Hyena (2015)

The Worst Film Ever

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Michael Logan is a police detective in London. His area is drugs and this brings him into contact with European drug syndicates. Logan is happy to turn a blind eye to their dealings, for a cut, or confiscate suppliers' merchandise for their own profit. So far he and his equally-crooked police colleagues have done quite well out of this. Then a deal he was planning with a member of a Turkish drug cartel goes sour and the balance of power swings to an Albanian gang, run by two brothers, the Kabashis. Logan quickly aims to provide the Albanians with the same service he provided the Turks, but they aren't easily lead. Meanwhile, he an his colleagues are being investigated by Internal Affairs. Just to make his life more complicated, he has been seconded to a vice task force, run by a former colleague whom he does not get along with.Gritty crime-drama that blurs the lines between good and bad, criminal and cop. Very well done in this respect, as you never know who is on whose side, who's looking out for justice and who's just it for the money. Even figuring out who are allies on the criminal side of things is difficult.All this leads to a wonderfully complex minefield or relationships, loyalties and intentions, and in the middle of it is our main character, Logan.Just a pity about the ending though. The movie was heading for great climax, and maybe even a 9/10, when the director wrecked it with the final scene. Without giving too much away, it was very unsatisfying...

On the one hand, I could watch this for 10 hours straight or more if it was a series rather than a movie. It's very enthralling, good acting & good cinematography.. very raw and real. Good, subtle soundtrack that kicks up during tense moments. But the ending.... wow, the ending. P*ssed. Me. Off. Great directing and everything, so much to the point that I was fully invested in the outcome of the three main characters at the end (as well as the two bad guys!), but was left knowing nothing! What, did they not know how to end the script? It's gonna haunt me, not knowing what took place in the minutes following the last scene. This is my first review, forgive me for my simple terminology. But surely some of you know what I mean, talk about "blue balls"!! I'd say I want my time back for watching it, but I thoroughly enjoyed it right up until the end! Very watchable. Potential. But a tease that will leave you feeling utterly cheated and unsatisfied. I look forward to more films by whomever directed this.

Michael is corrupt London CID Detective who runs a unit of equally bent Drug Squad officers. He is effectively a 'gangster with a badge', snorting cocaine seized in violent nightclub raids and with a growing underworld racket of his own. Investing a large sum into a prosperous drug smuggling operation, run by some Turkish criminals of whom Michael 'guarantees protection' to, the racket is moved-in on by a group of sadistic Albanian villains who take out Michael's Turkish associates, leaving him high and dry in the process. As Michael craftily uses his police powers to investigate the Albanian gang, he discovers their empire includes Human Trafficking.Michael's professional life becomes more and more complex, as he puts his resources into figuring out how to deal with the Albanians rather than investigating Drugs crimes, and in doing so he comes back into contact with a former adversary Detective Knight, who is officially in charge of the Human Trafficking investigation. Into the mix, Detective Inspector Taylor, an unrelenting officer has been placed by the internal affairs department to investigate Michael's activities for possible corruption. As Michael delves into the world of the Albanian criminals he meets Ariana, a young woman held captive by the gang and he rescues her, hiding her away at his girlfriend's house – an act of morality which ironically leads towards his own downfall."Hyena" is a great piece of cinema, handling the darker side of the London underworld and corrupt police units with a certain artistic style and atmosphere which feels fresh, while retaining an authenticity and grimness needed to keep the balance. It is though a remarkably violent film and certain scenes are too unpleasant to watch, but nevertheless "Hyena" is a tour de force of contemporary British cinema with a flare to offend, a pace to keep you watching, and a story to make you think.

Peter Ferdinando plays Michael, a bent cop trying to partially unbend himself. He's just made a deal with some very naughty Albanian gangsters, only to find they're being investigated by his division and he's being stitched up for a murder he didn't commit. He's up against it: His colleagues are a bunch of racist drunks; his arch-nemesis David (Stephen Graham) has just returned as his senior officer; and a clean-cut cop named Taylor (Richard Dormer) is on a mission to clean up the Met. Meanwhile, Michael takes it upon himself to rescue a trafficked woman named Ariana (Elisa Lasowski), while trying to keep his own girl Lisa (MyAnna Buring) from been chopped into little pieces. Laugh-a-minute stuff, then.The film starts boldly with a heavily stylised raid, followed by a scene in which Michael's crew drink and snort and mouth off about "Pakis". The script is as visceral as the violence; unpretty but pretty authentic. The best of the dialogue – and the most engaging character dynamic – occurs between Michael and David, and the film could have done with more of their tense, skilfully acted showdowns, and slightly fewer scenes of people receiving terrible news by telephone. But that's not to deny the film's grip. There's a genuine sense of danger throughout, and the central theme of cops "crossing a line" is consistently observed throughout – even if Michael's shambolic descent is telegraphed from the start."This isn't the 80s," one character remarks, although the sophomore feature of writer-director Gerard Johnson owes more than a little to the crime movie giants of that decade. Its yawning cityscapes and blue hues are like Michael Mann on tour in London, while the street level stuff – all shadowed alleys and vice-filled backrooms – are straight from Abel Ferrara. Indeed, Bad Lieutenant comparisons are particularly noticeable. Its more recent influences include Gaspar Noe's stalking camera-work and Nicolas Winding Refn's doom-scored spasms of ultraviolence. If all that appeals then great, but don't go in expecting to see anything new or particularly refined.Hyena is a decent gritty Brit-crime thriller, sophisticated in aesthetic if not in content. It's beautifully shot and lit, and the performances are strong – particularly Ferdinando in the lead, the underused Graham, and Kill List's Neil Maskell. Its preoccupations tap into (and exploit) modern fears of police corruption and immigration effectively. Yet all the way up to its ambiguous (read: mildly unsatisfying) ending it feels more like a set of long-established clichés updated to the twenty-teens than a bold new voice in home-grown gangster film.