Mayhem

For a movie about Mayhem in an office building due to a rage virus, there sure is a lot of talking and it sure takes a long time to get to the action. Aussie Goddess Samara Weaving is great as always but the rest of the movie is a bit of a chore. Maybe if I worked in an office building it would be more exciting but I wouldn't waste 90 minutes on watching it again. Such a shame after Knights of Badassdom from the same director was so much fun

Excellent action film. The movie never slows down.

And far better than it had any right to be. Helped a lot by Stephen Yuen, who damn well ought to be in a lot more movies. Samara Weaving (very good in Netflix' "The Baby-Sitter") adds a lot to the film as well.

Think of it as a grind-house Office Space, and you won't go wrong. Lots of blood, profanity, and (oddly enough) the slightest touches of profundity.

Don't expect anything more than over-the-top violence, weird laughs, and blistering payback and you'll have a good, if low-brow time.

So this is one of those "tries to do lots of genres at once" type movies, and they're usually my favourite. The problem here wasn't so much that it felt particularly uneven or tonally conflicted: it was more just that for all the genres it dipped its toes into, it didn't really satisfy in any of them.

Was there comedy? Kind of, but I barely cracked a smile more than once or twice. Was there action? Kind of, but it wasn't particularly well-choreographed or satisfying or memorable. Was there horror? I mean... not really; I wasn't scared for a second about anything. Was there satire? Yes, but nothing the movie said was particularly exciting or substantive. Was it effective as a thriller? Sort of, in the sense that it was fast-paced and structurally sound.

However, the rest of the writing faltered, as the characters were mostly very simple, the dialogue stilted and predictable, and the resolution a little rushed. Steven Yuen does a very good job however and deserved a much better script to work with. Him, the solid direction, and the fact that the movie is not boring and moves at a good pace are a few of the reasons that keep me from wanting to call this movie "bad."

It was all just a little underwhelming, and I can't see myself remembering much about it at all by this time next week.

Just saw this at the Fantasia film festival last night and loved every second. A humour-filled, ultra-violent movie which skewers corporate office life -often literally. For anyone who has ever worked in a cubicle or hated their boss. Brilliantly funny and gory in equal amounts. So glad I went!