Angel of the Warrior – Review
As you may know I try to keep everything as positive as possible here. It’s hard to get a film made, let alone distributed so I understand nobody sets out to make a bad film. I always try to look for the positives, but man I struggled on this one but here goes…
If you’re into super low budget revenge thrillers with incomprehensible storylines, terrible dialogue and some of the most comical set pieces ever recorded then have I got something for you – Angel of the Warrior, a film that includes the dialogue “I want to know where he shit this morning and I’m going to get his ass”
Let’s get one thing straight: this film isn’t here to reinvent the genre. It’s here to punch it in the face, walk away in slow-mo, and light a cigarette while doing it.
Now, I’m not sure about any of this as it’s a little bit hard to work out what the hell’s actually going on but, our story kicks off with Alex, special ops soldier turned recluse after losing his spotter on a mission, trying to escape his past in a secluded French countryside farm. He’s got a tragic backstory (obviously), a lot of quiet stares, mad nunchuck skills and the kind of wardrobe that screams “I have nothing to lose.” Then, combine a murdered woman and a girl chased by men with guns with a nonsensical day time wine bar brawl and boom! – he’s back in the game.
The plot? Pure 90s low budget throwback. Think Leon meets Rambo via American Ninja, if they had the budget of a challenge on The Apprentice.
There’s the ageing ex spec ops bad ass protagonist, a bewildered child and over the top angry bad guy with a whole host of various henchman and military types at his disposal.
Let’s be honest: subtlety was not invited to this shoot. Every emotional beat hits like a brick, every gunfight is a symphony of similar sound effects and that low budget muzzle flash, ricochet and blood splatter vfx we all love to see advertised to us on Facebook. The score isn’t decent, but the sound mix is frankly all over the place. The wine bar scene has terrible audio and some of the later scenes have screams that will make you blush next time you see your neighbours.
Visually the film looks fantastic in parts, with nice lighting and cinematic flair, then in other scenes it’s as though it was filmed on a gopro and they forgot to colour grade the footage. Editing is choppy, with some scenes that I genuinely couldn’t figure out. Why does he run out of the bar and not get back in his Berlingo? Why are they endlessly walking in the woods to get to the hideout, when there’s apparently a public carpark 10 foot away? Why’s he so emotionally attached to a girl he just found in a car he stole and a waitress who slipped him her number that morning?
A lot of my problems with this movie may well be in the translation of the French language to the English subtitles, but as I’m lazy and know no languages I’ll never know. Is it ridiculous? Oh yeah. Is it fun? Perhaps surprisingly, yes. It’s one of those films that would be a good laugh to watch with your mates and pick apart all the madness.
Angel of the Warrior is currently flying under the radar. Catch it before it becomes a cult favourite.
The film is set to explode onto UK digital this July, courtesy of Reel 2 Reel Films
