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Cast:
Glenn
Salvage
Andy
Prior
Adam
Chapman
Kevin
Akehurst
Adrian
Foiadella
P.L.
Hobden
Chris
Jones
Action:
Gordon
Alexander
Independent
Stunts
Writer:
Ross
Boyask
Phil
Hobden
Adrian
Foiadella
Producer:
Phil
Hobden
Director:
Ross
Boyask
Score:
  
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LEFT
FOR DEAD
AKA:
N/A
Year:
2004 Reviewer: Mike
Banner
Williams
(Salvage) wishes to leave the employment of his gangster boss,
Kincaid (Chapman), after completing "one last
job". Kincaid orders his other two henchmen, Taylor
(Foiadella) and Dylan (Akehurst), to kill Williams once the
job, the slaughter of a drug dealer and his gang, is finished.
Williams manages to twice escape the clutches of Taylor and
Dylan but only after he is shot and poisoned (with
cyanide?!?). He recovers and teams up with a kickboxer, Kelso
(prior), who has been tortured and forced to leave town by
Kincaid's thugs. The two men set out to exact their revenge.
This
film, as far as I'm aware, is rather a rarity. A British
martial arts movie, it was funded by the makers (Ross Boyask
and Phil Hobden) and is described, by themselves, as
"micro-budgeted" and this is obvious from the very
beginning. The way other film makers in the past have
overcome the constraints of tiny budgets to make good movies
is by using flair and imagination. Panna Rittikrai (action
director of 'Ong-Bak'
and 'Tom Yum
Goong') made some entertaining low budget action
films in Thailand with talented screen fighters and stuntmen
willing to taste some pain for a good shot. 'Evil Dead' became
a cult hit with the aid of a highly enjoyable script and some
dazzling and inventive direction. Unfortunately, 'Left For
Dead' rarely exhibits any of these traits. It's all in the
style of a Guy Ritchie film with cockney gangsters all dressed
in black, moments of strong violence and dark humour. Unlike
Guy Ritchie's best films, 'Lock, Stock And Two Smoking
Barrels' and 'Snatch', this movie is poor. The direction never
rises above average, the script is cliché ridden (the
"one last job", the laconic, stony faced anti-hero
with a tragic past, the fighter who fails to take a dive in a
fixed fight etc.), most attempts at humour are just plain
unfunny and the acting is wooden and looks amateurish.
These
faults would be, in part, forgiven if the action was good but
it isn't. While the fights are plentiful, they are
unimpressive and repetitive. The two actors who play the main villains,
Taylor and Dylan, are weak screen fighters and are used far
too often. This is highlighted by the opening action scene as
they unconvincingly blast and slash their way through a horde
of goons. Glen Salvage is competent but lacks any kind of 'wow
factor' that is required from your lead actor and his
fighting, but for a few quick exchanges and nice kicks, is as
bland and uncharismatic as his character. Things do pick up
when Andy Prior, who looks like the most talented martial
artist, joins the mix but only slightly. The long and brutal
final action set piece is the best in the film but even this
still fails to really excite, lacks clarity and feels
disjointed.
I
can't think of a good reason for you to part with your hard
earned cash to watch this movie, especially when you can watch
films for free on the internet of a similar production
standard on a website like The
Stunt People. Their short films are funnier, more
enjoyable and contain far superior action. I'd like to see more
British martial arts films in the future. I just hope they're
a lot better than this.
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