You won't be disappointed!

Let's be realistic.

As Good As It Gets

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

I understand the rage people might feel if the justice system lets them down...if legal technicalities let an offender walk free from court or a rapist is not convicted because there is no material evidence. This film deals with an even more controversial area of pedophilia and the main character, John Doe, makes it his life's work to execute as many pedophiles and child killers as possible.Now most of us would cheer his actions, being that pedophiles are the lowest of the low in terms of human society but the film challenges us to think of the whole legal system as a total failure unable to dispense true justice and that the only true justice comes at the hands of vigilantes. To me and I bet many others this is dangerous territory. Once you start to disassemble our legal system...once you have no jury system...no rules of evidence...no procedural rules you are left with lynch mobs and kangaroo courts where an accusation is enough to see one hanged. This puts us one step away from savagery where anyone could make an accusation and a group could just decide to do you in without any real evidence at all. That's not the type of world I would like to live in because not only would justice cease to exist but democracy as well. So before you all choose the cheer the protagonist on in this movie think about what the director/writer seems to be advocating... a world without an organised police force or legal system. Is that what you really want?

One of the best movies i have watched in years and oh boy...i have seen a lot of them. The actors? The plot? The scenes? Excellent. It makes you wonder and google if it is a real story and what would you do if something like that would have happened to you. A story about a man that takes law in his hands. Has he done the wrong or the right thing? Which was his motives? If you were one of the juries would you have find the defendant guilty or not? I can't say much cause i don't want to make a spoiler for you guys so i will say one thing. This film gave me chills and i think everyone should watch it. First review here and i submitted just to give this film the credits it deserves. Do your self a favor and watch it! You will understand a lot about people and about yourselves.

Writer & director Kelly Doan's "John Doe, Vigilante" qualifies as the most provocative contemporary vigilante thriller since the Charles Bronson "Death Wish" movies. This message-laden saga is at once both issue-oriented as well as action-packed with at least three surprises. The inherent weakness here is that Dolan and scenarist Stephen M. Coates don't develop the characters sufficients and everything is a bit too neat to be entirely believable. Nevertheless, "Joe Doe Vigilante" is quite often a gripping film. An anonymous individual who dons a white mask and a hoodie doles out rough justice in a variety to ways. The eponymous hero, however, confines himself to killing either criminals or people who have gotten away with their heinous crimes. Television news reporter Sam Foley (Gary Abrahams), who has covered Joe Doe's killing spree, points out the problem to fellow journalist Ken Rutherford (Lachy Hulme) about a half-hour into this compelling but loquacious 93 minute melodrama. Foley explains, ". . . the system as it stands, it doesn't work." Foley elaborates, "We're too politically correct. It's all about the perp's rights. The preps get their way. The victims end up getting screwed. And when you go to court, if you're lucky enough to get to court, the courts end up editing the victim's impact statement." Soon afterward, Sam compares a vigilante to a soldier. "A vigilante is simply somebody who violates the law in order to punish a criminal for what they believe is right, for what they believe is justice. So what then do you call a country who sends soldiers to kill people in places like Afghanistan or Iran, Iraq, Korea, Vietnam, in the name of what they believe is right, in the name of what they believe is justice? That country is a vigilante, pure and simple. Only, when a country does it, people call it war, and nobody bats an eyelid. But when a country does it, they aren't anywhere near as clinical or as careful as someone like Joe Doe. And that country ends up killing thousands of innocent women and innocent children."John Doe (Jamie Bamber of "Battlestar Galactica") is a decent individual who can no longer tolerate a flawed justice system that allows criminals get away with their crimes. He is a combination of Charles Bronson's Paul Kersey in "Death Wish" and Peter Finch's Howard Beale from "Network." He takes justice into his own hands and kills child molesters, wife beaters, and other criminals. The plain mask that he wears represents a kind of objectivity that his notorious exploits encapsulate. Eventually, his vigilantism inspires a conservative, grass roots movement that labels themselves "Speak for the Dead." These people take it upon themselves to punish lawbreakers that the justice system refuses to punish. Dolan and Coates relate the action in flashback, and they outline the vigilante history of our sympathetic hero. Before the jury delivers its verdict, Joe Doe is in custody, and he consents to an jail house interview with Ken Rutherford. The big surprise comes here. Despite its garrulous nature, "John Doe Vigilante" is an intelligent film that doesn't pander with his many brutal killings. Dolan doesn't whip us up into a frenzy. He lens everything from an impersonal point of view until he shows our hero in a podcast confronting the man who inspired him to embark on his vigilante path. At its worst, "John Doe Vigilante" is pretentious but articulate. The ending may not come as a surprise to some, but it is unlike anything we've seen before. Any time that I can watch a movie completely in one sitting, I know that the filmmakers have done something right. Some movies you have to break up into a number of different viewings, but I had no problem watching "John Doe Vigilante" from start to finish late one evening and wrote this review during the process.

John Doe asks a valid question, "What if law fail to protect civilian?". It's a very intriguing premise, and the film succeeds in involving the audience to mentally invest in the dilemma. For the sake of enhancing the social nuance, it portrays the story with back and forth pace as well as accounts from journalists, lawyers and polices. However, it's also very heavy-handed in its execution, many other movies have done better with more refined production.The title is pretty self-explanatory, this is the story of a vigilante called John Doe, who kills repeated offenders. Unlike most movies, it's presented in almost exclusively in cameras' point of view, such as recorded interviews, homemade video or CCTV. This semi-mockumentary approach does have its merit, it's easier to produce participation for viewers as though they are watching news or investigative journalism. Unfortunately, it's a tad too ambitious in creating layers as well as multiple perspectives on its timeline.Most of the recording feels awkward, it tries to reveal information in order for audience's benefit, like Social Network. As the killing becomes well known the situation escalates, creating more perspectives from many other characters, most are delivered with the same found footage style. This becomes convoluted and restricted, as too many accounts are choppily edited for shock effect. At some points it becomes too fervor in delivering its message, it literally screams at audience. While it could be effective, V for Vendetta and Dark Knight films have done better with subtler method.Its strong point lies in the visual. The graphic is crisp and pristine, the scenes are very polished, which makes the mockumentary style more confining. It could have portrayed the scenes with poise, and links them together smoothly. For the acting, its main characters perform well, especially John Doe himself. Characterization has a few problems though, they might be one-dimensional and the plot exaggerates John Doe's ability, dumbs down the law and vilifies his victims till the point of Satan incarnation himself.This film might make audience contemplate on its theme, if so it has already succeeded, but the means for that goal is crude, almost preachy. It could have reached out more with elegant, delicate and rich discussion.