Gary J Hewitt’s The Defender pretty much delivers what it promises on the tin. This is a story we’ve seen time and time again. If someone described a movie about a vigilante with a troubled past, taking the law into their own hands, already your mind is swarming with titles.
However, the plot isn’t necessarily the issue, there’s a reason the subgenre is used so often, people enjoy it – and you can certainly make it your own. After all, John Wick is different from Death Wish and both differ again from British approaches like Harry Brown. The problem is, that everything in this movie is simply competent. There’s nothing that grants it individuality or makes the film stand out amongst its peers.
A thriller without the thrills
The pacing is somewhat one note and a lot of the scenes tend to linger past last orders, making it (for the most part) a thriller without the thrills. The Scottish setting – as well the recordings from the mother – do give things a bit more steam and kudos to the acting chops of Sasha Macpherson. Unfortunately, they could have perhaps shined brighter within a film with more substance.
Jacked In Recommends ‘The Cabin in the Woods’ (2011)
A group of young friends decide to take a small trip to a secluded cabin in the middle of the woods, where not […]
Jacked In Reviews ‘Red Fox’ (2023)
Red Fox tells a powerful tale of blurred “justice” and despair, as a bunch of deluded folk of faith hunt a homeless […]
Jacked In Reviews ‘Fire At Will’ (2023)
Put in the line of fire, both physically and emotionally, the centre of our story is Will (James Whetstone) – […]
Jacked In Reviews ‘Clean Street’ (2023)
With a quirky opening – reminiscent of shows such as Bewitched (or Betty Boop in this case) – the tone […]
Jacked In Reviews ‘Riley & Rambo’ (2023)
A day in the life of, we follow a young boy by the name of Riley as he journeys around the Bradford area collecting […]
Jacked In Reviews ‘MaXXXine’ (2024)
We first dropped down into the the late seventies with Ti West’s X, before journeying back to 1918 to see the […]
Jacked In Reviews ‘Die Hard’ (1988)
To solve the ongoing debate for whether or not Die Hard is in fact a Christmas movie, Jacked In’s Jack, […]
Jacked In Reviews ‘Jackass Forever’ (2022)
Originally starting as a series about a group of buddies carrying out stunts and pranks on each other, Jackass went […]
Jacked In Reviews ‘Blue Jean’ (2023)
Little did I know, when swinging my limbs on the dance floor to Melodies of Love, in March 2022 – complete […]
Jacked In Recommends ‘Thir13en Ghosts’ (2001)
After losing his wife in a tragic house fire, Arthur Kriticos (Tony Shalhoub) struggles to make ends meet for him […]
Jacked In Recommends ‘Don’t Look Up’ (2021)
Based on real events… That haven’t happened… Yet. Don’t Look Up tells the story of two minor league […]
Jacked In Reviews ‘Aldbrough’ (2023)
Gail Smith’s Aldbrough gives us a grainy, 8mm window into the past with archive footage of a town long gone.