I've been watching movies for the last 40 years but I've never seen and felt anything like this. Simple story you might think: Michael Caine as an old vigilante avenging his best pal. Sort of Get Carter of 2009. But as much as I liked that movie, this one is a much more memorable experience.
The movie takes you by the guts from the first minute, long before any violence erupts. You just feel viscerally the despair. It works because everything is so real; the images shock with the simple ugliness of Britain's suburbs, the music magnificently enhances the mood created by Barber and sir Michael is at the summit of his art.
Just watching Michael Caine's face is something you cannot describe. Sir Michael continues the line of fantastic British actors who have continued to up their game well into old age (Laurence Olivier, Charles Laughton come to mind). He still has the ambition to make a difference and his work is not just an example for aspiring actors but I believe for all of us.
Now, some might say that the morality of the movie is that only the vigilantes might save us. Just watch the movie; the dinosaur vigilante, the moral conscience of the movie (Emily Mortimer excellent as usual) drowned by the overwhelming prevalence of mediocrity and you'll know. There is no simple message; just life, the mistakes we make and that we pass on to our future generations.
The movie takes you by the guts from the first minute, long before any violence erupts. You just feel viscerally the despair. It works because everything is so real; the images shock with the simple ugliness of Britain's suburbs, the music magnificently enhances the mood created by Barber and sir Michael is at the summit of his art.
Just watching Michael Caine's face is something you cannot describe. Sir Michael continues the line of fantastic British actors who have continued to up their game well into old age (Laurence Olivier, Charles Laughton come to mind). He still has the ambition to make a difference and his work is not just an example for aspiring actors but I believe for all of us.
Now, some might say that the morality of the movie is that only the vigilantes might save us. Just watch the movie; the dinosaur vigilante, the moral conscience of the movie (Emily Mortimer excellent as usual) drowned by the overwhelming prevalence of mediocrity and you'll know. There is no simple message; just life, the mistakes we make and that we pass on to our future generations.