Surely all the fans Jean Claude Van Damme were waiting for the film to come out "Pound of Flesh", fidgeting impatiently on the chairs. The announced synopsis was very intriguing, the footage and videos seemed promising, and about the released documentary about the filming, which we exclusively translated, voiced and posted on our website, there is nothing to say - it was excellent. In general, the film's PR was quite active. Of course, not Mad Max, but still, for the DTV niche, viewers were bombed very well. Many even thought about starting a revival of the ZhKVD career. Imagine my surprise when most of what was said in the backstage turned out to be untrue. And the published fragments of the film, taken out of context, turned out to be much more interesting than those placed in the fabric of the film. And more interesting than the film itself as a whole.
But first things first, let’s start with the main failures.
1. The film looks cheap and there's nothing you can do about it.
The most important thing here is the glaringly insidious green screen, which appears so often and at such unexpected moments that it seems that the characters even have drawn on pants. Drawn holes and bullets, backgrounds in a bar, night city landscapes, house interiors - here and there - a surrogate. All this is aggravated by the low quality of the graphics themselves, and therefore you feel like Kashchenko’s patient or press your finger on your eye to get rid of hallucinations when you see the city shining through Aki Aleong’s nose. The film's sets, which are periodically destroyed, are almost all produced at the Clara Zetkin Pulp and Paper Factory. Everything is somehow fragile and cardboard.
It seems to me that such a negative impression could have been partially avoided by saving on some locations, and some scenes could have been easily cut out, for example, a plot-unnecessary and rotten car chase could have been safely put under the knife, or at least in a different direction, doing without cars at all. Because even the road barriers falling on the car in this chase are painted. In general, sometimes it seems to me that a car chase in a modern action film is such a wild bad manners that it is indecent to show, but they do it in order to plug a hole in the timing. Endless car rides through the night in Manila, more precisely against the backdrop of a green screen, shootouts with Drake (Darren Shahlavi), which are not particularly surprising, could also be minimized.
2. There are also problems with picture quality. It gives the impression of being quite good (not bad, but no more, no less) when we are shown frames in shades of gray with another contrasting bright color mixed in, for example, in an alley or in flashbacks. The shots look good in daylight on the streets of Manila. But when it comes to the main timing, everything is not very good. Cheap sickly colors, characters with crimson faces and constantly changing contrast of the picture (in the hospital it’s one thing, on the street it’s another thing, in a third room, in a bar it’s generally dark), which in the end also doesn’t look very expensive, if not very cheap . Although, it is worth saying that the same “Close Range” trailer with Adkins was shot in the same color rendering and looks just as unpresentable. In general, sometimes there is a feeling that you are not watching a film, but an episode of a series.
3. Despite the fact that the plot is very decent, which I will talk about a little later, there are some logical inconsistencies and, in my opinion, unnecessary details. The pretentious trick with Drake's playing card was neither for the village nor for the city. The film is presented as realistic and tough, but here it’s “hello from the 80s.” Next, tell me why Deacon wasn't killed right away? To keep the second kidney as a backup? It doesn't sound convincing. To avoid getting your hands dirty with blood? Come on, others were killed, bombs were placed in the refrigerator, and the rest could have been sent to another world. In general, Drake could show more independence. Deacon was left money and medicine so that the hero would not go to the police, who would think that he himself sold the kidney. Where then are the transfer documents, where is the contract?
I could have avoided getting into the bottle, but these details are plot-forming. And if so, they should be the most accurate and unconditional.
4. Now let's talk about the central point for the theme of our site - about fights.
Maybe I'm just a picky viewer, but for the most part they failed. The best fight is the fight in black and white, which was released online as a promo, namely: "Shahlavi VS Van Damme in an alley". It has dynamics, clear and sharp cannon strikes and combinations of blows, good footwork from Darren, JKVD and Brahim Achabbake as a backup, plus a very effective conclusion to the fight in the form of a throw from the wall, which is normally filmed and presented, everything is readable, intelligible, from a good angle and dramaturgically built. The disadvantages of the fight are that he is the only normal one in the film and a large amount of dubbing performed by Brahim, which is why, of course, there are shots from the back, from above, from below, whatever you like, five hundred cuts and camera turns, just to darken the face, show from the back of the head and then glue on the face of the JCVD in close-up.
Shahlavi VS Van Damme - fight in the alley
This, in my opinion, is where it all ends. The fight in the bar, fragments of which are shown in the trailer, is dark, chaotic, too cut up with parallel editing and a series of angles, the MMA elements are blurry, more like drunk people crawling on the floor. Meller is completely merged in it, and Brahim is used as furniture and as an endless backup of the JCVD. Even where the hero of the ZhKVD simply stands and scratches his turnips in front of the enemy, there is an understudy.
A fight with bandits sitting in a car (the so-called "car fight"), which was also released online, is interesting, but it cannot be called a duel in the full sense. It's more of a stunt than a fight. And he was very good, though, doubles, doubles, doubles...
Car fight
Final fight Darren VS Van Damme interesting only for its slightly unexpected ending, but the fight itself is a waste of time. A tough fight with elements of jiu-jitsu was planned, but muddy wallowing on the mat and one rapid flight by Darren is all that awaits you when watching.
