Brutal (2014)
BRUTAL centers on Trevor (Morgan Benoit), abducted from his backyard at the age of fifteen by an unseen alien presence. Forced into nearly two decades of no-holds-barred fights against other abductees inside an unearthly mixed martial arts arena, Trevor has evolved from an innocent boy into a brutal fighting machine. Derek, (Jeff Hatch) an ambulance chasing lawyer, is the latest lab-rat abductee forced to fight Trevor. As the two men exchange ever-increasing beating over the course of weeks and months, the brutality of their existence and the true nature of their humanity is slowly revealed. With elements of THE TWILIGHT ZONE and THE PRISONER, BRUTAL explores through science fiction, allegory and psychological drama, man’s violent nature and our propensity to commit unthinkable acts of violence against each other. Yet through this prism of brutality our capacity to love one another, even in the worst of circumstances is celebrated.
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I love this movie so much
Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.
This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama
Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.
BRUTAL is a pointless little indie film with sci-fi touches. It involves a couple of men who are held prisoner in futuristic white rooms and forced to fight against their will against each other in brutal cage fights which their captor utilises for entertainment value. Fans of brutal action might enjoy some of the violence depicted here, but overall I found this impossible to like. It's set-bound and near plot less; it might have worked well as a 10 minute short, but stretched to feature length, it's a real bore.
I was unfortunate to be suckered in by the shill rating above of a 7.2 that is now a 7 and should be a solid 3 in the weeks to come.It is a sad state of affairs when a horrid film is pushed, as a favor to friends of cast, writers, producers, etc in order to dupe people who will STILL find the rating false and the movie pure crapThis is sort of like how elections run, I suppose. People claim a thing, tell you it is great then when you are exposed to it yourself you realize it was one big lieSoBad actingHORRID effectsPOOR writingSilly combat...and, again, a shilled rating that does not reflect the true trash this piece is
Fantastic action shots, opening with a dramatic "ouch moment" that has you looking away. The film keeps you interested all the way through as you gradually watch the plot evolve and see the change in direction and attitude of all the characters. Light hearted moments are in there, but as the title suggests, its not supposed to be a laugh a minute film. The action shots are well filmed and very realistic. The plot certainly isn't a straight forward "violence only" film. It has a gentler side that caused a deal of debate after watching it. Which is great because it obviously offers different things to different people, dependant on your perception of the story. Great movie, well worth the watch.
I was fortunate to attend the screening of Brutal in late 2013. I was very impressed with the films originality. A concept I have not seen before. The fight scenes were as the title suggested "Brutal" the actors were obviously trained fighters as some of the stunts were very clearly done by them.The story was a times heart breaking and at other times intensely dramatic. Great performances by the leads as well as the supporting cast. The actress who played the mother was very believable and gave the story a real heart.Morgan Benoit who played the younger of the two lead actors is a name to watch out for. I have seen him in a couple of films now and his fight skills matched with some good acting chops should see him go from strength to strength.Overall I thought Brutal was great. I think it will do very well on an international scale as the film is not heavy on dialogue and the fight scenes will keep any action/fight fan on the edge of their seat.