OUTLAWED Nods To Real Life Heroes With Escapist Action And Thrills
Adam Collins both stars and co-directs (with Luke Radford) in an action thriller about a special forces veteran who struggles with civilian life after a botched mission and is approached by his childhood love who needs help bringing a corrupt politician to justice.
It is very rare in the action genre to find a story that hasn’t been done a hundred times before. Fortunately, the structure was shifted around enough that it wasn’t as predictable and a bit more engaging. Some scenes were laying it on a bit thick, to the point where I was exclaiming out loud, “I get it, the character’s hit rock bottom.” with still another few minutes of the sad montage to go.
But the main selling point is of course the action, consisting of mainly shootouts with occasional close-quarters combat. It’s easy to fall into the “shot, reaction shot, shot, reaction shot” pattern with shootouts and it’s pretty much the same here. There’s nothing innovative being done with the way it’s shot but by keeping things basic you never get the sense that it’s overstylized or unbelievable. There’s a good mix of both practical and VFX when it comes to the gunfire, explosions, squibs, etc. There’s some impressive stunts provided by the bad guys who get shot, blown up, flown through the air, and more. There’s even a nice full-body burn during the climax. Some of the violence does get extreme and even disturbing. A couple of moments in particular were jarring not just because of what was happening but how much they lingered on the gore.
Adam Collins stars as Jake O’Neil who’s a no-BS special forces operative. His physique, real-life military background, and stunt experience gives him the proper tools to be a solid action hero. He is the best thing about this film. He carries the acting and drama well enough in between scenes of shooting badguys. Newcomer Jessica Norris plays Jade Roberts and does a decent job with the little that she’s given, being a love interest with no flaws who needs the hero’s help to drive the plot forward. You’ve got the mentor, the evil politician, the rival commando who’s got traitor written all over his face, and so on.
One thing worth noting is that a portion of the film’s proceeds goes to Combat Stress for veterans, which is very cool. Behind the script there is a voice somewhere in there, but it’s hidden behind action hero clichés, scenes of ultra violence, nude women and drug use. These are of course the colours which one paints with when making a film of this kind. Lower budget fare often goes into exploitation because money and star power and not required for good sex and violence. Do I feel like they’re there for any other purpose than to sell the film? Not really.
This isn’t a groundbreaker, but a solid effort in the genre with suprisingly a voice and a point. Fortunately, it never preaches or tries to be what it’s not. They only indulged in the things that make an action movie enjoyable. It looks like its the film they set out to make. Outlawed should find its place rightfully amongst the hard R action films of the DTV kind.