Once in a while there may be a film, game or book franchise that comes out that at first seems refreshingly unique like the UK constitution or either as dysfunctional as a plane hull held together with soggy duct tap. But after a short while tends to get a better recognition on the basis of more rounded and focused analysis by the wider public due to a greater amount of time with which to analyse said franchise. In regards to myself, one such franchise that I have had my views more rounded on over the years has been the Mass Effect series which over the years I have realised, tends to have some of the best storytelling of most game franchises of the last 20 years or so and colourful characters but also suffers from average (albeit testing) game play and a sour ending to the franchise itself. One such franchise or stand-alone instalment that I wholeheartedly know I can say without hesitation that I hate as much as Red Faction 2 is the recent crime-revenge-bloodbath flick Only God Forgives starring everyone's current male heartthrob Ryan Gosling.
Now just before I get into why I think that this film is as confusing as Inception if it was played backwards in German on acid and is about as upbeat and light-hearted as the ending to the anime series School Days (which if you don't know is pretty damn grim and violent) let me say that Ryan Gosling is an actor I have no ire towards. I mean he's about as colourful and emotionless as an ASDA home-brand cucumber and margarine sandwich on plain white bread in this film but he isn't necessarily a bad actor per-say in his other works. Still I can't stand his performance or that of anyone else in this god-forsaken (ba-dum-tish, BTW I'm an Atheist) mess of a film which follows our sternly handsome main character Julian as he attempts to find and reprimand 'crime-family-revenge' style the man in the local Thai community where he lives who killed his paedophillic pus-bag of a brother, Billy.
And that is pretty much the extent of the plot in Only God Forgives, there are twists revealed later in the film about how Julian himself is kind of evil like his brother (prepare for pseudo-incestual and murderous hints in regards to his family relations near the end of the film) and how Julian isn't really the one you would or should trust with avenging your death or protecting you against a corrupt Thai police chief who can seemingly pull a short-sword out of his braces when he wishes. As for the rest of the characters apart from Gosling's Julian, Julian and Billy's mum Crystal (Kristin Scott Thomas) is a selfish, egotistical and rude psycho who is just about prepared to let everyone else do all her actions for her in the film, Billy himself is a thoroughly unpleasant piece of greasy shit who introduces himself with his death and rape/murder of a 16-year-old girl in the first 15 mins of the film and the sword-wielding police chief Chang (Vithaya Pansringarm) is utterly alien and confusing in his motives much like Gosling's character is throughout the film.
Now you might have noticed as I mentioned earlier or as other people have said, this film is as bloody as a Nightmare on Elm St film on its menstruation working in a butchers shop with Oldboy (2003) as the shop owner. And sad to say, but unfortunately, the violence is the only real thing that God Only Forgives has going for it and when you build a film with allot of the good old human-flavour Kool-Aid in it albeit without much reason or development behind the gore to make it meaningful then the violence of said blood-letting tends to lose its impact on the viewer and story. Don't get me wrong though, the violence in this film does certainly show the visceral nature of the day-to-day lives that the characters live in as they all compete to see who can live the longest in this world of crime, bloodshed and corruption.
In turn, the way the bloodshed is shown and achieves its objective brings me onto the only other major pro in the film's favour, the cinematography is GORGEOUS. I'm not even kidding or exaggerating when I say that the mood that the shots set are some of the most compelling that I've seen in modern cinema for several years. While the acting is largely emotionless, the cinematography is so good that it actually manages to add some colour, warmth and grounded realism to the film despite the unrealism of how robotic the characters are portrayed as. So take this as a message, if you are ever in need of a film with excellent to settle an argument or possibly write a cinematography essay then use Only God Forgives as an example of cinematography that is as enjoyable as opening your Christmas stocking over a cup of hot chocolate on Christmas morning (a little cheesy I know, but that always sticks out in my mind as a pleasant memory).
So to conclude, this film is one hell of a downer and while that may not be always a bad thing, you at least have to make your film regardless of its mood interesting or at least catching and Only God Forgives fails pretty badly at this. While the cinematography is brilliant and the violence is strikingly reminiscent of some more famous gore-fest, south-east asian flicks the film tends to lose the impact of the grimness of the story and setting and the impact of said violence when the characters are shown to all be unlike-able with no redeeming qualities or likeable traits. On top of this, some of the torture scenes were really fucking hard for me to watch as they literally had me feeling physical pain as I watched them which wasn't helped by the lack of acting with any emotion in it. All in all, don't see this film as it is dull, confusing as hell and gets really freaking creepy towards the end like a paedophile's diary.
Summary: If you want to see something that's grim and has allot of blood and revenge themes in it, see something like Battle Royale (2000) or Oldboy (2003) and steer clear of Only God Forgives.
Characters: 3/10
Plot: 3.5/10
Action: 8/10
Overall: 14.5/30
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