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VFW
Director: Joe Begos Cast: Stephen Lang, William Sadler, Martin Kove, Fred Williamson, Sierra McCormick, Travis Hammer, Tom Williamson, David Patrick Kelly, Dora Madison, George Wendt MPAA
Rating: Running Time: 1:32 Release Date: 2/14/20 (limited) |
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Review by Mark Dujsik | February 13, 2020 In the near future, the opioid crisis has evolved, while an unspecified city has crumbled. People there have become addicted to an alternative drug, which is so effective that its users are willing to die or kill for it. That's the world of VFW, a brutal and gory thriller with an underlying streak of cruelty that is difficult to ignore. The movie, save for a short drive at the start, is exclusively set in and around a bar for veterans of foreign wars, run by Fred (Stephen Lang), a Vietnam vet. His friends—including fellow veterans Walter (William Sadler), Lou (Martin Kove), and Abe (Fred Williamson)—are there, as they often are, but tonight (which happens to be Fred's birthday) they receive an unexpected visitor. She's Lizard (Sierra McCormick), who has stolen several packages of "hype" from the sociopathic Boz (Travis Hammer), who operates from an abandoned movie theater across the street. Boz sends his goons and an army of addicts to recover his product by any means necessary. Fred and his pals—as well as Shawn (Tom Williamson), who has just returned from the Middle East—have to defend their watering hole and the stranger. The rest of the movie is non-stop carnage, with the vets pummeling, chopping, impaling, and shooting Boz's soldiers—with names like Gutter (Dora Madison) and Tank (Josh Ethier)—and anonymous addicts. The bloodshed and the bodily devastation are shown and/or heard through sickening practical effects and/or equally nasty sound effects. Director Joe Begos wants to ensure that we see the work his effects team put into the butchery. The central actors in the bar play it tough and carefree, with Lang leading that tonal charge as the gruff and combat-hardened Fred. Characterization doesn't matter in a movie as simple and to-the-point as this one. Attitude reigns, and these performers embody that idea. It's just a bloody, grisly lark—kind of enjoyable for its collection of veteran actors, playing it cool, and its ruthless simplicity. VFW, though, can't evade that most of the targets of its violence are victims before that. Watching as heads are pulverized and bodies are maimed, there's a sinking, discomforting feeling that the filmmakers have turned desperate addicts into nothing more than brain-dead, vicious zombies. It's a small but unavoidable detail that greatly diminishes whatever thrills could be garnered from the material. Copyright © 2020 by Mark Dujsik. All rights reserved. |
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