Jackdaw

In grim seaside England, ex-soldier Jack Dawson (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) is struggling to care for his brother Simon. He takes a job from lowlife Silas to pick up a package floating in the North Sea. The money for the job isn't there and he decides to keep the package. Simon gets taken. While Jack is searching for Simon, he encounters his ex Bo (Jenna Coleman). The package actually belongs to mysterious drug lord Armstrong.

This is a lower budget British crime drama. I recognize a lot of these actors. I would like to get rid of some of gimmicky crime aesthetics. It is a little funny that the movie calls out some of it. I still would like Silas to be less disco and more Mean Streets. I'm fine with the motorbikes. The horses add a strange British backwoods touch. I like the father reveal and most of the final confrontation. This is not great, but it is good enough for the budget.

Jackdaw is a solid indie action thriller. The first twenty minutes are top notch, the way it is shot and the vidual ideas are better than most big budget films nowadays. Unfortunately it isn't able to sustain that high momentum and becomes a bit more like a mundane gangster story. It it is obviously a low to mid-budget movie, but that never bothered me. You can tell that the crew put a lot of heart into it, the good lighting does make this look better than the standard DTV fare. The weakness lies in the writing, especially he protagonist is not very interesting on paper. The brothers relationship seems only sketched out, the family angle started intriguing but I expected more. In terms of action, the best parts are at the beginning and I wished they would have done more with the motor bike and the uneven terrain. There is too little vehicular action, especially when the poster or the trailer are suggesting otherwise. Most action set pieces fizzle out and it felt like there is always that final piece missing to make it memorable.

Still, there is something about this movie and it's simple premise that kept me entertained and even stayed with me after the viewing. The locations and the vibe gave a nostalgic John Carpenter-esque atmosphere that really stood out, and although it has some problems with bland characters it was a good enough ride to recommend. At the end of the day it's a solid crime thriller with a few action elements, and it has heart.

"Jackdaw" is a dark Brittish thriller that looked like it could be cool with its badass hero and plenty of motorbike action. Plus it also stars Jenna Coleman and "This is Englands" Thomas Turgoose which is a bonus. But I wanted to like it more.

There are some decent little chases and shootouts, and a genuinely scary looking villian. But the plot is pretty straightforward and more and more unlikely things happen as it all comes to a finale that just fizzles out.

Its still decent enough though with its promising start, its overall style and cool music. As well as its nice cast. Still making for an above average gritty movie.

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.

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.