Jump to content

Guns Akimbo

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 109.79.91.51 (talk) at 02:20, 26 April 2020 (→Reception: The Hollywood Reporter. Variety.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Guns Akimbo
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJason Lei Howden
Written byJason Lei Howden
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyStefan Ciupek
Edited by
  • Luke Haigh
  • Zaz Montana
Music byEnis Rotthoff
Distributed by
Release dates
  • 9 September 2019 (2019-09-09) (TIFF)
  • 2 April 2020 (2020-28-02) (United States)
  • 5 March 2020 (2020-03-05) (New Zealand)
Running time
95 minutes
Countries
  • New Zealand
  • United Kingdom
  • Germany
LanguageEnglish

Guns Akimbo is a 2019 New Zealand action comedy film written and directed by Jason Lei Howden. It stars Daniel Radcliffe, Samara Weaving, Natasha Liu Bordizzo, Ned Dennehy, Grant Bowler, Edwin Wright, and Rhys Darby.

The film had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on 9 September 2019 and was released in New Zealand on 5 March 2020 by Madman Entertainment. The title is a reference to akimbo, a combat technique in which two weapons are used, with one in each hand.

Plot

In an alternate near future, an underground fight club and a criminal organization known as Skizm achieved massive popularity by live-streaming real death matches between criminals and psychos. Ordinary computer programmer Miles Lee Harris, who gets his kicks by trolling online trolls, logs into Skizm’s forum to insult viewers who turn murder into entertainment. Riktor, the criminal kingpin and psychopath who runs Skizm, breaks into Miles’ apartment with his henchmen Dane, Effie, and Fuckface. After being beaten and drugged, Miles wakes up to find guns bloodily bolted into both of his hands. Miles learns that he has been forced to participate in Skizm by being pitted against Nix, the game’s deadliest and craziest killer; she wants out but not after her last opponent, Miles.

Nix tracks down Miles, who tries to explain his unwanted predicament, but Nix merely shoots up his apartment; Miles escapes outside. After unsuccessfully attempting to recruit help from the police, Miles made it to the park for a rendezvous with his artist ex-girlfriend Nova Alexander, who tells Miles she doesn’t want to get back together. When Miles reveals what is happening to him, Nova flees in fright. Nova reports the situation to Detective Degraves. Degraves has his partner Stanton hack Nova’s phone so they can track Miles. Miles gets temporary help from a vagrant named Glenjamin. Miles then goes to the office where he works so his friend Hadley can hack the Skizm tracking malware on his phone.

Miles finally gets assertive by angrily pulling his guns after his continually condescending boss Zander insults him. Nix then suddenly guns down Zander and starts shooting up the office. Miles escapes in a stolen car and Nix chases him on a motorcycle. Following a face-off where he again fails to reason with Nix, Miles calls Nova but sees Riktor kidnapping her. Miles calls 911 and leaves his phone in a junkyard to summon the police. He then inadvertently interrupts a drug deal between two rival gangs. Nix shows up and starts gunning down thugs while trying to get to Miles.

The cops arrive and arrest Miles. While transporting him, Degraves and Stanton explain their plan to use Miles as bait to lure Nix, whom they’ve been trying to capture for years. Degraves reveals Nix is his daughter. Nix was driven criminally insane after Riktor took revenge on Degraves for taking down Riktor’s gang by blowing up his family’s van. Degraves managed to save Nix, but his wife and son died. Stanton reveals he is a mole working for Riktor when he shoots Degraves in the head. Stanton plays a video message in which Riktor explains that Miles has 30 minutes to kill Nix or else he will kill Nova. Miles recovers his phone from Degraves’ body. While coercing a gaming café patron into hacking Nova’s phone to retrieve her location, Miles learns the Skizm communities dubbed him ‘Guns Akimbo’ as he has become the most popular player ever. Miles arrives at Nova’s supposed location to find Riktor waiting. Riktor taunts Miles by dumping Hadley’s dead body before driving away.

Miles manages to secretly meet with Nix and tells her that Riktor murdered her father and kidnapped his ex-girlfriend. In her rage and desire for revenge, Nix agrees to a plan where they successfully stage a scene for Skizm’s broadcast camera drones. She seemingly guns down Miles, who is actually wearing a bulletproof vest he removed from Degraves. Henchmen recover Miles’ body and transport him to Riktor’s Skizm hideout. Nix joins Miles as they take down Riktor’s henchmen, including Dane and Effie. Nix sacrifices herself by detonating a suicide vest that blows up Fuckface and the rest of Riktor’s men so Miles can survive. Riktor executes Stanton while making his way to the rooftop with Nova.

