Is your craving for vicarious vengeance frustrated by your belief that “good guys” shouldn’t lower themselves to the level of “bad guys?” Well, good news! In each of these films, bad guys get what they really deserve–with justice delivered via the bloodstained hands of other outlaws! Finally–you can simultaneously enjoy AND condemn savage violence and revenge!
• El Mariachi (1993)–An itinerant musician hits town at the same time
as a newly escaped felon. Violent hijinks ensue when the mariachi is mistaken
for the criminal, who starts killing his way towards the mob boss who betrayed
him. Filmed in Mexico, director Robert Rodriguez’ debut is confident, stylish,
and thoroughly engaging.
• I Went Down (1997)–This award-winning independent Irish film centers
on two petty criminals who become indebted to and caught between rival crime
lords. Sent cross-country to retrieve an errant associate, they discover they’re
being played for fools and used as pawns to settle old debts.
• The Limey (1999)–Newly paroled career criminal Terence Stamp leaves
England for the hills of L.A. to avenge the murder of his estranged daughter.
Haunted by memories and regrets of a life spent largely in prison, the coldness
that doomed his daughter now leads the aging Stamp in his futile pursuit of
redemption. Director Steven Soderburgh’s liberties with the flow of time create
a quiet, sunlit and dreamlike atmosphere.
• Payback (1998)–In a remake generally considered inferior to the
original Point Blank (a nihilistic 1967 thriller starring Lee Marvin), Mel Gibson
is still quite impressive as a hood who survives a doublecross and returns from
near-death with single-minded and masochistic fixation on the money he’s owed.