Bull (2021)

Neil Maskell makes for quite an effective, if unlikely looking, anti-hero in this brutal but well constructed British revenge thriller. He returns to his old stomping grounds bent on avenging himself on his erstwhile criminal colleagues who betrayed him, his wife and his young son. The film is brutal, gory and the violence is not for the young or faint-hearted! Sadly, though, it's all rather predictable and the ending, well that's all all over the place. It could have been doing with some more roots to the story - we hit the ground running and though we do, gradually, learn what is driving "Bull", we are never quite clear who and why he is mowing down en route to the denouement. David Hayman is usually adequate in these type of hard-man roles, and he is here too leading a competent team of supporting talent. The narrative of film definitely benefits from this no-holds barred approach to the subject matter. It's just that it all becomes too processional, too quickly, and by the conclusion I had pretty much lost all sympathy for this wronged man. I saw this on a big screen and I think it added something - the style of photography is frequently intimate and works really effectively at times to augment the blood-curdling screenplay at times, but for me anyway, it needed more substance to the roles so at least I could associate with his plight a bit more.