At the rooftop, Riktor keeps shooting Miles, but the latter determinedly charges at Riktor and ultimately throws him off the roof to his death, not before Riktor tells Miles that Skizm has spread worldwide and is becoming a global franchise. After Riktor dies, Miles starts to collapse from massive blood loss while imagining a romantic reunion with Nova. However, Nova actually becomes frightened and goes into shock after seeing what Miles is turning into.

Some time later, Miles is scarred from his injuries and while sitting in his car, he opens a file. He discovers a comic book written by Nova and learns that she is promoting Miles as a popular hero by writing a comic book based on their story. With Skizm spreading worldwide under new leaderships, Miles commits himself to do everything in his power to destroy the entire criminal organization.

Cast

Production

Filming for Guns Akimbo on Jean Batten Place

On 12 May 2017, it was announced that Daniel Radcliffe would be starring in Guns Akimbo, helmed by New Zealand director Jason Lei Howden whose previous projects include the film Deathgasm. Felipe Marino and Joe Neurauter were also announced to be producing the film through Occupant Entertainment.[1] On 8 May 2018, Natasha Liu Bordizzo was added to the cast, starring opposite Radcliffe.[2] Filming was done on-location and in-studio in Auckland and Munich.[3]

Release

The film had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on 9 September 2019.[4] It also screened at Fantastic Fest on 19 September 2019.[5] Shortly after, Saban Films acquired US distribution rights to the film.[6] It was released in the United States on 28 February 2020,[7] and is scheduled to be released in New Zealand on 5 March 2020.[8]

Controversy

A week prior to the film’s release, director Jason Lei Howden drew criticism for a series of tweets targeted at online film critics, accusing them of online bullying and “attempted murder” of another critic. Despite speculation that the film’s release would be delayed,[9] distributor Saban later released a statement confirming that the film would be released as planned, adding, “While we do not condone, agree or share Mr. Howden’s online behavior, which is upsetting and disturbing, we are supportive of the film and all the hard work and dedication that has gone into making Guns Akimbo.”[10]

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 53% based on reviews from 58 critics, with an average rating of 6.03/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Frenetic to a fault, Guns Akimbo may leave some viewers reaching for the killswitch – but for others, its videogame-style violence will have plenty of replay value."[11] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average of score of 45 out of 100 based on 9 critic reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[12]

John DeFore of The Hollywood Reporter wrote: "The ingredients for an engagingly ridiculous action pic are here, but the pacing's all wrong."[13] Dennis Harvey of Variety wrote: "This undeniably slick, energetic contraption plays somewhere between grating and numbing."[14]

References

  1. ^ Lodderhose, Diana (May 12, 2017). "Daniel Radcliffe To Star In 'Guns Akimbo' For Occupant Entertainment & Altitude Films – Cannes". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
  2. ^ N'Duka, Amanda (May 8, 2018). "Natasha Liu Bordizzo Joins Daniel Radcliffe In 'Guns Akimbo'". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
  3. ^ Kate Rodger (2018-05-28). "Daniel Radcliffe gushes about New Zealand after filming Guns Akimbo in Auckland". Newshub.
  4. ^ Vlessing, Etan (August 13, 2019). "'The Aeronauts,' 'Burnt Orange Heresy' Added to Toronto Film Fest Lineup". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
  5. ^ "Guns Akimbo". Fantastic Fest. Retrieved 23 February 2020.
  6. ^ McNary, Dave (9 November 2019). "Daniel Radcliffe Sci-Fi Thriller 'Guns Akimbo' Acquired by Saban". Variety. Retrieved 23 February 2020.
  7. ^ "Genuinely Bonkers-Looking Daniel Radcliffe Film 'Guns Akimbo' Gets February Release Date". collider. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  8. ^ King, Christine (16 January 2020). "This trailer for Guns Akimbo is your new favourite thing". Nag.co.za. Retrieved 23 February 2020.
  9. ^ Topel, Fred (23 February 2020). "Daniel Radcliffe 'Guns Akimbo' Director Jason Lei Howden's Online Abuse May Have Killed the Film". Showbiz CheatSheet. Retrieved 24 February 2020.
  10. ^ Lattanzio, Ryan (24 February 2020). "'Guns Akimbo' Distributor to Release Film After Director's Twitter Harassment Campaign". IndieWire. Retrieved 24 February 2020.
  11. ^ "Guns Akimbo (2020)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  12. ^ "Guns Akimbo Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  13. ^ John DeFore (Sep 14, 2019). "'Guns Akimbo': Film Review | TIFF 2019". The Hollywood Reporter.
  14. ^ Harvey, Dennis; Harvey, Dennis (14 September 2019). "Toronto Film Review: 'Guns Akimbo'". Variety.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Guns_Akimbo&oldid=953176568"