-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Overall Rating : 3/10
Directed By : Ulli Lommel
Ken Foree (The Devil's Rejects)
Tory N. Thompson
Ulli Lommel (Son of Sam)
Supplied By : North American Motion Pictures
Film Reviewed By : Rick L. Blalock
Date Reviewed : February 22, 2010
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| PLOT D.C. Sniper takes you back to October 2002 when John Allen Muhammad and his teenage accomplice Lee Boyd Malvo, held Washington D.C. and surrounding areas hostage with a terrifying three-week murder spree. The deadly duo shot and killed 10 people and wounded three more from the specially rigged trunk of a 1990 Chevrolet Caprice sedan before finally being apprehended, allowing the entire country to breathe a sigh of relief. During three trials and years of appeals, Muhammad professed his innocence and Malvo (who testified against him) tried to “make amends,” but to no avail. Muhammed was executed by lethal injection Nov. 10, 2009 and Malvo, protected by juvenile law, is serving a life sentence without possibility of parole. - The inside story of how two sadistic assassins paralyzed our nation’s capital. |
||||
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ||||
| THE REVIEW The plot of the film, D.C. SNIPER basis itself around the true crimes committed by John Allen Muhammad and his teenage accomplice, Lee Malvo. John Muhammad an extremely manipulative ex-Army veteran uses his corrupt world beliefs to brainwash his more naive counterpart, and together they go on a murder spree that lasts a total of three weeks. From the specially rigged trunk of a 1990 Caprice Sedan, with the guidance of his elder, Muhammad, young Malvo shoots and kills 10 innocents with a single rifle over this period of time, all while being virtually unseen. A man that is no stranger to the subject of true crime dramatization, Ulli Lommel, is back with yet another film that looks to capitalize on the happening of true events. But like all of the Lommel true crime efforts before it, Despite being marketed as a film that digs deep into the facts of the case, it is one that just barely scrapes the surface of it's subject. If you are anything like me, and look to learn something about the true events when you watch a film like this, with D.C. SNIPER, you will be left disappointed. Despite the film's hype, it delivers nothing of the like, besides the facts about the case, the film is presented mostly by interview-like narration by our main characters, built around, ans in-between depictions of Muhammad and Malvo shooting down victims. There are also two Detective character who are on the hunt for the two, and we follow them as they make pointless pit-stops at various locations, and talk about unrelated subplots, such as the main Detective being in search of his missing daughter. After seeing quite a few of Lommel's true crime film's I am still unsure as to what it is he tries to accomplish with them. I mean, if you're not going to tell the true story in it's correct manner, than why do so at all? This is another film in which, yes, it has a true premise, but that is about the only thing that stays factual about it, the rest has been fabricated at the will of an over-imaginative Director. D.C. SNIPER, does however have something that a lot of Ulli Lommel's other films don't, and that's a marketable star. The film stars genre veteran, Ken Foree(of DAWN OF THE DEAD and THE DEVIL'S REJECTS), who also serves as co-writer, and Associate Producer on the film. Now, I will be honest, and say that Foree's involvement had me curious to see this film, as I was wondering, "could a "good" Lommel true crime story, be upon us here?" Well, while Ken Foree does bring with him more credibility and an above the norm performance for Lommel, this film is proof that not just one man can save a film, no matter who they maay be. With not much truly known about the real John Muhammad, i'm pretty sure that most of the "facts" about him, and the dialogue he spouts, is purely improvised, and as such, Foree's performance is often wide-eyed and preach, which at times makes it a little silly, rather than being believable ramblings of a madman.. Lommel's budget here proves once again that he just doesn't have the budget to form a worthwhile story, which has become quite repetitive for him. Again we are given a film, with another subject, yet it has no story, but Lommel has just enough budget to cover a few gore scenes, so instead he makes a film that basically focuses itself on the gory nature of the crimes committed, by the film's subject. This of course makes for a film, consisting of random kills, random spoken interviews with the film's subjects and just pointless characters all together. It's yet another film made by Lommel, and yet again the end result is the same as last - it leaves you asking one question, and that is...."Where's the plot". |
||||
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ||||
| GORE
METER 2/10 Various gunshot wounds to the head. |
||||
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ||||
| MUSICAL
SCORE 2/10Mostly electric/synthesizer music backs the film. |
||||
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ||||
| OVERALL
IMPRESSION OF THE FILM Besides the questions that I hsve already posed, i'm asking myself, Why/ Why does Writer/Director Ulli Lommel continue to make these serial killer films, if they are always going to be the same and never improve? With Foree on here as a co-writer, you could say that the dialogue does improve, obviously due to the input of Foree, however the film is still no more than a 74 minute mash-up of various odds and ends. All of this is put together with hope that it well result in something fairly coherent, but unfortunately, once again, it doesn't pan out. This DVD will be released March 16, 2010 |
||||
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ||||
| STILLS | ||||
|
