Harry Brown: Film Review

Michael Caine plays "Harry Brown" a war veteran widow Marine living in a place called The Estate. In recent years The Estate has succumb to crime, and been overrun by criminals. Brown's only friend, who lives in The Estate as well, fears for his life, and decides to arm himself should the criminals choose to attack him. They do. It is a good thing Brown's comrade carried an old military bayonet because the criminals disarm him, then kill him with the very blade meant for protection.

Alright, as stock and rehashed as the vigilante film is, I loved the hell out of this one. I thought Caine was great as Brown, and I really dug seeing him dish out the ass beatings. He really carried what would otherwise have been a forgettable film to great heights. I thought the kills were great, there was no wasted plot time, it was well paced, and bam, bam, bam every couple of minutes something big is going down, or someone's getting shot in the face.

That last bit brings me to a point: the older I get the more violence bothers me. However, here it all feels necessary. It's not glamorized, or overdone, or violence for the sake of violence. It fits the circumstances, and shows the very real results of being shot. In fact, the most grandiose violent act is when a building is set ablaze, but it's so quick it barely feels like anything.

If I have one complaint it would be the lack of explanation of the riot. I'm perfectly willing to admit I missed something, but I don't think I did. The riot happens so quickly it feels off...awkward. Had there been build up throughout the film about the police cracking down on this certain area, and shit was going to hit the fan soon I would have been fine with it. But as it is, the riot just kind of happens. That aside, the film's successes more than make up for the little that goes wrong here. While this is nothing we haven't seen before, it is a great, and fun flick that would make Charles Bronson proud.