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Greater Threat review
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Greater Threat is by all means an action movie. There is no ifs, ands, or buts about this! I got excited when I got the copy and luckily was very well pleased. With almost all action films, it would seem, indie action films there are a boat loads of plusses when done right, and a couple negatives that creep in, mostly because of the genre's inherent nature. Going to blockbuster to rent Van Damme or Segal movies can show you a slightly higher level of what I mean. There is a completely different feel to action movies as a complete genre of filmmaking than horror or comedy. Some of you are out there going, "Well, a-duh!". Yeah, yeah...but it's got to be said. Greater Threat looks like it had a pretty decent budget, but I don't really know, so I base everything off of what I know of filmmaking in Cleveland, Ohio.
Speaking of Cleveland, go to www.greaterthreat.com and see a wonderful skyline of Cleveland. The movie has lots of wonderful references to streetnames that locals love to hear in familiarity within movies. Fanboys, the movie, had a reference to Euclid Avenue that was great, on a used car sales commercial within the flick. That's the kind of thing that warms a local's heart, if I had one. Just kidding, I think I have one.
With all that in mind, I'd like to say that Greater Threat, overall is probably one of the best constructed and shot independent feature films I've come across at our Cleveland level, so far. That's not a slant at any other film I've seen, especially since recent ones were great for their genre, but considering this is an action flick, that sometimes automatically makes certain things easier in filmmaking to get it right and deliver without much thought for the audience. Action flicks are there to entertain without too much thinking, right? The writing was good with a few spins to keep the interest going, while also it had some ultra cliche moments, but sometimes you just got to have them and subconciously helps the audience to relate and keep the mind running along with you.
This movie is about young girls getting kidnapped and put into a sex smuggling type crime ring. The main hero's daughter ends up in this situation, which may make people think of that recent movie with Liam Neeson, but this movie was made way before that one ever was....so no comparison, okay?
Arya Kumar does a solid score, once again, and proves he can do action flicks with lots of instrumental themes. This guy's becoming quite popular, especially for Cleveland cinema.
The overall acting as a whole fit well, except sometimes added too much drama, but almost all action films do this, so it falls back on that. The main cast, Ray Goodwin, director/actor Ray O'neill, Cheryl Goodlin, LeeAnn Johnson, Chuck French, Ray Dippolito, Caitlyn Noah, Michael Reddy, Mikel Mahoney, and much more cast to list all fit the characters quite accurately, so props to casting.
My personal favorites start with Ray Goodwin, or should I say E-Ray Goodwin Jr.? I've seen him in The Rapture and thought he had a very cinematic presence and someone you DON'T want to mess with in a fight. This time, it's confirmed as he's one of the main leads, and while I thought his character was restricted at times due to the story making him a victim bound by rules at first, it's brought back to life by movie's end. I think that with some more screentime that Ray Goodwin could easily up there to Brandon Lee and Don The Dragon Wilson, acting wise. Obviously these were martial arts actors, but that's what I've seen of Ray, to date. I think one day that Ray Goodwin could make a living doing these kinds of movies.
At first, I didn't know whether to like or dislike Ray O'neill's character because of the shifting of it throughout the story and how he related to all factions within Greater Threat's universe. However, by the end, you think highly of the character and boy can he take a hit. This is a sign of good acting when you make a fight believable. That's what's funny....While Goodwin's fights were really skilled and good, except some of the choreography shows through longer brawls, O'neill somehow took more solid beatings, which makes the suspension of disbelief stronger. His hits looked good too, although Goodwin's are tight.
Caitlyn Noah as the daughter was almost going to be an "okay, she plays the loving daughter" role to me, until she got kidnapped and killed a badguy aiming to deflower her while tied up. What she does to the bad guy, Mike Reddy, should make guys think twice about committing any type of rape. So, I give her props on that and for bringing the character out more. LeeAnn Johnson plays a decent FBI agent, except she seems nicer than an agent of her calibre might be. I'd have to check, but I think her hair was down while she was aiming to sniper a badguy, which I believe is a no-no, but hey she looks good with it down, right? Gotta love action films! Cheryl Goodlin does a decent job as a news reporter, and can take a solid hit to the ground. I did have a problem with the fact that the character takes and risks everybody like she does, but the story demanded it so that there could be more action.
