They Call Me Jeeg (2016)

It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

I've never wanted to put in the effort to review any films before, but this film, despite everything it could be, is plain, and dull, i'm not asking for DC or MARVEL here but jeez, dude gets superpowers and he's like, oh... huh.. then the movie proceeds to do nothing with it for 50 minutes. i get that this is supposed to be a reflection of reality, but i dont suspend my disbelief just to watch something boring.

Italy just got its first superhero movie, a crook satisfied with his loneliness and who doesn't care for his health. He is not your typical hero, actually he starts his superhero career with the stealing of an ATM. Clearly, this genre is not common in the Italian cinema, but the director and the writers did a pretty good job. They adapted the concept of a hero in the city of Rome (which I think it's a first), gave him a super-villain to fight and a lunatic girl to take care of, in order to discover his true self and use his powers for the greater good. Unlike Hancock, whose vice is alcohol, Enzo loves yogurt. After he steals money, he fills his fridge with a lot of yogurt. He is also a pervert who constantly watches porn. Despite all his vices, the world he lives in is not better than him. Terrorist attacks, gang related kills and a lot of people who appear to be indifferent with the world they live in. There are some similarities between Kick-Ass and this film, especially the part where Zingaro assaults the Camorra clan on some Italian pop song. Hit-Girl does the same with some thugs, only she does it on punk rock. Of course the movie has some weaknesses. The plot seems a little straightforward, maybe because they aren't looking for a sequel. Could have been a little funnier, but I think the director wanted the hero to remain in a dark side. The scene when he tried to put his toe back made me laugh. (Deadpool would make fun of him). I think the Italians should make more films like this, they are obviously going on the right track. Hollywood should take some notes from foreign films. I recommend this film even if you know from the beginning how it will end, the cast makes sure you will have fun and be thrilled by their good performance.

I'm Italian and as almost all of Italian movies i saw were garbage wasn't so happy to watch this movie. after a while i decided to give it a try and i was really disappointed. how the hell could they get the right to put a jeeg robot name into it really confuse me. it would be a bit better if they put hiroshi shiba in the name instead of jeeg robot. the female actress is a big brother person so what can u expect from that? for sure not good acting as a movie should get to raise their enjoying for public. about the story of the movie they put many rude things into it like porn magazine, drugs, raped person and so on to make the movie darker, but that's not what i was expecting with that name. i heard some friends who liked that movie, and many others who don't. if u like transformers and u watch transformers movie , they are OK since they are all about transformers + good story + good special effect and good actors. just watched once and I'm enough with it.

Enzo Ceccoti (Claudio Santamaria) is a small time thief living in the poor suburbs of Rome under the same roof as more dangerous criminals lead by the 'Zingaro' (Luca Marinelli) from which he occasionally accepts dirty, little jobs. On one of these, whilst escaping from the police, he accidentally trips into a tank of radioactive material and ends up gaining super powers. As a threat rises in the city Enzo has to decide where his morals lie."They Call me Jeeg Robot" ("Lo Chiamavano Jeeg Robot" original title) comes in as one of the first major Italian production in the super hero genre. Whilst it can't be faulted for lack of diversity and originality, it doesn't manage to transcend genre clichés in a interesting way and because of an overall faulty execution it can be defined as a fine film on its own, yet nothing, unfortunately, remarkable in the genre.The new ideas that spark from the film are many, not all of them work and some are actually the reason the film isn't amazing, but the writers have to be commended for some tropes they manage to subvert and some beautiful touches they manage to add. Ilenia Pastorelli plays Enzo's slightly off balance neighbor and whilst the performances jumps up and down from highs to lows, the character always has something deeply touching about her. I want to avoid spoilers of any sort here, but to sum it up her dynamic was clearly thought out and executed with a pleasant delicacy that was required and hard to hit.Claudio Santamaria is actually an excellent protagonist and one of few words, which Santamaria pulls off greatly. Of all the characters in the film, his was the only one that never lost audience attachment and always gave a clear vision of his motivations and his development. His arch might not be as original as people think, actually quite the contrary, but he is brought to life with an affection and an attention to detail that makes him a character worth following.From a directorial point of view there are many things that could be said both in positive and negative side. What is interesting is to see a first time feature director bring to life such a particular vision. I don't use particular randomly because there are many tonal flaws and ideas that don't work, but there is a very solid voice in the directing and Mainetti pulls his vision off, making his world live and breathe an unusual diversity and an atmosphere that is dark and twisted in its very own way.Where the film looses steam is in some of the performances, coming admittedly from undeveloped or cartoonish characters, from plot turns that result deeply clichéd and deprive the film of a depth it was hinting, but most of all the tonal shifts are all over the place and make for a disjointed experience where you loose track of where the moral balance lies. From darkly comic interventions, to full on dramatic character explosions, to comedic light moments that don't really belong where they are, these continuous shifts make the film really choppy and undermine its world building which is another element it really lacks. We don't understand where in the world the story takes place fictionally, we don't understand the rules of this land, the social climate is never clear for the audience and since it seems that the film is actually making quite an effort to make you understand it, since it plays an important role in the storytelling, the fact that I didn't grasp it was all the more underwhelming.On an action and technical level the film does have merits for managing to cope with such a small budget and making out of it something that is fully deserving of theatrical release. It shows that this is Mainetti's first feature and many edges have to be rounded off in the action department: the hits are never shown on camera. On the other hand, the director uses the hand-held shot in a particularly pleasing way, making the shots breathe and giving each of them multiple beats which is always nice to see.Whilst this movie will not be remembered in the hall of great super hero films from this era it is good to see different personalities jump into the genre and give their own wild take on it even if not succeeding in a masterful execution.