Get the Gringo

Man hat mich mit Mariachi gefoltert. Wenn ich Payback – Zahltag fünf Sterne gegeben habe, kann ich Get the Gringo nicht weniger geben, das geht wirklich nicht. Dieser Film kommt nämlich seinem älteren Bruder in allen Hinsichten gleich (und ja, auch ich behaupte, dass es sich um seine Fortsetzung handelt, obwohl es die Filmemacher nie zugegeben haben). Mel Gibson ist wieder dort, wo ich ihn am liebsten mag. Er ist zu einer der harten, geradlinigen Rollen zurückgekehrt, in denen er sich wohl fühlt. Er hat sich mit Sarkasmus sowie Charme bewaffnet. Die Geschichte ist einfach, aber gut durchdacht, das Handeln der Hauptfigur hinreißend. Get the Gringo hat sehr viele denkwürdige Momente: Die Clowns, das bizarre Gefängnis, die erstklassige Schießerei, "Clint Eastwood“, die Szene mit dem Regenschirm (das ist wahrscheinlich die beste Szene im ganzen Film), das Cornflakes-Ende… Es ist einfach ein supertolles Werk. Mit einer perfekten Musik und einer unglaublich sicheren Debüt-Regie. (22.06.2012)

Good old Porter, albeit unacknowledged and named differently in the film itself, in a Mexican mode (even with a pinch of umbrella Eastwood style on top). A likable, uncompromising and straightforward old-school genre movie that doesn't reveal or innovate anything, but what it comes up with is just damn good and absolutely functional in every way; even as far as the relationship is concerned. (29.05.2012)

Mel Gibson manned up and prepared an unorthodox drama from the prison environment in Mexico for his fans. A lot of things are hard to believe, but on the other hand, the movie is really nice to watch. Mel is properly macho, although he can show his emotions pretty well, too. But his schizophrenic character didn’t stop me from enjoying this well-made American-style action movie like from the good old 1990s. I thought it was a great throwback, and I’d love to see Mel in many more movies like this one. (23.03.2014)

Mixed feelings. An average action flick that looks like made for TV with cool moments, wannabe cool moments, smart moments, dumb moments, thrilling moments and boring moments alternating at irregular intervals. Overall, it’s not bad, the last remaining fans of Mel Gibson (both of them) will be happy, but I’m surely not going back to it. (12.05.2012)

Though Get the Gringo is communicative in a post-modern way, it very much comes across as a standard (chili) western. The nameless gringo finds himself in a strange environment, with offscreen exaggerated commentary reminiscent of Anthony Bourdain talking about his foreign adventures in No Reservations, and inserts himself into a conflict between two opposing factions for his own benefit. Instead of Gibson, Eastwood in the lead role would surely have known what to do thanks to his “Italian jobs”. Unfortunately, the impactfulness of the clearly readable western formula is undermined by (co-screenwriter) Gibson’s self-serving attempt to return to the big leagues, which fully corresponds to the “cynical asshole” category (in which he has placed himself many times in the real world). Though the family storyline exhibits an unusually large percentage of scenes in which violence is inflicted on a woman and child (just as socially inappropriate smoking is often shown in the film), the adoption of the role of surrogate father doesn’t fit very well with the tough-guy essence of the film. The unreadable protagonist, who came from nowhere and should go back there, begins to get emotionally involved from the beginning and suddenly the same is expected of us. But why root for a guy whom we actually know nothing about? Also, in light of the number of people whom he kills in cold blood, I would rather stick with my initial impression that he’s just as much a bastard as the others, but slightly more cunning. In non-Hollywood westerns based on the Italian model, that worked superbly, so why drag emotions into it now? 60% (10.05.2012)