind with 28 Days/Weeks Later and the like.The acting is pretty top notch. I thought Danny Dyer and Sean Bean were fantastic unlike a few of the other commenter's, and their dialogue and actions were pretty moving and inspiring. I thought the camera work went well with the type of film it was, and aided in conveying the action, violence and attitude of the movie. There wasn't too much violence nor too little, and at times i was kept on my seat, cringing ready for the next punch, hit with a bat or pipe, or any other act performed.The ending was pretty cool too and wasn't what i predicted to happen. It left me grinning and i was just really entertained throughout the film.I think for the people who were looking forward to the film it was bound to not be as good as expected, but if your after something interesting or something different to your typical action or horror flick, and you like British movies, you should really give this a shot. You wont regret it.
21 out of 30 people found the following review useful: Suffers From Being Contrived And Underwritten, 11 March 2007 Author: Theo Robertson from Isle Of Bute, Scotland
I was looking forward to catching this in the cinema . A great premise of wronged citizens let down by the law and bleeding heart do gooder liberals which is something I can connect with . On top of that OUTLAW contains a great trailer so spending £2.30 on a bus ticket and £6 to get into the cinema ( And let's not forget you spend twenty minutes sitting through adverts and trailers ) for some violent catharsis seemed time and money well spent Oh dear . I won't come out with the cliché of " That's two hours of my life I'll never get back " but I was expecting far more . I said this movie had a great trailer and that's because the trailer contained all the best bits . Yes there's bits of extreme violence in the trailer and you'll be rubbing your chin wondering what dastardly deeds the criminals committed in order to suffer deserved come back . Unfortunately after seeing the entire movie you'll still be none the wiser because Nick Love has written a screenplay lacking character motivation !!!!! SLIGHT SPOILERS !!!!!Some other commentators have gone into detail as to the flaws of the screenplay so I won't go into much detail but I'm still left wondering what caused Bryant to go loco . His wife dumped him , he gets name called by some chavs and the son of his former CO was scarred for life by thugs . Is this a good enough reason for committing murder ? I was also confused by Bryant's dialog . He rants about AIDS victims and suicide bombers and " That f****** c*** Blair " then a few scenes later when one of the characters mentions he's a Muslim ( There's nothing to indicate he's Muslim - He just states it as a fact ) Bryant replies that everyone is an individual . Hmmm Bryant is a right wing nutter in one scene and a few scenes later he's changed his tune .Bryant isn't the only one who's suffering from a poorly written character . So's Bob Hoskins cop has spent 25 years on the force and it's only now he's decided that the police are a waste of space . Sorry but I couldn't take him seriously or the fact that he has access to serious crime files , files which his local station don't seem to have noticed have gone missing .In fact nearly all the characters are nothing more than literary devices and cyphers and you can't help but notice this which means you can't take them seriously as three dimensional people who live in Britain in 2007 . Perhaps this is best summed up in the scene where they capture a crim , drive him to a barn house , stab him a couple of times and then just as they're about to execute him by hanging they then change their mind allowing the scum bag to live and set up the plot turn at the end . I think the phrase for this is " A contrived storyline " Having said all this I didn't really feel I'd wasted my money watching OUTLAW . the cast do their best with their underwritten characters and because he's the only character that Nick Love seems to have put any hard work into Sean Harris's excels as fascist weirdo Hillier . When Hillier mentions what he'd like to do to Gary Glitter and Ian Huntley I had to control myself from jumping out of my seat screaming " RIGHT ON " . Such a pity Hillier disappears two thirds of the way through the movie . For those of you expecting a violent thriller you won't be disappointed because there's one scene where a character gets kneecapped which caused gasps of shock in the ( Near empty ) cinema . For those of you who liked the digital video look of Danny Boyle's 28 DAYS LATER you'll love what director Nick Love has done here though anyone who doesn't like digital video will absolutely despise the directing All in all a rather disappointing British thriller which doesn't realise its full potential
26 out of 41 people found the following review useful: Nearly a good movie, 8 March 2007 Author: tryking2003 from United Kingdom
Sean Bean gives a good performance as a Para who seems to have lost a sense of purpose after leaving the armed services in Outlaw. I really got into this movie and I thought hey there are some snags but I am enjoying this. Yes it is a bit controversial in its thinking but sometimes you have to accept that society does not always think logically. Another good point to the film is how you watch the characters reactions to the whole philosophy of retaliation. Some of members of the gang seem to struggle with the violence, whilst others simply bask in it. However, the fundamental flaw appears with this film as far as I was concerned was towards the end. For 3 quarters of the film I wanted to know what was going to happen, where the characters were going. I wanted the film to end in a crescendo of action and intrigue. Instead sadly it ended with a bit of a farce and a whimper. I won't spoil it for those that want to see it but lets just say that it seemed to me that the script writer either ran out of ideas or the director ran out of money. In my opinion if Outlaw was 15 minutes longer and the ending thought about a bit more this could have been a good film. In the end all it left me was the bitter taste of disappointment though.
33 out of 56 people found the following review useful: What A Letdown, 10 March 2007 Author: chris_said from United Kingdom
I have seen Goodbye Charlie Bright, Football Factory & The Business and I really love them all but Outlaw is a travesty and a massive let down...The camera work as noted by others is atrocious but this didn't annoy me as much as the amount of holes in the plot and the shockingly bad script...1) I know he is trying to make a more serious film but Nick Love relies on comedy to get his films across and there was next to none...2) Things like Danny Dyers line, "I know where he is...he's in the countryside" are so bad I had to laugh...as if the countryside is within a 1mile radius... Oh and there are others...3) His girlfriend saying, "this is where you had your dream..." he replies "i know" then she says "why did you come here?" he replies (get your Oscars out..) "i don't know" Brilliant - absolutely brilliant!4) He wants to marry his girlfriend throughout but this for no reason jolts her at the wedding to beat up some people...marry the lady then go...its not hard! 5) The amount of times the barrister says he'll join them and then refuses is just DAMN boring...it was like hearing the same script multiple times to waste time because Nick Love didn't know where to take the film...6) Why do they waste another 10mins of the film showing the girl smiling at the disfigured fella? I don't care! Then they show him playing rugby...again this is about the violence in todays society not this random guys impression of Jason Robinson...and before the final fighting he leaves anyway...so pointless! All in all a waste of my money and I was throughly let down...I will be waiting for his next film because they have been great up to this...go back to the heart warming comedy and stick away from politics...im sorry but its above you.
16 out of 25 people found the following review useful: 7/10 because of the concept - go see Boondock Saints, 16 July 2007 Author: Juleskid27 from Canada
It really was a disappointment. Slow start and the last 20 minutes picks up. But I had to give it a 7/10 because of the concept. "Boondock Saints" was better. => maybe see it! Better to rent.Plot: The law & govt in London lets down several average citizens in terrible crimes committed against them and their families. Corrupt officials are in league with the govt who allow criminals to get off. Soluion = vigilante group forms to right the wrongs.Lot of reasonably well known actors in here but it has a B quality movie flavor. Maybe you could say more of live or real budget production. It moves a long a bit slowly, but despite all of this I really have to draw attention to..+ves: - it almost follows a pseudo real life pace not a Hollywood blockbuster - the incidents that occur are believable. It could happen in South London. - bully's & punks with top people in collusion with police - corrupts govt and police - a few wrong people pushed too far and of course the social path who is drawn to the group - and a predictable or realistic ending.. Don't worry no spoilers.-> The longer I consider it the more the movie has drawn me in, like a car crash and it deserves it's 7/10
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