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This movie has gotten some very harsh reviews which I don't feel are totally deserved. "Under the Gun" is not a bad movie, just not a great one. The main problem with the film is that it can't seem to decide whether it wants to be a gritty film noir or a mindless action film. Thus, the viewer doesn't know if he wants to turn his brain off and enjoy the fight scenes or turn it on and try to follow the plot and grow attached to the characters. This film is actually a decent little piece of film noir, where nightclub owner Frank Torrance hatches a plot to leave the country with a cool 1.7 million dollars while simultaneously screwing over the mafia, the triads, his creditors, and the dirty cop that's become obsessed with bringing Frank down. It's a brilliant plan. What could possibly go wrong?How about...EVERYTHING? Richard Norton is at his best playing villains, mavericks, and rogues. He shines here as Frank Torrance, a man who has so much crap heaped on top of him in one evening that after a while he stops being surprised when yet another total stranger tries to beat his face in. Kathy Long doesn't have too much to do in this film, a couple of scenes of dialogue and 2.5 fights, but she doesn't embarrass herself in either capacity. The fights are very brutal looking, and the huge Hong Kong slo-mo guns-blazing everybody-dies ending is just insane. The problem I had was that I found many of the characters to be very believable and interesting, and I'd start thinking of them as real people, but then something totally nonsensical would pop up and hit you in the face like one of Richard Norton's spin kicks. Like, why does Frank keep going outside of his nightclub when every time he does so, guys show up and try to hurt him? Frank's an ex-hockey player, so when did he learn karate? And why does the dirty cop who's gunning for Frank look like a James Bond villain? In the end, you'll either feel like you were watching a film noir with a bunch of fight scenes tacked onto it, or an action movie with far too much talking. Just fast-forward through the bits you don't care about, and you'll find "Under the Gun" can serve either as a brainless slugfest or an epic tragedy that's equal parts Shakespeare, Raymond Chandler, and John Woo.
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