13 oct 2011

My Review: 13 (4/10)


¨13 didn`t pull the trigger. You have to pull the trigger.¨

13 is a remake of a 2005 Georgian film ¨13 Tzameti¨ which was also written and directed by Gela Babluani. Unlike the original film in which Babluani also stared, this time the film had a lot of known Hollywood actors and it was filmed in color. The film has an interesting concept and it could have worked for a short film, but not for a full length feature film. Even at 97 minutes long the movie feels stretched and the dialogue really didn’t help either. There are some interesting and thrilling moments, but not enough to save this film. I had no idea what 13 was about before watching it so at the beginning I was drawn and intrigued to what was going to happen, but after the suspense was over the film got lost in the narrative. I also was expecting more from the cast because there were some interesting actors involved in the project, but the only real one who stands out in this film was Sam Riley (who I loved in Control). Riley gave a great performance and he is probably the best thing about this film. Mickey Rourke, Jason Statham, Alexander Skarsgard, and Michael Shannon were all underused, and they had little screen time to truly shine. With a better script this movie could have been much better. I was also a little disappointed with the ending, but I don’t want to give anything away, so I won`t say anything more about it.  

The less you know about the plot probably the better, but since the movie isn’t really that good I will go ahead and tell you about it. If you don’t want to know anything about the story then just go ahead and skip this paragraph. Vince (Sam Riley) is an electrician who has to put his home on mortgage in order to pay for his father`s operations because he`s very ill. Apparently the operation isn’t successful and they have to operate him again, which means Vince is going to need more money. That same day while he is working at someone`s house named William (Michael Berry Jr.) he overhears him speaking to his wife about the opportunity he just got of making a lot of money, while holding an envelope he just opened in his hands. That same day, William overdoses, and Vince doesn’t hesitate in taking the envelope and trying to figure out if he can make some money in his place. In the envelope he finds a number of hints that will lead him to some sort of secret place. Once he arrives to the location indicated he is taken by a driver named Jack (Alexander Skarsgard) to an underground building where a lot of wealthy people are gathered together making bets. He is given a number, 13, and before he can back out he discovers that he is part of a deadly game where other men gamble on his life. There are others just like him such as Jefferson (Mickey Rourke), Ronald (Ray Winstone), and many more that are all given numbers and are forced to point guns at each other with one bullet. They all have to shoot, those who are lucky survive.

13 is really poorly developed. The concept was interesting at first, but it got really boring after a while thanks in most part to a terrible script and very little character development. There were so many characters that were just wasted in the film and some of the background stories that were told about them were useless. Mickey Rourke and Jason Statham are both great actors, but their roles in this film were absolutely pointless. I really don’t understand how a movie like this needed to be made. The only positive thing I can say about 13 is that Sam Riley had a lead role and he was great. He was the only character that was really developed, and he did a decent job with the poor material he had to work with. There were a couple of intense moments, but like I said before, it could have worked well in a short film, but not in a movie like this. I really wouldn’t recommend this movie, unless you are a fan of Sam Riley (in that case just watch Control all over again and skip this).

No hay comentarios:

Publicar un comentario