Guns Akimbo, is the story of Miles (Daniel Radcliffe), a nerdy video game developer whose life changes drastically and against his will, when he becomes the next contestant in an underground live-streamed real-life death match.
Watching Radcliffe play a character extremely far removed from the one he’s most known for is a key reason I wanted to see Guns Akimbo. The fact that the trailer gave me slight ‘The Hunger Games for the social media age’ vibes is another reason.
Post viewing, I can now say that I found Guns Akimbo to be an OK movie overall. For me, personally, it’s not until the forty-five-minute mark that things became most engaging, because it’s when the memorable, well-executed scenes took place, with good humour, action and music. An example being the fight scene featuring a funny and well-timed ’Stop. Hammer time’ reference.
There’s also one or two moments that feature stylish camera work and or great special effects, plus an unexpected turn in the story. It’s arguably no wonder then that Quentin Tarantino came to mind a few times. Tarantino is an absolute master of style, story, music and overall execution. What writer/director Jason Lei Howden does with these elements in Guns Akimbo made me see him as one of Tarantino’s promising students. One who still has room to grow, of course. Especially considering this is only his second feature-length film.
Earlier in the movie, there’s a scene where I thought that Miles could have ended his troubles by simply taking the time to explain his predicament to an injured officer, but he didn’t. Later on, we see why that would have likely not worked. Still, I wish the writing had been so tight that I wouldn’t have had to question any of the characters’ choices.
I’m happy to say that on the strength of the parts of Howden’s film that I really did enjoy, I’m now intrigued to see what he does next.
If you haven’t seen it yet, perhaps give Guns Akimbo a chance if you’re especially curious.
Happy Film Loving,
G
