Reviews on movie Defiance (2)

John Flynn's "Disobedience" catches the viewer from the start and holds, without letting go until the final credits. At first glance, this is an unremarkable movie. And let the main character, a sailor-adventurer with the speaking surname Gamble, performed by Ian Michael Vincent so similar to a young Mickey Rourke. But it's not Rourke! And let, the manner of depicting New York, and to be extremely accurate, the East Side, so reminiscent of “Taxi Driver”. But not the Taxi Driver! The plot, which tells us about a single hero, getting involved in a war with a vile gang of Mexicans terrorizing the district, is so common that literally in every episode you can find repetitions and bows to the legendary samples of the genre, ranging from “Deathlust” to “Exterminator”.
And then the viewer sits and thinks, what is it about this completely secondary film, shot on small money, with a child's rating? And then suddenly he understands.
It’s not about the plot, even if it’s jaded, and not in the manner of filming, and not even in the acting. And the fact is that "Defiance" is actually a doll. Or a Chinese box-mystery, seemingly gray and artless, but hiding a big surprise in its gut.
In fact, all this ... and the hero, unfortunately found himself in the wrong place and at the wrong time and only thanks to the strength of his moral foundations, not running away from bloodthirsty villains. And a city, not beautiful and small New York, but destroyed, rotting, groaning under the weight of years and disease. And people are naive and stupid; cowardly, but generally good people. And even a boy, eternally accompanied by a huge mentally retarded boxer in retirement - an image in which, except that the lazy does not recognize the bow to Steinbeck.
All these sets are a palette for the perfect post-apocalyptic film noir, in which a lone motorcyclist (in our case, a sailor), helps a small settlement in the wastelands (in our case, an area on the East Side), get rid of the yoke of a gang of punk-degradants (in our case, punk-degradants), and at the same time finds love. Yes, unlike Mad Max, Tom Gamble does not leave at the end, but stays with his friends, but this ending seems suspended and very shaky - after all, a huge bulker is waiting in the port of a brave sailor. Things are packed. Villains are punished. He holds his woman tightly to him, but his eyes are fixed on the sea.
Overall, a very good post-apocalyptic film shot in the scenery of 80s New York.

The trivial action movie of John Flynn has a very interesting narrative language. Everything seems to be already clear - there are good, there are bad, these take risks, those sit down, the police do not have anything to do with it, but everything is simply and concisely told that genuine interest appears about what will happen in a minute or two. And the introductory ones are very simple - a proud sailor with an unknown past, a dangerous area, a gang of criminals and cowardly residents. There were hundreds of such films in the 80s. The only feature of Flynn’s painting is the lead actor. The status of a tough guy was not tried on by Stacey Keech or Charlie Buczynski. This is the hero of "Big Wednesday" Jan - Michael Vincent. And I will tell you, it fully and completely justifies the advances.
There is one thing about the movie that is surprising. After Vincent quite rightly and deservedly, cruelly and casually beats several members of the gang - guests come to his apartment. When he takes a shower, he is visited by the head himself, of course, named Angel. We understand that punishment is inevitable, but... Angel passes. What did this man see in his soul that he decided to abandon the obvious plan? Vincent wasn't even touched. Moreover, our hero then received such a charge of confidence that even Angel, armed with a gun began to throw. What was so exciting about Vincent Angel? This moment, the writers clearly underworked, leaving a reason for very long hints and jokes, and in the rest - Vincent confronting a gang of scumbags and gathering people's militia, looks very cool. Probably in the early 80s, the problem of street gangs was very acute both in Europe and in the United States.
6 out of 10