Harry Brown Review

Basically, it's a vigilante "the world's going to hell in a handbasket" movie.  Michael Caine plays a former marine who served in Northern Ireland.  His wife and child are gone and his only friend is killed by the youths that are terrorizing "the Estate" (which I can only assume represents the slums of every urban area using a pathetically ironic name).  I saw it on Netflix and figured, "hey.  It's got Michael Caine kicking ass.  This might be good."  I was wrong.  The potential is there but it never lives up to it.

The pace is very, very slow.  It takes a long time for the story to get moving and, by the time it does, you realize that they aren't really telling much of a story at all.  Characters that should have been more major to the plot are shoved to the background and I cannot really figure out why.  The investigating detectives start out like they are going to be integral to the story but are then shoved aside in favour of some weird, over the top underworld gun purchase scene that goes on for way too long.  As the movie builds, it comes to this convoluted climax that, while they try to make it tense, it just makes no sense.  Then, the detectives come back and they go into this betrayal angle that is just done far, far too late.

Visually, it isn't too bad.  You get the real feel of the English underworld.  The acting, while nothing special, is ok.  And it is much darker and grittier than I was expecting.  While I thought it may turn into one of those gritty movies that you come away with that "wow" feeling like a Fight Club, I came away feeling like they did a little too much and some of it was just for the sake of making it controversial.

Don't see it.  There's way better movies in the genre.