Mikel Mahoney plays this rich villainous dude that fit perfectly and delivered the title of the movie in dialogue by the end. He's the whole reason the hero gets involved in the first place. If Ray Goodwin's character would have just taken a nice retirement bribe, all would have been hunky dory....but NO! An alternate DVD/Blu-Ray version should have a choice selection so that he could have taken the bribe and see how everything unfolds, like Harold & Kumar II does. That would be fantastic and allow the audience to pretend to retire by a simple signature. Anyways, Mikel couldn't have played his character any better...it was simple and sweet, and plain believable.
Chuck French plays his role as accurate as can be as a "second in command" bad guy, but I think his dark side could have been explored more, not that the over two hours of movie would allow for it. His acting skills would have lent a broader spectrum, but the story only shows visions of his most evil side. His death was fantastic, though. Perhaps I have a heart for this level of character in all action movies, but not as much in other genres, especially comedies.
Ray Dippolito does a very decent "judge" character villain. He's the boss of this underground sex ring that smuggles girls. While at times he could have been meaner, the lines that were delivered were convincing enough that I wouldn't want to set him off, lest I face consequences. His lashing scene with a chick is priceless.
Michael Reddy always tickles my funny bone in independent films. There's just something about this guy that screams "put me on the screen and I'll entertain". He's a badguy in this movie and I must say a dirty one at that, with an accent to boot. He tries to rape the daughter and gets killed....priceless. I could have enjoyed more screentime with him. There are two other girls that have a lot of screentime as victimized prostitute models and they do a fine job, just to mention. There are also lots of other actors/ actresses that impress, but I have to wrap this up.
Cinematography and editing was done by William Johns and considering the workload and new high definition workflow he had to work with, I am totally impressed. Shot for shot, the camera style is very retro 80's action, which is what we all should want and expect with this type of story at an independent budget. Newer studio action films mimic each other too much and don't have that classic action feel, but this one actually does. Considering it's shot in high definition, you'd want to debate if it has a film feel, and I'd have to say it most certainly does. Lighting was very well done, sets were perfectly picked...even though I know some of the secrets, and visual effects were very good! William Johns, yay all the way! Yeah, there are going to be some debateable choices for scenes in any action film and no two people would go about a cut the same way in this genre, but as a whole....excellent work, especially in the independent arena! The only area to improve would be to trim some of the fat and similar, but it's really not necessary, considering the film fits the genre plenty enough. The beginning was almost about to be slightly draggy, mostly because you are learning at a take what they give you learning pace within story, but man does it pick up and stay pretty focused. I loved the explosion scene 3/4ths in! Also, the interogation of a dying man bleeding was pretty sweet, as was the death of Mr. French's character. So, there!
O'neill writes, stars, and directs this film. Obviously he's a fan of action flicks. The writing flows from plot point to plot point very structured and delivering what he wants to see. I'm not him, but I am a filmmaker calculating what I see as I'd imagine it was intended. My wife hates when I watch behind the scenes after watching a movie, but that's how I am. Figuring out what makes the story tick for everyone is like a parallel form of entertainment. It also helps one grow in the arts. The fact that O'neill acts in addition to everything else may spark wonder, but that's ok. Wearing many hats isn't easy and this moviemaking takes forever and a day, so he gets props! If he didn't have the ambition to put this together with everyone's help, it wouldn't exist for yours and mine entertainment!
Okay, you know my take and if I were a diehard action fan I may have different viewpoints, but I always take the type of project at hand into consideration and think that this one was probably very hard within the shooting schedule area and ADR that was done. Dealing with HD formats was probably tough too. I'm gonna have to say that these filmmakers pulled off what they went for quite effectively, and if they didn't, oh well...could have fooled me. I'm impressed and usually don't watch action films like this unless I'm out of horror or sci-fi to watch. It reminds me of the days of Delta Force and Death Wish, although those were pretty violent and had budgets to really work with. In any case...I give Greater Threat a big smile. Best, Kenny
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