I just finished watching "Mean Guns," and, considering the action-stinkers that have been coming out in the past few months (Domestic Disturbance, The One), I found it to be a breath of fresh air. It uses cliches and violence combined with strong, intelligent characters (scattered in there among very cliched characters) to tell a modern-day parable on the depravity of man and the need for redemption. Very dark, very violent, but it needed to be to make its point on how low human beings can allow themselves to become. I won't go into detail about the plot...that's not what users comments are for. Just read the plot summary. I shall, however, explore the film's philosophy.
The mambo music, which plays in the background as the characters shoot at each other, works to show how lightly society now sees and deals with violence, and in the end, the film points an accussing finger at all the viewers who allowed themselves to be taken in by the "engaging" (intentionally cliched) storyline, and suggesting that in our enjoyment of such a raunchy picture, we place outselves on a level no better than the horrible killer presented here. There is one particular scene in which two men mercilessly slaughter a man, and the soft, classical-guitar piece playing in the background effectively shows how comfortable we have become as viewers to such gruesome displays of violence. Indeed, what we are more focused on here is the fact that the music is beautiful, despite the very bloody acts of violence that we are witnessing. Such audience-manipulation packs a powerful punch.
Only the conclusion drags on...and on....and on..... The need to tie up all loose ends is irrelevant. The point is already made by the time the movie's final scenes begin, but they try to tie them all up in any case. As a result, the ending simply lumbers when it should have, as the rest of the film does, soar.
Still, Lambert and company are great in their roles. Who new director Albert Pyun was capable? Final verdict: A-. Very solid.
***1/2 out of ****
The mambo music, which plays in the background as the characters shoot at each other, works to show how lightly society now sees and deals with violence, and in the end, the film points an accussing finger at all the viewers who allowed themselves to be taken in by the "engaging" (intentionally cliched) storyline, and suggesting that in our enjoyment of such a raunchy picture, we place outselves on a level no better than the horrible killer presented here. There is one particular scene in which two men mercilessly slaughter a man, and the soft, classical-guitar piece playing in the background effectively shows how comfortable we have become as viewers to such gruesome displays of violence. Indeed, what we are more focused on here is the fact that the music is beautiful, despite the very bloody acts of violence that we are witnessing. Such audience-manipulation packs a powerful punch.
Only the conclusion drags on...and on....and on..... The need to tie up all loose ends is irrelevant. The point is already made by the time the movie's final scenes begin, but they try to tie them all up in any case. As a result, the ending simply lumbers when it should have, as the rest of the film does, soar.
Still, Lambert and company are great in their roles. Who new director Albert Pyun was capable? Final verdict: A-. Very solid.
***1/2 out of ****