Wow. Maybe Verhoeven was warming up for "Robocop".
This movie makes me think of "Requiem for A Dream" and "Crash". Even forewarned, you find it difficult to to handle ALL the characters being not-very-nice people. At least in "Requiem" and "Crash" we got some idea of character development, even if some of the characters were totally reprehensible. Most viewers could at least root for the "least awful" character.
I'm not sure that there IS a "least-awful" character in "Flesh + Blood". Everybody is pretty awful, so you're reduced to making decisions like, "Do I prefer serial rapists to military commanders who betray their own troops for money? Is it worse to deliberately blow up your friend to test a gunpowder bomb, or to deliberately poison small children?"
***MAJOR SPOILERS****
At the end, I was vaguely hoping that a thermonuclear device would be transported back in time, like in "Sliders", so we could just off everyone and have a clean slate. No such luck. The 4th worst person rides away with the the 7th worst person, while the 3rd worst person trails behind. Meantime, in the background, the 2nd worst person escapes what appeared to be certain death...and gets rich in the bargain. The 5th worst person rides off back home to take up farming.
There ARE some things that make the movie interesting, though not necessarily good:
1. You learn that lightning can melt an iron chain without hurting the person imprisoned by it.
2. You see how two dozen ragtag mercenaries, both male and female, can attack and take a walled city with a collection of silly swords, knives, and wooden shafts. (I'm not really sure about the need for these mercenaries, since they are immediately chased out of the city by their employer using a significant number of armed and mounted troops wearing decent armor. Perhaps he was keeping these troops in reserve exactly so they WOULD be able to chase out the mercenaries.)
3. You get to see how the hook and ladder truck, complete with telescoping ladder, was invented in 1501, though it was made of wood and so it was not the best choice for fighting fires.
4. I was not aware that you could cure bubonic plague by lancing the buboes and draining them, but I didn't attend medical school, so I am not sure about this.
5. Jennifer Jason Leigh obviously showed up late for filming and the wardrobe department was closed. She only manages enough clothes for about 2/3 of the scenes. It seems to me that most stars in this sort of movie are reluctant to frolic in the buff too much, leaving that to the secondary players and erotic dancers. Not Ms. Leigh. She takes the burden on her shoulder's and makes sure everybody gets a really, really good look...coming, going, fighting, bathing, sleeping, and so forth.
Anyway, there's no question in my mind that a high-schooler writing this script would be expelled in about 30 seconds and not let back into school until he/she had some super-strength counseling. Now that I think about it, the mercenaries WERE pretty much just high-school boys who had been drinking a bit much.
If it sound like I didn't like this movie, it is not true. I found it very interesting and entertaining. I'm just not sure what I'm supposed to think at the end.
*** out of *****
This movie makes me think of "Requiem for A Dream" and "Crash". Even forewarned, you find it difficult to to handle ALL the characters being not-very-nice people. At least in "Requiem" and "Crash" we got some idea of character development, even if some of the characters were totally reprehensible. Most viewers could at least root for the "least awful" character.
I'm not sure that there IS a "least-awful" character in "Flesh + Blood". Everybody is pretty awful, so you're reduced to making decisions like, "Do I prefer serial rapists to military commanders who betray their own troops for money? Is it worse to deliberately blow up your friend to test a gunpowder bomb, or to deliberately poison small children?"
***MAJOR SPOILERS****
At the end, I was vaguely hoping that a thermonuclear device would be transported back in time, like in "Sliders", so we could just off everyone and have a clean slate. No such luck. The 4th worst person rides away with the the 7th worst person, while the 3rd worst person trails behind. Meantime, in the background, the 2nd worst person escapes what appeared to be certain death...and gets rich in the bargain. The 5th worst person rides off back home to take up farming.
There ARE some things that make the movie interesting, though not necessarily good:
1. You learn that lightning can melt an iron chain without hurting the person imprisoned by it.
2. You see how two dozen ragtag mercenaries, both male and female, can attack and take a walled city with a collection of silly swords, knives, and wooden shafts. (I'm not really sure about the need for these mercenaries, since they are immediately chased out of the city by their employer using a significant number of armed and mounted troops wearing decent armor. Perhaps he was keeping these troops in reserve exactly so they WOULD be able to chase out the mercenaries.)
3. You get to see how the hook and ladder truck, complete with telescoping ladder, was invented in 1501, though it was made of wood and so it was not the best choice for fighting fires.
4. I was not aware that you could cure bubonic plague by lancing the buboes and draining them, but I didn't attend medical school, so I am not sure about this.
5. Jennifer Jason Leigh obviously showed up late for filming and the wardrobe department was closed. She only manages enough clothes for about 2/3 of the scenes. It seems to me that most stars in this sort of movie are reluctant to frolic in the buff too much, leaving that to the secondary players and erotic dancers. Not Ms. Leigh. She takes the burden on her shoulder's and makes sure everybody gets a really, really good look...coming, going, fighting, bathing, sleeping, and so forth.
Anyway, there's no question in my mind that a high-schooler writing this script would be expelled in about 30 seconds and not let back into school until he/she had some super-strength counseling. Now that I think about it, the mercenaries WERE pretty much just high-school boys who had been drinking a bit much.
If it sound like I didn't like this movie, it is not true. I found it very interesting and entertaining. I'm just not sure what I'm supposed to think at the end.
*** out of *****