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An action movie starring Mel Gibson, in which he plays a grizzled ex-con who must protect his estranged daughter from Mexican cartel members, sounds like a lot of fun. We can expect certain things from such a movie: gritty violence, evil men with tattoos having a shoot-out in the sun-dried desert, and general badassery from a father with more experience in such situations than the vast majority of us can claim to have. And we get these things in spades.
However, we get little else. There is little in this film we haven’t seen at least once in the past five years – it is only a few short steps from a “paint by numbers” film. Other films in the genre have succeeded due to the addition of some exemplary element. For example, Taken requires the gravitas of someone like Liam Neeson to pull off appropriately, while in John Wick, we get a combination of impressive photography, world-building akin to a fantasy or sci-fi film, and Keanu Reeves giving the most stoic performance since, well, Keanu Reeves in Speed.
French filmmaker Jean-Francois Richet sticks to what he knows will work. And for the most part, it does. Gibson’s turn as biker-turned-tattoo-artist John Link is definitely the film’s highlight. Looking as rugged and wind-swept as his surroundings, Gibson’s portrayal of a man fully aware that it’s too late to right the wrongs of his past carries this movie in the beginning. His relationship with William H. Macy’s character Kerbie, Link’s AA sponsor, is almost heartwarming. The chemistry exuding from their friendly banter in the beginning sells the idea that these two actually are friends. Gibson’s interactions with and reactions to his daughter Lydia when he first meets her are note-perfect: loving, but not sure how to express it after such a long time. And of course, when the desert sand hits the fan, Gibson can chew through extras with consummate ease. Sometimes, you just want to see the good guy kill some baddies.
Much of his character’s screen time occurs opposite his daughter, played by Erin Moriarty, who offers a well-rounded performance. Her depiction of mental anguish in the face of a possibly brutal end is believable. This is the face of someone who may die too young, and knows it. Sadly, these scenes are few in number. This is an issue with the writing and directing rather than with Moriarty’s performance, but nevertheless it can be difficult at times to take the character of Lydia seriously. A scene clearly shoehorned into the narrative in which she recognises the tattoos of one of her father’s clients, and also demonstrates a keen knowledge of modern medicine, is a bit hard to swallow coming from a 17-year old who left home three years prior, and feels distinctly forced.
The rest of the characters in this film have nowhere near enough screen time to make a serious impact. William H. Macy plays a standard William H. Macy role: a caring father figure trying to do the responsible thing. You’re almost waiting for the Minnesota accent to kick in. Diego Luna’s slimy drug-lord Jonah is under-used, and has a background which would have been ripe for exploring. We need more intra-cartel material on the big screen.
Much of this is swept under the rug by the action. And the action hits like a ton of bricks. Each gunshot leaves a slight ringing in the ears, each drop of blood drawn can be felt by the audience. The period of calm between each violent scene simply serves to make the action louder. This movie sells itself as an action flick more than anything else, and in this sense it delivers. From a siege-like scene in the first act, to an ultra-tense stand-off at the end, we get enough hot lead and visible gunshot wounds to make the quiet moments very worthwhile. Bar several odd editing choices (including one cut during a conversation that is as bewildering as it is brief), we are never left to stew for too long before the bullets start flying again.
An action movie that won’t set the world aflame, but a competent one nonetheless, Blood Father will entertain well enough for its 88 minutes running time. And at the very least, it’s great seeing Mel Gibson dominate the screen again.