What happened? Perhaps all this is the result of the inability of the actors and stuntmen to realize their ideas John Salvitti, but this sounds rather doubtful. There were: Shahlavi, Achabbake, Mike Meller in the episode, and the JCVD itself was not completely lost. Perhaps everything was ruined by the editing and epileptic camera work in the fighting game, however, as we know from the backstage, Salvitti controlled this process as well. Then what's the matter? To be honest, it’s not clear. I suspect that time has simply passed. Irrelevant, old. Most likely, the filming process itself was more interesting than the final result. When we were told that this would be something new for Van Damme fans, because John Salvitti almost made a revolution, then, alas, the revolution did not happen. And they didn’t even go near her.
John Salvitti's work on A Pound of Flesh
But not everything is so catastrophically bad, because there is also good:
1. Strict, competent opening credits. Against the backdrop of the right music and a nice lively interior of the city and hotel, they look stylish, ascetic and expensive in a good way; instead of Van Damme, you can easily expect Tom Cruise or Liam Neeson.
2. Genre-appropriate musical accompaniment.
3. Nice work with color in the flashbacks and shades of grey. Competent camera work when it doesn't involve fights.
4. The acting of all participants in the film. Strong, diligent, on the level. A naked, trembling JCVD with sunken cheeks and sunken eyes in a panicked awareness that his kidney was chopped off really plays everything out 100%. The late Darren is as charismatic and good as always. John Ralston as brother Deacon does everything right by the book. Very professional, very precise, does not ruin a single dramatic scene.
5. Scenario. Not the best, but quite good. It has the dramaturgy of the characters: the transformation of George's views, Anna's repentance, Dickon's self-sacrifice, there is a conflict, an attempt to talk to the viewer, awaken empathy and raise moral issues, although not in the most original and deep way. There is potential, you can try to make some kind of normal remake with a decent cast, budget and director.
This film had every chance of becoming, albeit niche, a colorful, stylish and strong action film with an appropriately intense drama. But it turned out that the best thing about this film was its behind-the-scenes account of the filming. This report was interesting for its informativeness and emotionality, but in it the creators spoke about “Pound of Flesh” better than it actually is, because most of the compliments voiced in the documentary, alas, do not correspond to reality.
Author: Ravenside
Especially for fight-films.info
Great review!!! But Ravenside is, as always, condescending and slightly noble. As for me...
I looked. It's time to bring charges against these would-be creators for feeding (at least me) blatant vomit. In the hands of a cheap director, the orchestra will not perform masterfully. Although in the film about the film, everyone was literally choking with delight at the work done. But what's the end result? A director who doesn't care about genre. A cameraman who doesn’t know how to film, and an editor who doesn’t know how to edit. The artist was completely absent. Choreographer... Salviti. Hmm... Who is this Salviti... Working with Donny doesn't mean that there will be something great. Kokshenov also starred with Gaidai, but what do we see in his directorial works? Complete trash. So it is here. I can say a lot, but I’ll just say - Garbage!!!
Nothing else will be good in the cinema until the old people are replaced by truly LITERATE AND SICK PEOPLE!
Jaidev,
You can’t hide your innate nobility, Dimon) I couldn’t publish a review on the site, writing just one sentence in it: “vomit, garbage, who is Salvitti, give me Kokshenova! 1! 1!”
Ravenside,
I'm tired of just looking at those who admire their exhausted efforts. Yes, which never really existed. We need to give way to the young. Like Jacobs. Until he bent over. Or, for example, as crazy (in a good way) as the creators of Kung Fury!!! In these people you can feel the authorship and the desire to really show the audience something where they would say - Wow, wow!
This reaction is more caused by disappointed expectations after such PR than by the quality of the movie. Quite suitable for its genre. But without the coolness expected from the previews
Yes, if he had done all the JCVD work himself (physically, as I understand it, he can still do it, but he’s lazy), the film would have benefited significantly from it
Coffin,
There is a conflict of expectations, and the reaction, of course, is inevitably connected with the backstage, but not in the main thing. Now, if I hadn’t known about the documentary, would it have made the action better? Or would the film look more expensive? Of course not. So, regarding the main points, the review would be same, just without mentioning the filming report.
There was no report on Van Damme's "6 Bullets", but I liked it regardless of anything else.
Perhaps her review would have been more lenient towards the film, but you can’t erase a word from the song - they filmed the backstage footage, and we all saw it. In addition, I once again drew your attention to it with my review.
Thanks to Ravenside for reviewing A Pound of Flesh!
Very professionally written, with a lot of heart!
I also watched this film and expected to see fights where Van Damme beats up enemies in the style of Jason Bourne.
In the end, zilch... I didn’t like it, but “Pound” took its place for the collection on hard, after all, our Jean Claude is a childhood idol!
Vladimir,
The most interesting thing is that there were all (ALL!!) opportunities for this. Even the budget would be enough.
JKVD lied about the non-stop action........
In general, the review says everything correctly.....for me personally, the movie is 50/50, I will watch it again. I especially liked Van Damme's acting (not the fights) and the musical accompaniment.
JOHNSON,
It was as if in the documentary they were all talking about some other film when they talked about the choreography. Or he and Salvitti filmed one thing, and only one hundredth percent was included in the final version. I don't understand anything.
And the acting and music are good, I agree. But I already wrote about this in general above.
Ravenside,
I think if instead of Van Damme there had been some Liam Neeson and a change of director, then something interesting would have turned out......and so, a good idea was leaked.....
JOHNSON,
Damn, I didn't read the review and accidentally quoted Raven)
JOHNSON,
Therefore, the idea itself asks to be implemented or, at least, voiced out loud.
I agree, this review is needed!
Great review! A real movie review!
It’s very nice to read materials like this. Thank you!
DIV,
More, more compliments!)))
Thank you for the nice reviews, everything is for you, everything is for the people.