Synopsis
Some have darker pasts than others
A retired assassin's past catches up with him and his brutality surfaces as he goes on a final killing spree to make things right.
A retired assassin's past catches up with him and his brutality surfaces as he goes on a final killing spree to make things right.
Kill Vengeance, Мститель, 传话的人, Muž se zprávou, 메시지 맨, Message Man - Schatten der Vergangenheit, איש המסר, Вестоносецът, A futár, Haberci, Muž so správou, Посланець
Not bad for some basic storied severely violent action. The chap just casually chops arms off with the flick of a wrist and that’s more than okay with me.
A retired hitman crosses paths with human traffickers who terrorise a nearby village. Very low budget Indonesian production starring a white guy. Neither of the previous two sentences gave me much hope, but I was surprised. This is not at the level of previous Indonesian action classics, but the movie takes a big swing in that direction and succeeded in grabbing my attention, despite having clear flaws. It violates rule #1 of DTV action flicks: shit has to start happening by the 20 minute mark. But this delay curiously works in the movie's favour as when we finally get to part where the first dude's arms are hacked off, the scale of the violence seemed to come out of nowhere.…
Retired Assassin White Dude becomes friendly with a Struggling-Family Kid in [insert foreign country] and unleashes his Very Particular Set Of Skills against a Trafficking Ring. So yeah, Message Man isn’t treading any new ground that hasn’t been well-trodden by Taken or The Man From Nowhere. That didn’t stop Message Man from being an unexpected good time for this action fan.
Director Corey Pearson allows the film to takes its time during the first act, as ex-hitman Ryan Teller befriends a local Indonesian family. So even though actor Paul O’Brien is exceedingly bland dramatically, the stakes feel earned. The likable allies and nicely-shot Jakarta locales place this in a tier above typical DTV action fare.
Then the limbs and heads…
__________________________________________________________________
Film #3 of 30 - Woovember 3: Love and Death in Saigon
letterboxd.com/cyman/list/woovember-3-love-and-death-in-saigon/
__________________________________________________________________
MESSAGE MAN is yet another John Wick-esque DTV/VOD flick, soaked with CG blood, over the top violence, shaky camera work, and confusing editing. At least the movie has a high-quality look and some beautiful shots of Indonesia, but acting, action choreography, and plot leave a lot to be desired.
Way more head explosions than one might expect from a John Wick wannabe. But if that's what floats your boat... then this is the film for you.
Not terrible production, however the lead protagonist is stale and hard to read. Is he displaying sadness, fear, anger, stoicism? I couldn't get a read on him throughout the whole film. Luckily he's not given much dialogue.
There is a build up to the action, leading to that iconic first scene that reveals our lone hero as the fighter that everyone underestimates, and wow. This film doesn't hold back from the violence.
This fits a very specific sub-genre of films, villains who don't know who they are messing with genre. And for that…
"We are going to have a lot of fun with you."
We all love a revenge movie . It’s a genre that stretches back to silent film age. There is something very satisfying about seeing the bad guys get what’s coming to them . In recent decades these kinds of films have got increasingly more violent and Message Man is no different.
This follows a retired hitman who visits a remote island in Indonesia and befriends a young boy and his family. When the boy is harmed by a group of pirates who are stealing girls off the islands, the assassin's location is revealed to an old enemy, forcing him to embark on one last mission to set things right.…
A retired, brooding hitman befriends a kid on a island in Indonesia. Everything is peaceful until a gang of pimps and killers fuck with them. Then it's all out war. Director Pearson brings lots of style, power and innovation to an all too familiar story. With a bigger budget the sky's the limit with this guy. Ultraviolent, bloody and crafted with brains. Literally in some parts. Thanks Todd!
For action film fans this will definitely please you! Was actually good for a low-budget film. I thoroughly enjoyed the film.
Aussie bloke takes on some bad ass Indonesian child sex trafficking organisation
English part below
Im Ruhestand, aber immernoch nen harter Brocken und indonesische Piraten machen dir und deiner angefreundeten Familie das Leben schwer?
Da wird das Ravensburger Spielepaket ausgepackt, natürlich in der nachgemachten Bootlegversion mit weniger Schmackes. Das Spielbrett in Form von Gassen und Nachtclubs kennt man, Figuren wie Held( hier leider Whity Mc Weißbrot), Aushilfsfamilie und bösem Obermopp sind bekannt und Spezialfelder wie Machetenaction und Sniperkopfschüsse verdienen keinen Innovationspreis.
Optisch mit ner ganzen Ladung CGI-Blut versehen, kann einem schonmal die Unlust zusetzen, aber immerhin ist das +12 damit gegessen. Wenn die großen Brüder also mal wieder auf Abenteuertour sind, darf es auch mal eine Runde Message Man sein.
Spiel gut!!
5,5
Retired, but still a tough cookie and Indonesian pirates…