What do you get when you cross Mad Max and Escape from New York? You get one of the craziest post-apocalyptic films I have ever seen: 2013’s Bounty Killer. Directed by Henry Saine and based on the 2011 short by the same name, Bounty Killer, this movie was (and still is) an unexpected treat. With most post-apocalyptic stories, there’s a theme that becomes mundane. It’s formulaic for most movies to decide on a niche and run safe with it. Bounty Killer does no such thing.
The setting seems quite simple: Tired of the big businesses and corporations running (and ruining) the world, a Council of Nine form to destroy the powerful and the corrupt. It becomes a competition between them all; the body count, how much bounty they receive for each, and whose name is shouted out the loudest. Think of the Council of Nine being the Kardashian clan: everyone vying for the spotlight, no matter what it takes.
There are two characters that apparently take the school yard teasing into the bedroom (of course). We have Drifter (Matthew Marsden), the very typical male bad-ass, and then we have Mary Death (Christian Pitre), the extremely sexy vixen who kicks a lot of ass and never messes up her hair. As with most of these movies, there is the ‘obvious’ comedic relief. In all truth, and initially, Barak Hardley‘s character Jack LeMans reminded me of Zach Galifinakis from The Hangover films and, when the movie ended, I was dissatisfied with what I had just viewed. So, I watched this film for a second time because maybe there was something I missed. An aspect I skipped over. Something that wasn’t apparent with just one viewing, and I was absolutely right.
After watching this film a second time, I get it. This film is like no other film I have ever seen. Maybe it was the campy poster I saw on certain websites (see the image above). Maybe I set myself up for a stereotypical independent film. Maybe it was just a Tuesday. But, after watching this film a second time, this movie was AWESOME. When you watch it, stripping away the outline of the story, this movie brings so much charisma to the screen, it’s ridiculous. It’s campy, it’s funny, it has amazing action sequences and isn’t afraid to go Quentin Tarantino/Martin Scorsese red, with blood spilling everywhere. My comment about the comedic relief was accurate. However, Mr. Hardley’s character development made it his own and it brought quite a bit of chuckles to this girl (all the while watching people die on screen).
Bounty Killer offers a viewer so much. I can see this being a cult classic, a cosplay event, and, maybe more importantly to some, a drinking game, but that is what makes this movie so great. It knows that it’s not supposed to be taken seriously. It changes it’s mode from action to comic book in less than a second. It’s a movie that is in on it’s own joke and, with my first viewing, I really thought this movie was one big joke. Something that I should classify as a B movie or worse. After watching it twice, I now realize the entire joke was on me.
Rating: Although the action scenes felt really rushed, the shots and timing are brilliant (7/10)
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