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Cringeworthy dialogue, plotholes and bad acting

posted 8 years ago by atwice-1
4 replies | jump to latest

I gave this film a chance hoping that it would be a throwback to the action films of the old, but goddamn was I disappointed. Mel Gibson was in great form, but apart from that the film took itself way too seriously to get away with that mess of a script. It doesn't help that Erin Moriarty gives one of the worse performances of the year and completely fails to sell her character as this bad-ass teenager that she is supposed to be.

As for the dialogue, it got bad really quickly after a promising start. There's the obligatory commentary on immigration as Link and Lydia take a ride in the back of that truck with the Mexicans. It was almost like the filmmakers felt obliged to comment on the subject and boy was it clumsily done. That whole fruit-picking segway into Adam and Eve made me roll my eyes so damn hard.

Then there's the suicide discussion where Link and Lydia talk about who's had it the worse. At first it seemed like it might be a sincere and touching moment, but it became unintentionally comical as they started piling descriptions of their suicide attempts back to back like it's a frigging competition. It's just doesn't ring true on any level.

Same goes for that mosquito-monologue that the Nazi guy gives. What the *beep* was that? You've been wronged by one criminal so all the other criminals can now sense it? That metaphor was so damn forced I couldn't believe it made the cut. It's like the writer had heard that mosquitoes leave a scent in their victims so their swarm can find them and just felt obliged to somehow force that into the script. Ugh.

Then there's the plot-holes. SPOILERS ahead so read at your own risk.

- If Jonah was hiding his embezzlement from the Cartel by putting the blame on the tenants, then how did that guy in the prison know what was really happening? Furthermore, if he had a "straight line" to the Cartel bosses like he said, why didn't he tell them? Problem solved.

- In the end Link comes to meet the guys who have kidnapped Lydia. First of all she's still in full makeup and her hair is perfectly done (as they are for the duration of the whole film, miraculously). Second of all, why did they not just shoot Link when he had his arms up? That is so goddamn stupid. The writers noticed this as well and added the line "let's move out first in case someone followed us". What? They have a Cartel sniper sitting on the dunes and they're in the desert. It would be pretty easy to see if someone followed them. Just makes no sense. Add to that the fact that they didn't even rough Lydia up. So dumb. And besides: so what if they were followed? That cartel guy had no problems shooting three police officers in the middle of the city, but now they don't want to kill an ex-con in the desert?

- The motel scene. Who called the cops? The late shift guy says something about a day-shift guy? If he called the cops, how did they take until late in the evening to show up? Surely they'd be there in a minute or two if they heard that two fugitives are on the scene.

Sorry for the long ass rant but I really feel robbed of my time after watching this. Can't believe so many people are hyping it up. It would have been acceptable if they at least went bravely into b-movie pulp territory, but the film fails in the very same way as the first Expendables movie did. In the sequel they realized that they should have fun with it, but the first one is overtly serious in the same way that this film is, and they both suffer from that terribly. The script just isn't good enough for a serious take.

At least the cinematography was good and Mel Gibson is back in form, but I can't even think about giving this anything more than 5 or 6 out of 10.

[–] Li-1 8 years ago

I actually loved this movie. It's too bad you didn't enjoy it, but at least you agree Mel was in top form, as it was an absolutely fantastic performance. These are my thoughts on the plot holes you mentioned. If you ever see the film again, maybe those scenes may bother you less.

-Link's prison friend didn't put it all together that Jonah was stealing from his uncle until Link came in and told him about his daughter and the sicario chasing her. The prison friend generally knew Jonah was disliked and untrustworthy, but he didn't specifically know he was stealing from his uncle and blaming it on the tenants. It's a guess on his friend's part, but a well-reasoned guess. You notice his initial comment about a "paternity test" meaning he thought Jonah impregnated Link's daughter, but once Link mentioned the accusations of theft against his daughter and the sicario, that's when the prison friend realized Jonah was just using her as a scapegoat for his own thieving from his uncle.

-Jonah couldn't just kill Link on the spot when they were in the desert. Link told Jonah over the phone that he knew he was stealing from his uncle. Jonah wouldn't know who else Link may have told. He'd either have to torture Link or torture Lydia in front of Link to get that information.

-The late shift guy called the cops. He said he didn't, but he lied. You can hear Link's character muttering that "The cock sucker told 'em" as he's watching the cops from inside the other room as his realization that the late shift guy lied. Why did the late shift guy decide to suddenly help them even though he called the cops? Simply because he had the hots for Lydia; he's a typical teenage kid ruled by hormones and it's hard to say no to a pretty girl asking you for help.

-As far as Lydia goes, it's pretty typical of the vast majority of action movies for the female lead to look good in even the most dire of situations. But at least the filmmakers paid enough attention to detail to have a giant bruise on the bottom right side of her face where the Sicario punched her when they were in the parking lot of the movie theater. I think that's more than you can expect from most action films.

[–] JestersDead2 8 years ago

OK but it made no sense that the night shift guy even mentioned the day shift guy. They arrived at night didn't they? I didn't see any day shift guy to feasibly stick the blame on.

[–] Li-1 8 years ago

He's a teenager coming up with a lame excuse, happens all the time. Link probably didn't buy it but there was nothing to do at that point except accept the help that he was offering.

[–] hovee77 8 years ago

Agree with most of your comments atwice, your post sums up a lot of what I was thinking whilst watching. His daughters acting in this was terrible and for me was the biggest distraction in the whole film as well as the weak ending.