Point Blank
From Zanecorpwiki
A very decent late 60's action flick that holds up well. DVD.
Summary
The modern viewer may prefer the 1999 remake, Payback, but for my money the gritty late '60's is a much better and more realistic (even if only for being in the romanticized past) setting for this tale.[notes 1] It's not a great film, but my only real complaint is the jarring flashback scenes. Not the idea of the flash backs themselves, just something about the execution bothered me.
The story is straightforward enough: Lee Marvin's character was ripped off and is trying to get the money he's owed. When those that owe him the money refuse, they die. The character is efficient and hard, but the underlying "justice" of his quest--and the fact that he's only trying to get the amount owed him--makes the character sympathetic.
I've always liked the idea of the "60's noir" edge that one finds in Steve MacQueen and some Eastwood flicks from the era, but honestly, this is one of the more approachable and enjoyable movies of the lot. If you have any kind of retro-sentimentality and appreciation for the action genre, this is a movie you should see.
Details and Notes
Gibson's portrayal of the main character (which I saw first), is much more "Hey, I'm just a guy trying to get paid here, you know?" Point Blank noir aesthetic doesn't have room for nearly that many words. For my taste Point Blank is the much better of the two films. There's nothing wrong with Payback[notes 2], it's just that it's a run-of-the-mill action movie with a slightly better plot and character bio than most, but those elements are lifted straight out of Point Blank which also has the more interesting visual and aesthetic sense (not to mention the retro thing).
Whereas the remake moves well, the original is driven by fatalism. Whereas Gibson has his reasons, Marvin is a force of nature.
I don't want to oversell the movie, though. The comparison is interesting, and on it's own, Point Blank is a good film which I thoroughly enjoyed. I wasn't blown away, however. On the other hand, as I write this review, I'm becoming more and more interested in watching it again, which isn't something I often desire so that says something.
In writing this review, I did make reference to the 2009-12-10-11:22 Wikipedia entry.
Notes
- ↑ There's also a 1992 Hong Kong loose remake, Full Contact, which I'm very interested in seeing.
- ↑ I just noticed that both movies abbreviate 'PB'... how derivative can you get?
