"don't sign a petition pick up an automatic weapon..."
Outlaw (18)
Dir. Nick Love
Reviewed by Matt Adcock
“There will be no excuses. The guilty will be punished…”
Right, this is how it’s going to be: for too long nonces, bullies, hoodies and scumbags of all types have taken advantage of our lax UK legal system, the innocent have suffered and the criminals have prospered – that ends now.
No longer will we take it, the public are fighting back and when I say ‘public’ I obviously mean ‘Sean Bean, Danny Dyer, Bob Hoskins and some other nice but violently disposed chaps’…
Outlaw is a Nick ‘Football Factory, The Business’ Love film – he’s the UK’s best at chav culture bloke wish fulfilment and Outlaw builds on his cocky, loveable geezer angst and filters it through the heavy hitting tones of a Michael Mann movie. The result is a high velocity rifle shot of modern day knee jerk violent revenge that could be ripped from any copy of Daily Mail.
Basically the outlaws here are like an English A-Team just without the ‘build a tank in the back garden plotlines’. Cue the music ‘Da da dan da, da da da… In 2007 a crack commando (Bean) and some other blokes form a unit and are vilified for a crime they don't commit. These men promptly escape from an unlikely Police sting to the London underground. Today, still wanted by the government, they survive as thugs of fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire... The Outlaws…
Yes that just about sums up this film, it’s gritty, it’s violent and it is liable to encourage angry mobs to form and take their own brand of violent vigilante ‘justice’ to the streets. So whilst morally reprehensible and obviously not to meant to be ‘tried at home’ Outlaw manages to be bloody good fun too. It’s hard not to feel a twinge of ‘go get the scumbags’ sentiment when the posse decide to avenge the horrific murder of one of their wives. And despite most of them not knowing which way round to hold their AK47s they manage to get out there and do some damage to the criminal underworld.
It’s not big or clever but if you’ve ever felt let down by the system and fancy seeing a bit of make believe macho retribution - Outlaw delivers a serious payload of hardball thrills, think a British Fight Club and you’ll be in the right neighbourhood.
Darkmatters rating system (out of 5):
Action öööö - come on then, you looking at me punk!?
Laughs öö – it's not supposed to be comedy but Dyer is born comedian
Horror ööö – some serious violence ensues
Babes öö – this is a boys film with 'guns' not 'babes'
Overall öööö (nasty but necessary)
"the 'vigilante gun idol' contestants strutted their stuff"
Links:
More Danny Dyer revenge in soon to be released 'Straightheads'
Or balls to the wall horror comedy SeveranceDarkmatters: H O M E
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