Greg Martin – Google

Don't let my three stars put you off. I consider 3 to be good! Anyway, it is one of those early evening Saturday night films you can watch with the family. I can't see this becoming a classic like The Italian Job or the Ocean films etc but nice to watch. No violence or over the top car chases and very well acted by all the cast. It also has an easy to follow storyline for everyone in the family. So nice enough to kick back too with the family after an evening meal.

I know this could be deconstructed into all sorts of hidden (and not so hidden messages) and maybe the Director Jordan Peele was aiming for that. What he did make is a seriously great film. The story line is excellent. Daniel Kaluuya who plays the lead role is superb and his side kick friend delivers the one of the most classic lines of the movie at the end when they get in the car together (no spoiler, watch the movie!). In fact most of the cast are perfectly placed, even in the minor roles. It is sort of a horror in the "hammer horror" genre but with a little more social relevance and gore.

This is a culture film. You're going to love it or you will hate it. The acting was excellent and the story storyline follows the same simple story line of the 1970s spaghetti westerns of the 60s and 70s. In fact, I adore how the film mixes Morricone type music for the stand off scenes intertwined with gangsta rap and other forms of black culture throughout the rest of the movie. I would have preferred a longer stand off at the end, which would have been more fitting to a Sergio Leone film. I enjoyed it all and this will be hated in 2020 and be a cult classic in 10 years onwards, just like the original spaghetti western movies!

There are a few historical inaccuracies, not to the ridiculous levels of Braveheart, Ned Kelly or the rewrite of history seen in Hollywood movies. But there a few here and there which were irritating. Away from this, it is a great film and beautifully shot. I guess that is the great thing about the long and interesting history of the British and Irish nations (for better or worse), because you can pretty much select any year from the last 2,000 and make a decent period drama out of it.