DIRECTOR John Singleton takes a formulaic tale of four foster brothers avenging their mother’s death and puts a lot of bullets and car crashes into it, making it one of the most exciting if silly films out this year.
Few directors can fashion the kind of action thrills Singleton can provide – almost guilty pleasures of cars sliding on their roofs in the snow, houses shot at by so much firepower that their walls come tumbling down.
What, with this kind of macho action it is no surprise that Mark Wahlberg headlines a tasty cast which includes Andre Benjamin, Garrett Hedlund and Tyrese Gibson, all of whom play a mixed-race foster family of brothers who return to their mum’s home to find her killers.
With more than a nod to the classic ‘Sons of Katie Elder’ starring John Wayne these disparate sons don’t ignore their differences in colour – in fact, there are running black and white jokes throughout – rather they accept them, take the micky out of them and then get on with the revenge.
And that revenge takes on the mantle of impossible homicides, mad car chases and hardly seeing the inside of a police department in the meanwhile.
But veracity doesn’t matter here. What Singleton wants to provide is a rollicking, masculine, action-comedy of race and class that features a good fight for a good mother – only that will allow for this protracted game of cat and mouse between criminals and cops.
This is a tale where the guns are big, cars are fast and everything works out (sort of) in the end but not quite how you’d figure.
Chiwetel Ejiofor and the wonderful Terence Howard (Hustle And Flow) turn in formidable performances in limited roles. Listen out for the great soundtrack featuring Marvyn Gaye and other soulful luminaries.

A descent into the violence in all of us

A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE - Directed by David Cronenberg
Certificate 18

WHETHER or not you liked previous David Cronenberg films, you must see this one – an innovative, daring, funny look at crime, truth, honesty and changes of heart starring Viggo Mortensen (Lord of the Rings), William Hurt and Ed Harris.
Based on a graphic novel, this may be a simple tale but one which will vex and challenge, delight and inform any audience member who views it.
Again taking up the query of so many of his films – that of ‘how long can you love someone who is changing?’, Mortensen plays Tom Stall, a small town café owner who must defend his business against thugs.
That he does so adeptly casts shadows on who he says he is and before long, a mob boss (Harris) swings into town saying that Tom is not who he says he is, despite protestations from Tom’s loyal family. It becomes obvious that Tom’s loving, trusting family cannot answer the mobster’s question of why quiet, peaceful, law-abiding Tom is so good at killing folks. What transpires afterwards is a steadying migration into violence – building, shifting and promising to lure us into ever darker shadows which shockingly effects his sex life with his wife, his relationship with his son as well as his relationship with himself. Meanwhile, Cronenberg plays with the sneaking suspicions planted in the story which reinforce the idea that locked within us all lurks someone whom we might not want to meet in a dark alley.
With a terrific cast that includes Maria Bello (The Cooler), this is a masterpiece that needs to be seen – nothing less than stunning, intelligent ode to violence, both justified, humorous and otherwise.

Also showing

Another Public Enemy
Director Woo-Suk Kang’s follow-up to his cult hit Public Enemy stars, again, Kyung-gu Sol, a dedicated prosecutor who goes above and beyond the call of duty.
Seemingly shot from the same script as the original, this crime thriller is more of a reworking than a proper sequel – with more than a generous dose of nationalism thrown in for good measure.

Innocence
Director Lucile Hadzhahlilovic’s fantasy drama, adapted from Frank Wedekind’s novel, is set in a secluded French boarding school for girls where rather odd things happen and a sense of foreboding is all part of its charm. This cunning, creepy art house tale spins out the metaphor of childhood and where it leads us – especially the youngest of females.

Goal!
An enjoyable underdog-does-good tale of a Latino in LA (Kuno Becker, pictured) who ends up playing Premiership football in the UK.
Ridiculously predictable but full of good cheer, it also features a spanking good performance from Alessandro Nivola, nifty use of real footie footage and expected cameos from David Beckham, et al.

Deuce Bigelow: European Gigolo
Schneider returns as unwilling, cut-price gigolo Deuce, now in Amsterdam on the trail of a gigolo serial killer in this extremely poor, sleazy, low budget comedy which features none of the charms of the original. This is, rather worryingly, the first of Adam Sandler-produced films featuring his official Happy Madison logo.

Blinded
Peter Mullan stars in this Scottish thriller from debut director Eleanor Yule. Playing a curmudgeonly blind farmer whose young wife takes up with a burly Danish farmhand, Mullen’s solid acting skills shore up this tidy little tale with typical aplomb.

Pick of the indies

Vital
A search for the connection of the soul and the body is perhaps the most succinct description for this extremely moving if at first unsettling metaphysical drama from Shinya Tsukamoto, the director of Tetsuo: The Iron Man and The Snake Of June.
This beautiful, haunting film sounds very grisly on paper but, like much of the director’s previous films, concentrates on the human body, its powers and failings, where it leaves off and where the soul begins.
Having amnesia after a car accident, Hiroshi (Tadanobu Asano) finds himself again draw to medicine and it is his interest in the subject that spawns a new fascination with dissection.
Hiroshi finds himself fascinated with cutting up cadavers, especially that of one distinctive female.
As the story unfolds, we see that, in essence, dissection is slowly lifting the veil on his amnesia to point where he realises that the accident which took his memory also took the life of his girlfriend Ryoko. There is more to come, however.
By the end, you’ll have experienced a metaphysical study of the difference between flesh and spirit and feel all the better for it; that said, some may feel at bit unhinged at worst and in need of a pint.
• Cineworld Shaftsbury Avenue and Wandsworth.