Machine Gun

I have one big problem with Machine Gun Preacher, or maybe two. The first is that Childer’s transformations are terribly sudden and the movie concentrates much more on the less interesting parts, like when the asshole becomes a nice guy, while it concentrates only very briefly on the part when the nice guy becomes a murderous maniac, which is much better and more interesting. And Butler’s acting is excellent and it would have been far more bombastic if they had concentrated on a shorter section of time in more detail, rather than trying to map his entire “working" life. The second problem is that I don’t much like what happens in this picture. Building an orphanage in the middle of a war zone is a very bad idea. Did Sam ever think about what those people were going to do when they grow up? (19/05/2012)

L'auteur du chef-d’œuvre À l'ombre de la haine s’est mis à croire en Dieu et a perdu la tête. Mais il a gardé son cœur – son film n’étant pas sans rappeler World Trade Center d’Oliver Stone – et a produit ainsi un récit basique et pathétique sur la souffrance de personnes innocentes et la nécessité de s’entraider. Il s’agit donc d’un film plat et niais destiné à l’Américain moyen qui trouve refuge dans la Bible. On y prêche plus que dans un documentaire sur le Pape, ce qui ne manquera pas de gâcher l’expérience du film aux spectateurs athées en leur donnant une indigestion. Et quand le prédicateur Butler s’arrête de prêcher Dieu pour s’emparer de sa Kalashnikov, il est vrai que le degré de divertissement augmente, mais le film n’en devient que moins convaincant d’un point de vue dramatique. Je mets une troisième étoile pour la richesse et l’exotisme de la piste musicale, que j’avais pré-écoutée et qui a rendu le visionnage plus agréable, ainsi que pour l’élan de bonté envers les enfants africains. Si j’étais plus cynique, ça ne me serait même pas venu à l’esprit. (04/01/2012)

About Kony I knew for a long time when last year a big campaign against him started in order to inform people around the world about what is happening in Africa. Subsequently, a film was made, which Czech distributors named a bit stupidly - The Preacher of Kalashnikov. For me incomprehensible, when it's about a man who actually strongly fights against violence...even though again with violence. Anyway, I was incredibly looking forward to the movie for several months and I can honestly say that I was terribly disappointed during the movie. Gerard Butler wouldn't be such a bad choice, the worse part was the storytelling itself. Because his character, Sam Childers, was supposed to somehow evolve from bad to good in the movie. In the movie, it looks like this. Evil Sam leaves prison and is evil. Then he does some evil things and is incredibly evil. He parties, kills, and is still evil. His family starts to believe in God and he laughs at them. Then he makes a huge mess and understands within half a minute that what he was doing is wrong and suddenly he's already sitting in church. This is where I think the creators fucked up incredibly. I wanted to see some character development and not that suddenly he jumps from character A to character B out of nowhere and no one actually shows me that change. And this wasn't the first time. The film prepared such shocks several times and overall the emphasis on emotions wasn't close to it, quite the contrary. It's a shame in such a film, because what else is a film about if not about emotions. However, I can't say that the film was a complete failure. There were scenes in it that were worth attention and flawless. But that doesn't change the fact that the film as a whole disappointed me right from the beginning. Because then it dragged on until the end, until the credits appeared and there was the real Sam Childers. At that moment, I realized that the real Sam is much more likable to me than the whole movie about him. Not to mention the religious propaganda that comes with this movie. But so be it. I won't deny it to him. Americans have it a bit different with the church in their country. Hallelujah. (23/04/2012)

I did not believe it. The problem to me is the main actor, or rather the character he plays. It's not that Gerard Butler’s performance is poor, not at all, quite the opposite, but apparently the script does not allow the viewer to feel his transformation impulsively and realistically enough. So I was not convinced by bad Butler becoming good Butler. And since that is supposed to be a key element of the film, it completely failed. At least they maintained a consistent pattern (rough bad Butler, rough good Butler), and fortunately, they didn't turn him into a monk. However, it is still a very inconsistent thing, the same goes for the technical aspect. At times it looks like we won't even see any blood, you get the impression that it is aiming for PG-13 and then some unprecedented brutality follows. I expected the director of Quantum of Solace to have a much stronger action directorial style. I really don't know what to think about all of this. In any case, I believe that this film did not impress any of the many ethnic groups or film fans, despite (or precisely because) everyone could take something of their own from it. (25/03/2012)

I didn't even believe Gerard Butler that he was shooting this time, let alone being somehow mesmerized by his "transformation" from a dope-smoking biker released from prison into a man who found God, and then into a Rambo-esque fighter who doesn't hesitate to fill the kidnappers of African children with lead. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against movies showing any religion from a more appealing side. But what was this supposed to be? An unintentionally ridiculous spectacle, which I didn't believe all the more because it was based on reality. (04/11/2013)

Excellent Czech title, but let it be. "The Preacher Kalashnikov" is exactly the kind of film that will make you think about whether you should consider adopting a little black boy from Africa from a distance. But then you will say to yourself whether it is actually worth it when there is a fairly high probability that he will be shot as a child. The strength of the film lies in its foundation, which is the real life of one person and his convictions. Gerard Butler - the main reason why I sought out the film - proves that he can act. You believe his tough pose, love for neighbor, and the anger he carries within himself. As a macho killer, he is probably the least believable, but it comes with the territory. The film is not as powerful as, for example, some documentary from Africa, but it definitely has nothing to be ashamed of. It will attack your emotions, it will shock you. It happens in Africa and we do nothing about it. When attention is drawn to it, maybe at least one person will rise up and want to help. That is enough. The film does not unnecessarily exploit, it makes sense. More: http://www.filmovy-denik.cz/2012/04/diar-milovnika-filmu-c-0004-hugo-buh.html (15/02/2013)