I love Terry Crews. Even his amazing draw and enthusiasm could not save this awful script with a $10k budget. Story is about drug war with a victim caught in the middle who seeks refuge with Crews and his dad. Pretty straight forward but just a bad script. Wouldn't recommend it.
190 Reviews
What a mess of a film
iamMarkPrice1 February 2020
This film had a lot of potential, we know that because it's an idea we've seen executed well many times before. It could have been so much more, it wanted to be so much more. Unfortunately amateur camera work/blocking, poor script and horrendous sound design really rob this film.
When will sound designers learn, if you make the score significantly louder than the delivery of the script, foley, etc, through volume, pitch or otherwise, you destroy the film. In John Henry the score which pops up regularly and randomly (often out of context) is at least double the loudness of everything else going on. That means you either listen at a volume that makes speech inaudible or you blow out your ear drums when trumpets suddenly start blasting.
That leads to much of the speech being inaudible. Not that it really matters with such a basic plot, but it definitely is frustrating. The John Wick dead dog scene is ridiculous, and at no point is there emotional attachment to any of the characters. Heck, for most of the movie you won't even really know who the characters even really are.
Better to save your money and watch Shaft or John Wick instead.
When will sound designers learn, if you make the score significantly louder than the delivery of the script, foley, etc, through volume, pitch or otherwise, you destroy the film. In John Henry the score which pops up regularly and randomly (often out of context) is at least double the loudness of everything else going on. That means you either listen at a volume that makes speech inaudible or you blow out your ear drums when trumpets suddenly start blasting.
That leads to much of the speech being inaudible. Not that it really matters with such a basic plot, but it definitely is frustrating. The John Wick dead dog scene is ridiculous, and at no point is there emotional attachment to any of the characters. Heck, for most of the movie you won't even really know who the characters even really are.
Better to save your money and watch Shaft or John Wick instead.
Confusing mess
bbbollman11 May 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Where did the Hispanic girl come from? What about the old school mate what happens between them? Why is the music so loud you can't hear them speak? Why is there videos from 1994 popping up here and there? I understand the basic point of the movie but it's a hot confusing mess.
Terrible
hekuranrama4 February 2020
Makes no sense
karaweast26 January 2020
I never once could figure out what this movie was really about. Didnt get the theme. Didnt get any of my questions answered like the woman who helped him buy tampons and danced in the store. Who are these random Hispanic kids. Why are they jumping from scene to scene. Cant understand why we are being shown videos from Feb of 1994, they never explain it. Some lady at the end decided to help john. I'm just confused. It turned from a movie of all dialogue to straight gore and western music. The music never once fit the scene, the music over powered the dialogue. I kept having to turn up the volume to hear what they were saying then turn it down because some loud obnoxious music came on. I want my money back. That was dumb.
Worst Film I Have Seen In Many Years
denverdaveonline10 February 2020
Everyone involved in this film should be embarrassed. It has a terrible story line, unnecessary extreme profanity, and is overall a two-thumbs-down candidate for "worst film ever made". It is an atrocious assault and assassination of the character of John Henry who was deemed a legendary hero and this movie is so awful it seems like it is a deliberate attempt to do so.
Terry Crews should be much more selective about the movie roles he chooses in the future or his career is going in the toilet where this movie belongs.
Terry Crews should be much more selective about the movie roles he chooses in the future or his career is going in the toilet where this movie belongs.
Terrible movie
seanroger-829639 May 2020
Warning: Spoilers
You would think that Ludacris and Terry Crews are established enough that they would no longer participate in substandard movies. It had to have been evident at the time that they read the script that no matter what editing was done, it could not produce any level of quality work.
No back story, but a young Honduran brother and sister manage to illegally cross into the US, fine. Sister is kidnapped and rescued, however the brother is shot. How was he alive at the end of the movie with no visible sign of injury.
Terry Crews acting was idk, was his intention to be depressed, lonely, sedated?
The screenplay music was terrible and didn't fit with the sequences.
The action was horrible.
How did the cousin charge a cop who had his pistol drawn escape?
The dialogue with the cop at the house was garbage.
I could keep mentioning different sequences from the movie that all are just as bad as what I have done already but I am not spending another moment with this terribly written, filmed, and acted out movie.
Guys, do better next time.
No back story, but a young Honduran brother and sister manage to illegally cross into the US, fine. Sister is kidnapped and rescued, however the brother is shot. How was he alive at the end of the movie with no visible sign of injury.
Terry Crews acting was idk, was his intention to be depressed, lonely, sedated?
The screenplay music was terrible and didn't fit with the sequences.
The action was horrible.
How did the cousin charge a cop who had his pistol drawn escape?
The dialogue with the cop at the house was garbage.
I could keep mentioning different sequences from the movie that all are just as bad as what I have done already but I am not spending another moment with this terribly written, filmed, and acted out movie.
Guys, do better next time.
