Mercenaries

Dreadful Film! OK, many people have already referred to the fact that this is such a dreadful film already. The biggest problem is that if you combine terrible acting with a terrible script then the only sure fire thing you are going to get is a terrible film. It's all just so implausible that a group of amateurs who clearly have not bothered to get any military adviser on board start running round someone's back garden to convince the viewer that they are on some kind of clandestine rescue mission. Mr Fuccilla is clearly no leading man and is unable to carry a gun properly, never mind a movie. His dialog is simply risible.

Does the movie have any redeeming features? Critics, even the hard- nosed ones, will try and find at least one redeeming factor but alas, in this case, it seems to be impossible. It seems that the key to this movie lies in its funding. If you read the PR suicide article on Mr Fuccilla in the Guardian you can see that this is another vanity project. The Merchant Banker might do better spending the money on acting lessons.

In the end, the poster tells it all: on IMDb we see Fuccilla face on in big close up. By the time the movie is released we see the DVD cover with everyone with their backs to us. If the Merchant Banker at the head of the vanity project turns his back on his own film - it's time for the viewer to do the same!

After having had a sneak-preview of Mercenaries, i must admit it just wasn't very good, even for a Balkaneze guy like me.

The plot seems rushed, the actors are mediocre at best, and there just isn't any substance to get you hooked on the story. The only character you can sympathize a little with, is Andy Marlow(played by Robert Fucilla). Along with Kirsty Mitchell, they did a decent job acting.

But having watched it, i was like "was that it?", and i started wondering if it was worth the time in the first place.

I hope somebody out there enjoys it...

because i didn't.

This film was written and directed by Paris Leonti, an up and coming British guy.The vast majority of cast/crew are British. It was low budget, not a multi-million pound production. Get real with the negative comments ! Sure, he has been let down by some of the acting but it is not a bad way of spending 90 minutes of your life. The film is better than OK but not brilliant. The production company have done a great job as well so I wonder what Mr Leonti could do with a much,much bigger budget? The British film industry should get behind people like Paris Leonti and bring some good talent into the limelight.Daylight Robbery was a good entertaining film of a different genre. So, what's next? Look out for this guy... he's good.

Rather than watching this film, I felt as if i was being subjected to it. I have seen thousands of film, both high and low budget, and I can quite honestly say this is one of the worst I have watched. The only thing more terrible than the script were the actors' performances. Although, the actors aren't fully to blame as the casting choices were the true root cause of the film's problems. Not one character was believable as having served in the SAS or any military unit, they couldn't properly hold weapons or implement any semblance of military tactics.Beside from the countless military inaccuracies; the plot was unoriginal, unbelievable and totally boring.

Avoid this movie, it is absolute rubbish!

I am a film reviewer so frankly I don't care that the lead actor, Mr Fucilla, is, according to the Guardian newspaper, a merchant banker who believes he can bypass training as an actor and has bought bought his way into a project. I don't care that the director was a unit driver called Barry Leonti (according to IMDb) and reinvented himself as a director, called Paris. I don't care about the fact that MERCENARIES advertises itself (on Wikipedia) as being shown at the Cannes Film Festival in 2011 when it wasn't (I was there and there is no official record of it in any competition). What I care about is what I see when I pay my money and watch what is on the big or small screen in front of me. And unfortunately, in this case, it would not be an exaggeration to say it is an absolutely unwatchable mish mash mess. The starting problem is the fact that no attempt has been made to put it in the right geographical setting. Even low budget films need to make an effort, though. Srebenica? This has clearly been set in the local park. This in itself is bad but when you throw a clearly unconsidered plot and script in to the mix then you have problems. Derivative, would be putting it mildly. Where is there any attempt at being original. Low budget is no excuse for making no effort. Quite the opposite - it is the absolute opportunity to do something original. Clearly, Billy Zane, sticks out like a sore thumb, bring the pay check face on the DVD cover (though, as many reviewers have pointed out - even he has disowned the film by refusing to be on the DVD cover). The dialogue just seems to have been thrown together and the acting is a mix of amateurism and half-heartedness - it's difficult to tell what could have been made of this if the script had not been so bad.

Ultimately it is a sad old mess and reflects really badly on the struggling UK film industry. This is not what is needed in the industry, it will just drive investors further away from investing in films. What a sad, missed opportunity. Let's hope this film can be quietly forgotten and the UK film industry can provide us with some low budget, quality, original films again.