God is a Bullet is a movie that is trying to be many things but falls short of being truly powerful. In fact, the first ten minutes start promising, it doesn't waste time to get into gear. But soon after that it starts to meander a bit aimlessly. I was especially disappointed that the story didn't commit to the black magic angle they teased in the beginning. There were vibes of True Detective season one where we go on a dark journey down the abyss. Unfortunately the movie gets more predictable and trivial the closer we reach the end. Again, the overall pace is very meandering and the story is handled more like a checklist unfortunately.
What deflated a lot of tension were the dumb decisions the characters made at every corner. All the time they keep talking about how dangerous it is to go against this cult and most of the time they just barge into a place unprepared and are surprised that they get caught with their pants off. All the while the movie is trying to be dark, gritty and authentic but treats the viewer with completely over-the-top moments or a character out of an 80's film. It created a weird disconnect. Maika Monroe's character "Case" seems intriguing at first but there's not much substance in her portrayal. Her divine change of heart moment is explained away as a random encounter in a grocery store. Truly underwhelming. And then there are the exchanges about faith and religion which come off very superficial and smarmy. I realized that this is basically the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo without the intriguing murder mystery (they even lift the epilogue). Instead of a good thriller we get lots of gore but it is so obvious CG that it takes all the enjoyment out of it.
The movie has some nice imagery and colors here and there but it is mostly filmed in drab colors. Nikolai Coster Waldau is a reliable actor but he already did the grieving father who's out for revenge in 'The Silencing' which was undoubtly a better and much shorter flick. Here they push it to the extreme by making him play a desk clerk who turns into Charles Bronson. Not in an interesting manner, and way too stretched out with it's two and a half hours runtime. The movie is severely lacking in the action and thriller department. Cassevettes neither commits to an authentic tone or goes completely off the rails like an Craig S Zahler with "Brawl in Cell Block 99". For more dark and authentic revenge thrillers I would rather recommend Blue Ruin or Destroyer(2018). This one was disappointing.
5 out of 10.
What deflated a lot of tension were the dumb decisions the characters made at every corner. All the time they keep talking about how dangerous it is to go against this cult and most of the time they just barge into a place unprepared and are surprised that they get caught with their pants off. All the while the movie is trying to be dark, gritty and authentic but treats the viewer with completely over-the-top moments or a character out of an 80's film. It created a weird disconnect. Maika Monroe's character "Case" seems intriguing at first but there's not much substance in her portrayal. Her divine change of heart moment is explained away as a random encounter in a grocery store. Truly underwhelming. And then there are the exchanges about faith and religion which come off very superficial and smarmy. I realized that this is basically the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo without the intriguing murder mystery (they even lift the epilogue). Instead of a good thriller we get lots of gore but it is so obvious CG that it takes all the enjoyment out of it.
The movie has some nice imagery and colors here and there but it is mostly filmed in drab colors. Nikolai Coster Waldau is a reliable actor but he already did the grieving father who's out for revenge in 'The Silencing' which was undoubtly a better and much shorter flick. Here they push it to the extreme by making him play a desk clerk who turns into Charles Bronson. Not in an interesting manner, and way too stretched out with it's two and a half hours runtime. The movie is severely lacking in the action and thriller department. Cassevettes neither commits to an authentic tone or goes completely off the rails like an Craig S Zahler with "Brawl in Cell Block 99". For more dark and authentic revenge thrillers I would rather recommend Blue Ruin or Destroyer(2018). This one was disappointing.
5 out of 10.
