Normally I like to ease into my reviews by writing something witty or thoughtful to nicely, or atrociously, segway into the film’s theme or cast, so here it goes … watching this film gave me “Blunt Force Trauma” … that’s the best I’ve got I’m afraid. A movie that focuses on an underground pistol duelling league sounds like it could be a brutal, sickening and fast paced slick flick, however unfortunately the entire movie is just one disappointing round of blanks; arguably the best thing about the movie was the ending, not because of what occurred, but because it was so terrible and clichéd I heartedly laughed out loud.
Blunt Force Trauma is the brand new feature length movie from Ken Sanzel, a man all too familiar with cops, guns and blood loss, who now takes a slightly less brutal direction with this latest offering. Blunt Force Trauma revolves around the introduction of a new competitive sport that kind of splices together sumo wrestling and showdown duelling with a splash of illegal cock fighting thrown into the bloody cocktail. The rules are simple, shoot your opponent in the bulletproof vest until he falls out of his chalk drawn circle, (it varies on location), then stare down your opponent until he is down for the 5 count; players are disqualified for shooting in unprotected areas, which is calming to think that death is strictly prohibited and frowned upon. Blunt Force Trauma opens to no music or any sense of atmosphere and though this was clearly its intention, it really doesn’t work and instead we are welcomed into this blood sport with a boring intimate stare-down; fingers crossed this picks up after the opening titles.
The movie features perhaps 2 of the most unenthusiastic, uncharismatic and unlikeable characters seen in modern cinema, John and his adversary/driver/lover Colt. John (Ryan Kwanten) is your typical chiselled jaw moody gentleman who just wants to battle the best and Colt (Frieda Pinto) is your typical token badass chick who just wants to avenge her brother’s death by following leads and shooting South Americans. Mickey Rourke also has a role in the movie however he doesn’t make an appearance until 80 minutes in where he seemingly plays just a more elusive version of himself called Zorringer, the best gun vest shooter man in the land. John wants to play against Zorringer yet he first must prove himself in the field by scoring injuries as well as victories to showcase his strength and ability, so it’s no surprise that in doing so he gets himself into one of those tricky “one more will kill you” situations. Pinto’s character serves little to no purpose also as this angry and terrified woman who tries to establish a ‘will they won’t they’ relationship with Kwanten, even after giving into an awkward sex scene roughly 15 minutes into the film. Each of the cast are far too generic to care for or become attached to and are arguably responsible for the movie’s slow, tedious narrative.
The film’s entire plot is very confusing and absolutely boring with every character seemingly keeping everything a secret, yet if you’re watching it alone, the volume is turned up fully and you can get the subtitles on you’ll be able to follow the story amongst the heaps of unanswered questions that pollute your thinking space. In all honesty the plot holes aren’t major and ok I’ll admit I’m exaggerating about not following the narrative as there isn’t a lot to understand, but locations come and go without any expositional dialogue or narration and I was left confused at how and why our characters were travelling the globe. The studio has done well however in finding prime locations to house their duelling as each one John and Colt tracked down was vastly different from any other and each time got increasingly seedier and deadlier, so well done for convincing me that this sport had indeed traversed the Americas. Blunt Force Trauma too suffered from far too many … pauses that … just … grinded any traction … or suspense … to a complete … stand still. Despite the bland narrative the movie did build up some fairly good tension, particularly in the gunfights that are quite exciting to watch even though you know what the outcome will be. As the film travelling around the world so did the sport itself which took up many different customs and rules, whether it be how the ring was drawn out, the weapon of choice or how the match began, it did show genuine thought from how a competitive sport can evolve as you travel through different cultures, which is creative to say the least.
Blunt Force Trauma certainly has a great premise and a unique direction for movies typically about violently shooting others in the face with little to no effort, as here we see combatants showcasing speed and accuracy for small time fame and dirty cash, so understand my disappointment to find this movie greatly unexciting and boring from start to finish. The biggest issue with Blunt Force Trauma is its pace and how badly it has got it wrong by featuring far too many breaks in the combat and action to push a narrative that was flat from the start. The plotline is dismal and difficult to keep up with which isn’t helped by the cast of talented actors putting on terrible performances of hollow un-relatable characters. Blunt Force Trauma is well shot and very well produced however it suffers from a dreadful plot that sadly hurts the audience more than a 9mm in the chest.
Disclaimer:All scores given within our reviews are based on the artist’s personal opinion; this should in no way impede your decision to purchase the game.
You must be logged in to post a comment.