Review of Brawl in Cell Block 99 (2017) by Brandon M — 07 Nov 2017

For those of you who recognize S. Craig Zahner from his first film, "Bone Tomahawk," (which was like "Unforgiven" meets "Cannibal Holocaust"), and his novels he has written, (such as "Wraiths of the Broken Land" and "Mean Business on North Ganson Street"), his second film is no different. "Brawl in Cell Block 99" focuses on a former boxer (Vince Vaughn), who lands himself in a prison battleground after a drug business goes awry. Sounds simple? Yes, but there is a lot of talent that makes it hard to ignore. Ever since he's been in comedic movies most of his life, it was nice to see Vince Vaughn challenging himself by being in dramatic movies. In fact, this is, indeed, a much more brutal film he has ever been in. His performance is fully committed, and I enjoyed watching his character, Bradley, throughout the film. As with writer-director S. Craig Zahner, there are many things I can say about him, and violence is one of them. Whether people are going to compare him as Quentin Tarantino or Sam Peckinpah, he presents his violence extremely brutal. I find his dialogue to be smart and playful. He creates his characters distinguish, and he's quite good making titles to his movies and stories.

I wouldn't want to give myself a really positive rating for "Brawl in Cell Block 99." Given the fact that the film is about 132 minutes long, there are a few repetitive moments here and there, but like I said earlier, there is a lot of talent that makes it hard to ignore. It is brutally good. My full opinion: 8.4/10.