Jackdaw

I anticipated the UK release of Jackdaw after hearing about a film being shot in the north east of England, a place I grew up before moving to London.

I saw great reviews coming out of America's Fright Film Festival and I have to disagree with some of the more negative English reviews, namely The Guardians Peter Bradshaw which came across more on an opinion than any depth to a review with slight observations about the film, it wasn't an anti carter of dullness. It had mood/style which earnt the next "action" moment instead of just hitting you in the face with fast cuts and ridiculous action of bigger hollywood movies.

I really enjoyed Jackdaw, it was a throwback to 80's/90's films, I'll be checking more things with Oliver Jackson Cohen in it and was already a big fan of Thomas Turgoose and Jenna Coleman and I'll be interested to see what comes next from the filmmakers.

I've seen comparisons to the film Drive and yeah I get it and agree.

It was refreshing to see an English film not set in London, what an achievement to get this made in the current times of Marvel movies and everything we can access via streaming services.

Myself and my mates had a great time seeing this at the cinema, if you can see it on the big screen, do it and support independent cinema.

Simple gritty scenes of bike chases, raves and fights. A decent movie about family revenge. No-ones going to win an oscar for this but it will keep you engaged for 90-minutes and if you like old skool rave then the soundtrack and rave scenes are great fun.

Don't believe all the negative reviews, you'll know if you like it in the first ten minutes. If you like any sort of revenge / chase movies then this is for you. If you also like bikes / rave toons then you'll love it. It's rare I check out the sound track of a movie afterwards but I'll be checking this one out - some classics that had me waving my glowsticks!.

Director can shoot nice looking stuff, the opening ten mins are suspenseful and well shot/edited.

After that opening, the whole thing collapsed into a badly realised student film type script with no credible characters, terrible attempts at comedy and zero credibility.

Which is a shame as it had a promising set up, and was attempting to do a Walter Hill type action film.

Characters are paper thin badly realised cliches and the dialogue is dire. There isn't a realistic interaction between anyone after the opening ten or so minutes.

Telling, the opening was mostly silent.

Hire a proper scriptwriter next time (if there is a next time).

Missed opportunity.

Quite harshly judged by some of the other reviews. If all films below 6* on imdb were like this I'd be happy. Not a world beater for sure, but I really enjoyed the retro feel of it, and the soundtrack that went with it. Ended up uncertain about whether it was a recent film or slightly older.

I think the film reflects the sometimes mundane nature of the drugs trade and people involved in it, but it still kept me entertained and engaged. The atmosphere was sustained through the film for me.

Loved the setting on the film in the North East. Would happily seek out and watch anything else by this director.

I like what the writers were trying to do here. I am a sucker for the run all night kinds of films, just thrown into the action and barely getting an escape from it. But if anything I wanted more depth from the film and characters and it just didn't have enough time.

I loved the overall atmosphere of the film, the foggy and dark night time settings and the music was just on point and great the entire time.

The film is totally worth a watch, I enjoyed it in the end.

Also I have loved Oliver Jackson-Cohen ever since I first saw him in Faster(2010) so I had to watch this one and he really does a great job once again in his acting delivery.

Give it a chance if you are a sucker for these kind movies like me.