So bad I'm wondering if Terry Crews is in some kind of trouble.
mauriceonicholson12 May 2020
The plot of this film moves at a snail's pace, and ultimately doesn't go anywhere. It really makes very little sense. The concept isn't a terrible idea, but what really confuses me is that the writer also directed this film, and couldn't bring it together any better than this. Confusing flashbacks that are uninteresting at best, and gunfights with people standing around, looking down gun barrels just waiting to get shot. The only excitement came from my anger at the wasted potential of this film.
It's about Respect
nogodnomasters2 February 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Terry Crews goes after his former gang members and family to save a couple of Honduran kids. In the end, he uses the sledgehammer you see on the DVD cover because he does not like guns.
Would have been better as the graphic novel they showed during the credits. Lots of blood. You knew where it was going and who cared? Never got to know the characters as half spoke Spanish and John didn't speak much.
Guide: F-word. No sex or nudity.
Would have been better as the graphic novel they showed during the credits. Lots of blood. You knew where it was going and who cared? Never got to know the characters as half spoke Spanish and John didn't speak much.
Guide: F-word. No sex or nudity.
What in the world!!!
vus2925 January 2020
30 minutes into the film and I am on IMDB for a plot because I don't know what I have just watched the half an hour. Even after reading the plot, it doesn't relate to what I have been trying to watch. The camera work is terrible, some footage is obviously from a mobile phone! The editing is atrocious, the editor should have been clued up on the plot! Thankfully I did not have to watch this in a cinema. Let me try get through the last hour!
I thought this was great!
subxerogravity29 January 2020
It soaks it at the end but I totally love this film. It's a perfect homage to the black exploitation era. Very slow drive but worth it.
Terry Crews gets to play a super hero from the streets. Makes me feel like he needs to get in one of those comic book costumes and get real with the superhero thing.
Lucdaris plays the perfect street villains. Just really perfect.
The music perfectly fit the vibe and the tone of the film.
I think I actually was expecting Terry Crews to play the actually John Henry but what I got here was just as good.
If you are a fan of 1970s black cinema get yourself in that headset to watch.
Shameful
jboo-301-42507924 May 2020
John Henry is a man, that according to legend, physically races a machine designed to replace him in the railroad industry. He wins against the machine, but pays the price due to his exertions and dies.
When I saw the ad... I thought it could be good. Then I read the synopsis. Not even close to the legend. They did however show a fit black man with sledgehammer. Which really makes it more disleading.
Shame on you Terry, and shame on Netflix.
When I saw the ad... I thought it could be good. Then I read the synopsis. Not even close to the legend. They did however show a fit black man with sledgehammer. Which really makes it more disleading.
Shame on you Terry, and shame on Netflix.
Watchable but not remarkable
mklarsen-5189526 January 2020
Without spoiling the movie, Terry Crews plays a gentle giant who after a taste of gang life, decided to be non violent. Crews barely changes his facial expression throughout the film to show how passive John Henry is and the story is basically slow. There are a few scattered bits of extreme violence with people's heads being exploded and a few torture scenes but overall a slow movie.
This is absolutely terrible!
mcdimmy10 May 2020
Don't even attempt it! I loveTerry but this movie shouldn't even be on Netflix. The plot is ridiculous, the movie is just all round horrible! Some scenes were surely shot on a low budget flip cellphone! It's not good!
Definitely a good reason to watch
dickamjones3 November 2020
Awful!
ahmadalnouri26 April 2020
What was that?
debeautymarshall-190-66283010 May 2020
Terry Crews and Ludicrous should be ashamed and embarrassed . How desperate can you be to act in such a terrible low budget movie? I'm sure they don't NEED the money.( Which was probably very little). So why??? I don't get it.
This movie was so crappy. I feel like I could have directed it better and written better lines. Good grief:((
I love Terry Crews ....but this??!!
I love Terry Crews ....but this??!!
Goes down as one of the worst of all time
mrsmays_nita18 February 2020
Badd
mehdi_dialameh14 March 2020
Ill conceived stupidity
FilmCurator28 January 2020
Terry Crews as folklore hero, John Henry. Unfortunately, this film is far from a steel driving man character type. A silly story, with silly characters. It felt like an 8 year old wrote this story, and script. Lousy dialogue, lousy characters, and lacking a cohesive story. I did enjoy Ken Foree's performance, but it wasn't enough to save this crappy film. Anything for a buck filmmaking.
The director clearly went to the Michael Bay school
taylorann111 May 2020
Was like a music video and wannabe Tarantino movie rolled into one. Pacing was awful. The scene with the two gang members talking about "The Human Centipede" was an attempt at the Royal with Cheese dialogue from "Pulp Fiction." Just a waste of Terry Crews and Chris Bridges' talents.
Ignore the poor reviews
cazubuogu29 January 2020
Beautiful Jamila
zathan-3284825 January 2020
You can enjoy this movie even if its not perfect.
If you want to see hoodrat subhuman getting killed with style this is the movie for you. Jamila also does a good job in this. Her presence can light up anything.... The only negative with this is that it has parts filmed with 90's camcorder fitler....... those parts are annoying...
Really bad
jtags-8405910 May 2020
Do not watch this "movie."
jcmlb17 May 2020
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