I'm not promising anything, but I'm going to try to make every Saturday (or every other Saturday) a Charles Bronson night. I just love the guy, and I thought this would be a fun way to go back over some of the great (and not-so-great) movies he did in his long career- this will coincide with my Bronson Amazon completion project, so everytime I get ahold of an old Bronson flick on vhs or dvd for cheap enough, the review will follow shortly. Tonight, I thought I'd quickly go over one of Bronson's more underrated features, 'Messenger of Death.'
If you go into 'Messenger of Death' expecting 'Death Wish IV: The Crackdown' or any of Bronson's more over-the-top 80s output, I can see how you'd be disappointed. However, if you just let go of any preconceptions of what this should be and want to enjoy an above-average thriller, then you'll probably like it much more. This isn't a shoot-'em-up or revenge flick (in the usual sense, anyway) in the traditional sense, but Bronson running around with pad and pencil trying to get answers. He doesn't blow up bad guys with rocket launchers, kill punks in break-dancing gear with big game hunting guns, or eat cabbage soup with old people; he travels around Colorado trying to get answers from Mormons and uncover big, bad corporate conspiracies involving the water company. That said, this is still pretty good Bronson, and seeing Charlie do his thing here makes me even more befuddled that people nowadays think you can replace Bronson with a guy like Jason Statham in, of all roles, 'the Mechanic.' What the fuck is up with that? Anyway, if you've seen 'Kinjite' or '10 to Midnight,' then expect more that type of film- definitely not as fun as a classic like 'Murphy's Law,' but if you need your Bronson fix, this should be your ticket.
2 comments:
I haven't seen this one in forever. Kenner just sent me Death Wishes IV and V to review, so I'm considering doing those and parts 1 and 2 as well on the week of my 600th post, which will be coming in about six weeks or so.
I'm still keeping an open mind about Statham in "The Mechanic", but if it comes off as them trying to replace Bronson, as opposed to re-imagining the film in a modern setting, I agree that that won't be good.
Don't get me wrong, I loved Jason Statham when he first came out in the early Guy Ritchie films, and think it's great that he's sort of "carrying the torch" or overly testoterone-drive retro action hero stuff that guys like Vin Diesel and the Rock kick of dropped the ball on, but it just peeves me a bit that they could mess with a perfect film like the Mechanic and slap him in that role. The story of a hitman and protege has been done to death since then, why not just come out with a movie "inspired by" the old film but called something else? I dunno, you're probably right, but the idea of reimagining a film like 'The Mechanic,'- which doesn't need to be messed with- is about as appealing as the "reimagining" of the Crow I was reading about awhile back (not very @ all).
As far as a Death Wish fest on DTVC, I think that would be a brilliant idea. Looking forward to it, Matt.
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