Review of Homefront (2013) by Ray H — 07 Dec 2013

This is an OK, Jason Statham action vehicle. The overall film looks very good. The action scenes are often shot in shadow or darkness. So, it is difficult to see Statham fully, "do his thing". But, those sequences are still very satisfying. They are believable; and not too much over the top.

The story/screenplay by S Stallone could have been better. The chief evil-doer is Gator Bodine (James Franco). Bodine is a local meth king-pin. He has a high quality lab; and seems to be on top of his operation. He also commands a small band/gang of strong-arm flunkies to do his bidding. But, his character seems a little short of truly, black-hearted, murderous evil. The guy is threatening, but not scary. When he faces off with our hero, Broker (Statham), Broker clearly is the more intimidating. Gator foolishly enlists the help of a biker gang, bent upon revenge. Their leader on the ground is Cyrus (Frank Grillo). Now this guy looks, and sells the part of, a truly murderous thug. Cyrus imposes his will upon Gator. He even manages to borrow his woman, Sheryl (Winona Ryder), to do with as he pleases. Gator is no longer running the show. For a smart guy like Gator, he should have seen this coming.

The story plays itself out. Statham puts several whuppings on various thugs. There are a few plot problems; but nothing too out of whack. The ending is improbable, but satisfying.

It was an OK trip to the flics.