Payback Reviews

I remember, when I got my first appartment, me and my buddys would rent a movie almost everyday and we would watch the most random things. We watched a lot of garbage back then but one movie I really enjoyed was this flick starring Mel Gibson. It is only afterwards that I discovered that it was a some kind of cult-classic. In my opinion, it is even the last good movie starring Mel Gibson. Basically, it is some kind of néo-film noir with a pretty good cast (Mel Gibson, Maria Bello, Deborah Kara Unger, Lucy Liu, Kris Kristofferson, James Coburn) with a badass anti-hero killing a bunch people just to get his 70.000$. This feature was aslo Brian Helgeland's directing debut (he would later on make 'A Knight's tale' starring the late Heath Ledger). Helgeland is originally a screenwriter but he definitely has some talent as a director and it is too bad he doesn't make more movies. Another interesting fact is that the production for this theatrical version was actually stormy as Helgeland got fired and 30% of the film was re-shot. Knowing this fact, I re-watched it yesterday and in spite of this, the movie still does work for me. Since then, a director's cut has been released and maybe I will check it out someday. To conclude, even though it is nothing mind-blowing, it remains a decent and entertainig neo-noir and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

It´s not fancy to like this movie. It´s just another of those hard kick-in-your-face movies that proliferated in the Iron Age (also known as the nineties)... but better and harder than most. The worst part is that Gibson isn´t that hard and isn´t that bad but he has his good moments a charismatic smile and knows how to fake enduring pain.

Gibson was (is) more suited for the good boys. He is kind of goofy and even in his hard characters he looks like a choir boy in some moments... The best thing is that this is a light movie, has lots of funny moments and the violence is so boldly exaggerated that everything looks like a big bloddy joke... and the big clown has the biggest gun and the hardest punch. This is the kind of hard movie Gibson was intented to.

The good thing about the action movies from this era is that filmakers knew how to knit the action, the plot and the bidimensional simple characters in a strong, high tension knot where everything and everyone seems to be in place. This is a good example. The protagonist goes from down to the top of the criminal food chain meeting (meaning "kicking and shooting") lowlifes one after the other while he shows that he is a baaaaaaad man. Then all those lowlifes come back later in the movie for a second ration of bullets and pain and no one ever remembers that Gibson is the bad guy anymore: he walks with the girl and the bad guys suck it and die.

That is the way it was meant to be.

The worst? Lucy Liu. She gives very little to the movie, sucks as always. The last time you see her is one of her best moments... probably because she got slapped.

All in all this is a decent enough film from a time when popcorn-movies where fun and fast and there wasnt any need for armies of bad guys from here to the horizon or green nor blue screens anywere.

Just some guns, some bad guys and some exploding cars.
And a blonde.
And a dog.

After being shot, robbed, and left for dead by his wife and "Business" partner, an expert thief named Porter must retrace his steps, and take mighty revenge!.

While that plot may sound quite simple, it doesn't take away from the intensity and grittiness it has packed into it. Payback has got to be one of the best action films of that decade. Mel Gibson really put on a show with his deep voice and revengeful killing, and easily had me hooked from beginning to end. You could compare his character Porter to most action heroes out there. He's not to far off some of the best. I felt like I watching a movie from a different planet at some points. The main reason was the soundtrack towards the beginning and middle, mixed with him walking down the streets with no care for anything but revenge. You don't see many movies nowadays like Payback.

Before watching this flick, I was honestly expecting it to be very similar to most revenge movies, with most things going exactly the same, and a very predictable outcome. The Brave One, and Death Sentence are just a couple to note, Though Death Sentence was pulled off quite well, but you get what I mean. I was pleasantly surprised with the way this one was put together. Unlike a lot of action flicks out there, Payback adds realism to the mix. You don't see Porter beating the crap out of ten guys at once. He simply does what a very very tough human can do, and comes up victorious in the process. He gets beat up and bloodied as well, which is what a lot of action stars seem to "avoid". A lot of them are apparently "invincible".

This movie adds a whole lot of grittiness as well. There isn't a whole lot of heavy rock or rap music going on to make the scenes look cool. It's just the environmental noise, and that makes it that much more gritty. As shown in films like The Departed, Goodfellas, and other films to that extent. That's how I hope a lot of films will be made in the near future. It's a really good and efficient way to go. Unlike films like that of what Steven Seagal stars in. Now that's how not to attract viewers. More to the point, I am saying that Payback is excellently made.

If your looking for a movie to watch, where you can just sit back, relax, and watch some violence, than by all means watch Payback. It's exactly what the doctor ordered in terms of a fun action movie.

Payback's a bitch

8.1/10