Review of the action movie "Agent Mandrill"

18.04.2010EvilDollaR

This review first appeared after the action film premiered at Fantastic Fest. Now, in honor of its showing at ActionFest, it has been re-published on one of the sites. You can read the previous review of Fantastic Fest from another author, Alex Billington here. So, let's begin…

After winning the Audience Award for Mirageman at Fantastic Fest in 2007, Mandrill marked a festival comeback of sorts for the screen fighter. Marco Zarora and writer/director Ernesto Diaz Espinoza. Saror is Mandrill, an assassin who has created his life in the image and likeness of his television hero, a balanced and deadly killer, and raised by his uncle, thanks to whom, in fact, he has a calm disposition and knows how to deal with the fair sex. Ruthlessly fulfilling contracts, he constantly searches for the person who killed his parents when he was still a child. When one of the last customers turned out to be a possible murderer of his parents, Mandrill realized that the only way to get to him was his daughter Dominique. Now, for the sake of revenge, he will have to fly to Peru and find Dominique. But revenge is often an unpredictable thing, and Mandrill may not realize this until the very end.

Very stylish and smooth as silk, Espinosa and Saror created a colorful world of intrigue and sexuality that would make Bond blush. Saror succeeded to the best extent in embodying on the screen the image of an attractive and sexy assassin who has found his possible “soul mate” - Dominic. Without retreating one step from his plan, he again and again tries to use his uncle’s secret techniques that he learned, but he understands that, for the sake of her interest, he will have to reveal a piece of his soul to her. Of course, after this he falls in love, but thoughts of revenge and remorse eat him away from the inside.

There is no doubt that Saror is one of the best screen fighters of our time. No matter how terrible it is, apart from the cycle of films of this genre, it is still unknown to anyone. In Mandrill, he not only demonstrates his physical and fighting skills, but also a dramatic potential that you will never see in any of the Bond adaptations. The closer you are to Dominique, the heavier your soul. But enough of this stupid emotional chatter. I just want to point out that Saror managed to add “depth” to his character. You may ask: where is “Mochilovo”? So, there is enough of him, and the merit of “Mochilov” belongs entirely to Marko Zaror and his team of stuntmen.

Through the efforts of Saror and his team, they managed to present the audience with an unusual and “nimble” action movie. “Mandrill” has no equal in mixing holds, punches and kicks. “Mandrill” used new technology that allowed Saror and his team to recreate more detailed, slow-motion elements of combat, allowing viewers to understand just how much technique and skill was put into each fight. Therefore, with each hard punch or kick, in places they could actually see what happened before Saror's leg “met” his opponent's face. Despite the attempt to show the audience the choreography “at its best,” I would have liked it more if Espinosa, the editor and cinematographer, did not “cut” so often and did not slow down the fights. But I'm still a bastard. The fact remains that Saror and his team are kicking all kinds of ass in this film, and the fact that his talent has still not been recognized borders on the criminal concept of insanity.

I loved the world Espinosa created for Mandrill. Rich colors and bright lights - not a single chance was missed to saturate the scenery and landscapes with color. He created a world beyond the Bond films of the early 60s and 70s, bringing it into our time. As I said earlier, I would have liked it better if the camera had been a little further away from Saror when filming the fights, but this is only a subjective viewer's opinion.

I also liked how he created a character like Mandrill, not emotionally cold and reserved, but went further than ever: Mandrill now got so close to the person who was the cause of all his worries. Without any intention of creating a simple action film, Espinoza devotes an impressive amount of time in the script to the tortured soul of the main character. Therefore, Mandrill is periodic and rewards the audience for their patience with excellent fight scenes.

A highly entertaining film from start to finish, with a more fully fleshed out main character than most films, Mandrill greets you with emotional fists and a restless soul.

Author: Andrew Mack
Source: Twitch
Translation: EvilDollaR

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Tags: Mandrill, Marko Zaror, Ernesto Diaz Espinosa

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