When a group of street thugs start dropping like STD ridden whores at a needle park; it’s up to 5.0. Eddie (Skarsgård) and his new hot ass partner Helen (George) to figure out WAZ-up!
WAZ (or is it SAZ) didn’t stray too far from the SEVEN/SAW mold in terms of narrative structure and plot twists. With that said, there was a lot to appreciate within this celluloid bad boy and let me give ya 5 reasons as to why WAZ is worth at least one slap on the butt cheek.
1-Stellan Skarsgård was at his most intense, visceral and captivating best. He’s onscreen for the bulk of the running time and I for one or 69 could not take my eyes off the lad. Presence to burn, acting chops to melt, charisma to kill; this dude is the real deal. Love that mofo!
2- On one end, I must give props to the down in the gutter atmosphere of the picture (read below for the other end) which managed to stay…well…down in the fucking gutter. I could almost smell the urine patches while watching this one. Made the shit hole I live in look like a Kingdom.
3- When the plot did kick into full gear I got lots of nasty turn of events and one heck of a twist that I didn’t anticipate slapped my way. I usually see everything coming but on this round, I was colored bamboozled.
4- I dare ya to keep your eyes on the screen when the torture within this f*ck nut goes down. Nails being hammered under ones nails? COME ON! Talk about OUCH! I’m still hurting!
5- My dead beat heart was warmed to sizzle when at a certain point, shades of the Dirty Harry opus Sudden Impact kicked in. WAZ echoed that film on some levels, and since I adore it, I waz a happy camper.
On the downside, WAZ took about an hour to really get going; up to that point redundancy did arise. How much driving around and yapping can one film have? I think that went down because the flick was too eager to keep its secrets under the wire for as long as it could. Moreover; I’ve seen SEVEN and I’ve seen SAW; so I can’t say that SAW spelled backwards with a Z gave me much of anything that I hadn’t tackled before. Finally, there’s decrepit and then there’s this film. The setting (Belfast slumps trying to pass for New York) looked like shit and it was shot in a zero polished fashion. No fancy cinematography a la Seven here! Kind of got sick of gawking at the trashy environment after a while.
On the whole though The Skasguard and that one potent, back handing, bitch slapping, cunt pounding twist hit the ball out of the park. So for that; the flick was worth the wrestling match. But if you’re looking for anything original beyond them two things, look elsewhere, like in a box of Nestle cookie bag.
We get nails hammered under peeps’ nail, a grisly castration, a slit throat and more that I won’t give away.
Stellan Skarsgård (Eddie) was this movie for me. His presence, intensity and underplayed yet powerful acting whooped me silly. Melissa George (Helen) did her best Radha Mitchell impression…to the point I thought it was Radha starring in the film. Nice rack on that Dalai Lama. Selma Blair (Jean) kicked some serious ass with her small role, was swell to see her do something different. Ashley Walters (Daniel) was also very credible on is end. I bought it! NOTE: Why was the Chief of police always so damn angry, chill out and do your job chump!
We get some female goods during a rape scene, needless to say, not too horn-dog inducing. The ladies get shirtless dudes.
We get lots of cinema verite type jive, over the shoulder cam stuff and stripped down style that worked for and against the film.
We get an adequate score that fit the bill.
SAZ…oops I mean WAZ kept me in my seat due to The Skarsgård owning the scenery and its heavy hitting, gore gags/slick twists laced final block. The flick did lag a tad during its first hour where it repeated itself as to its events and it did feel like a SEVEN and SAW rip but on the whole if you dug the latter films and the criminally underrated Russell Mulcahy’s Resurrection; then give this one a twirl; it will push some of your buttons, make you wince and you can then call it a day.
Episode #32
