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An ordinary man fights violence the only way he knows how – by killing one criminal at a time. Hero or villain? Justice or vengeance? You decide.
The difference between the “Death Wish” movies which starred Charles Bronson and originated in 1974 and the latest feature film from director Kelly Dolen, “John Doe: Vigilante,” is that the star of the movie, Jamie Bamber, brings an emotional depth to the story which was sorely lacking in Bronson’s iterations. The “Death Wish” movies pretty much put Bronson on the Hollywood map and cemented his legacy in Tinseltown as a big-screen tough guy, much like his contemporaries, Chuck Norris and Clint Eastwood but the difference was, he never cried onscreen, he would just chase down the bad guys and shoot them dead. In “John Doe: Vigilante,” our protagonist, the aforementioned John Doe (Jamie Bamber) as he’s known to the public, after the death of his wife and daughter, he dons a faceless mask goes on a killing rampage, meticulously hunting down and killing known criminals, murderers, pedophiles, rapists and the like.
As can be imagined, he becomes a nightmare for the city police department because the more people find out about the criminals he is killing, and the fact that they were released from police custody for whatever reason, and then began resuming their immoral and deplorable ways, the more they side with John Doe, claiming that at least he’s doing something about the situation. After allowing himself to be filmed interrogating and ultimately executing a decidedly nasty criminal, he removes his mask and gives up his whereabouts where he is quickly arrested and put in police holdings. On the eve of his court hearing, he grants a once-in-a-lifetime interview to journalist Ken Rutherford (Lachy Hulme), a reporter he supposedly admires but wants him to try and understand everything from his perspective. However, as the evening advances, it becomes perfectly clear that John Doe is holding all the aces and that Ken is just a pawn in the overall scheme of things.
“John Doe: Vigilante” was filmed in Melbourne, Australia and what a breath of fresh air it was seeing a city onscreen other than New York, Chicago or Los Angeles. Cinematographer David Parker gives the city a striking likableness during the day but at night, it takes on an eerie temperament, contradictory to its daytime persona. Director Kelly Dolen manages to achieve the right balance for a story of this ilk because as we watch him eliminate a violent wife-beater or a serial pedophile, you find yourself rooting for him because as the story informs us, these particular people were released from the authorities with no obvious sign of rehabilitation and no apparent desire either. Jamie Bamber is a strong and subtle actor and shines in the role of a distraught father and husband who wants to kill all the bad people in the world but even though he is ridding society of a lot of abhorrent people, when is it enough?
The film is already on John Doe’s side from the get-go. We know this because we find out about each of his victims and discover that they were repeat offenders who obviously had no desire to try and right their wrongs, instead, going back to the only life they knew. If they had been properly evaluated instead of being dumped back into society, what’s to say that they might have changed? With the proper counseling and therapy, they may have completely turned their lives around. Of course, that’s another movie altogether. In “John Doe: Vigilante,” the facts are absolute: all the criminals herein are reprehensible and despicable and deserving of John Doe’s punishment, whatever it may be and once you understand these facts, then John Doe becomes the movie’s savior and there’s nothing you can do about it. Highly recommended for the indisputable debates it will undoubtedly inspire.
Available on DVD April 14th
