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Ok first and foremost "Law Abiding Citizen" is an incredibly morbid and deranged train wreck of a movie, and most definitely not on screen fun for the whole family. It's predominantly a crime, thriller with a large helping of gore and dismemberment thrown in to lighten up the proceedings.
Rapidly transitioning from the heart warming scenes of ultra-violent rape/child murder(not simultaneously thank God!) to the delightful sequence of the adorable Gerard Butler brutally torturing his family's killer to death in his own lakeside workshop, striking an uncanny resemblance to Jigsaw's holiday home.
Genuinely the opening scene couldn't have broken more taboos or been more messed up unless a puppy had been shot in the face and then used as a football. It manages to go from aaaaw isn't she cute to, OH MY GOD that doesn't go there!? within a matter of seconds, which when you think about it is quite impressive, and the worst part is you don't even care.
The opening scene is so incredibly short that the character development of the wife and child is non-existent and the audience have no time to become emotionally invested in these protagonists or begin to care about their impending fate. All you know, is the little girl is cute, the wife is... um... a woman and Gerard Butler our hero seems like a vaguely likable bloke, that is, moments before he's, abruptly, hit in the face with a baseball and his entire life and soul is raped and murdered before his very eyes.
So a delightful opening to progressively more light hearted film.
And the characterization sadly doesn't improve from there, with not a single likable protagonist emerging, each failing to inspire an ounce of sympathy from the already emotionally cold audience.
Jamie Foxx is the slimy lawyer bastard, Gerard Butler is the depressed, grieving bastard who quickly transforms into the psychotic murdering bastard and the remaining characters are lifeless filters whose sole functions are to fill out the ranks of fodder characters and spout lines of pointless throw away dialogue, oh and did I mention they were bastards.
Foxx's character alienates the entire audience with his less than ethical actions within the first five minutes making Butler's character the sole relatable protagonist. However as Butler's protagonist swiftly descends further and further into a vengeful, psychotic rage, in which he brutally murders anyone who didn't so much as open the door for him, all original sympathy for his protagonist's heart wrenching predicament rapidly deteriorates, the last of it vanishing in a particularly gory scene involving a "spork", a gourmet meal and his cell mates face, I'll leave the wrest to your imagination.
Sadly the direction and script are disjointed, confused and uninspired, the dialogue conveying the sense that it was the product of a marathon brainstorming session by a group of crime movie addict teenagers who are desperately going for shock value over substance.
And sadder still it's as boring as an all day old folks bingo session where the only prizes are a pat on the head and another round of bingo. Who'd have thought that a cat and mouse crime thriller, with extra gore, in which the mouse constantly mind fucks the cat could be so soul crushingly dull.
The vaguely searching ethical questions asked, and not followed through, by the various characters only help to emphasize the extent of the douchebaggery undertaken by the main protagonists and remind you of how much you already dislike each one of them in the first place.
The final scenes and death sequences steadily escalate in violence and lack of realism, with each attack becoming progressively more ludicrous than the last, until the only way for the final death to up the scale of ridiculousness would be to have Jamie Foxx beaten to death by a clown with a giant cheese string.
Ultimately "Law Abiding Citizen" is a generic and pedestrian crime thriller, devoid of personality and originality, and one who's case file you wont want to be opening any time soon.
2/10 stars The "Law Abiding Citizen" deserves life!
Ok first and foremost "Law Abiding Citizen" is an incredibly morbid and deranged train wreck of a movie, and most definitely not on screen fun for the whole family. It's predominantly a crime, thriller with a large helping of gore and dismemberment thrown in to lighten up the proceedings.
Rapidly transitioning from the heart warming scenes of ultra-violent rape/child murder(not simultaneously thank God!) to the delightful sequence of the adorable Gerard Butler brutally torturing his family's killer to death in his own lakeside workshop, striking an uncanny resemblance to Jigsaw's holiday home.
Genuinely the opening scene couldn't have broken more taboos or been more messed up unless a puppy had been shot in the face and then used as a football. It manages to go from aaaaw isn't she cute to, OH MY GOD that doesn't go there!? within a matter of seconds, which when you think about it is quite impressive, and the worst part is you don't even care.
 |
| In his defense the bracelet was very interesting. |
The opening scene is so incredibly short that the character development of the wife and child is non-existent and the audience have no time to become emotionally invested in these protagonists or begin to care about their impending fate. All you know, is the little girl is cute, the wife is... um... a woman and Gerard Butler our hero seems like a vaguely likable bloke, that is, moments before he's, abruptly, hit in the face with a baseball and his entire life and soul is raped and murdered before his very eyes.
So a delightful opening to progressively more light hearted film.
And the characterization sadly doesn't improve from there, with not a single likable protagonist emerging, each failing to inspire an ounce of sympathy from the already emotionally cold audience.
Jamie Foxx is the slimy lawyer bastard, Gerard Butler is the depressed, grieving bastard who quickly transforms into the psychotic murdering bastard and the remaining characters are lifeless filters whose sole functions are to fill out the ranks of fodder characters and spout lines of pointless throw away dialogue, oh and did I mention they were bastards.
Foxx's character alienates the entire audience with his less than ethical actions within the first five minutes making Butler's character the sole relatable protagonist. However as Butler's protagonist swiftly descends further and further into a vengeful, psychotic rage, in which he brutally murders anyone who didn't so much as open the door for him, all original sympathy for his protagonist's heart wrenching predicament rapidly deteriorates, the last of it vanishing in a particularly gory scene involving a "spork", a gourmet meal and his cell mates face, I'll leave the wrest to your imagination.
 |
| They could take his freedom but they could never take his smile. |
The vaguely searching ethical questions asked, and not followed through, by the various characters only help to emphasize the extent of the douchebaggery undertaken by the main protagonists and remind you of how much you already dislike each one of them in the first place.
The final scenes and death sequences steadily escalate in violence and lack of realism, with each attack becoming progressively more ludicrous than the last, until the only way for the final death to up the scale of ridiculousness would be to have Jamie Foxx beaten to death by a clown with a giant cheese string.
Ultimately "Law Abiding Citizen" is a generic and pedestrian crime thriller, devoid of personality and originality, and one who's case file you wont want to be opening any time soon.
2/10 stars The "Law Abiding Citizen" deserves life!
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