Guns Akimbo is an upcoming action comedy film from the Saban Films and director/writer Jason Lei Howden (Deathgasm). The movie stars Daniel Radcliffe, Samara Weaving, Ned Dennehy, Rhys Darby and Milo Cawthorne. Here’s my review:
Miles is a video game developer who inadvertently becomes the next participant in a real-life death match that streams online. While Miles soon excels at running away from everything, that won’t help him outlast Nix, a killer at the top of her game.
Forget the controversy surrounding the release of Guns Akimbo, there is no actual controversy – Jason Lei Howden has made a film about internet trolls reaping what they sow in what is hands down the most exciting and fun action film of 2020 so far. Watching Daniel Radcliffe try to piss when he has guns bolted to his hands is equal parts the most terrifying and hilarious sequence of the year. You can call Guns Akimbo ‘Edward Gunhands’ but Howden’s film is already in on the joke and I’m pretty sure someone calls the lead just that at one point in the film. This is a clever, comedic and socially relevant action romp that reminded me of the good ol’ days when we had movies like CRANK 2 in theaters. In fact, I’ll go ahead and just say it – Guns Akimbo is the spiritual successor to those batshit crazy action comedies.
Guns Akimbo is set in the not-so-distant future where an online terror group recruits various criminal assassins to do battle with one another as they broadcast the battles online to a horde of relentless dorks, ranging from bros who never leave the change room to a dude who appears to have married his REAL doll. It’s all disgusting and likely incredibly accurate as to how people interact with one another on social media this very moment. One day, a sad troll (Radcliffe), who feigns justice from his mighty keyboard, condemns the online murder matches only for the group to become fed up with his bullshit, so they track him down and force him to fight their deadliest contestant, played brilliantly by horror’s hottest commodity right now – the mighty badass Samara Weaving (Mayhem & Ready or Not).
This is only Howden’s second directorial effort but it’s such a different film than his gore-tastic debut Deathgasm and it really shows that the filmmaker has a knack for sharp comedic timing and brilliantly staged action. The introduction of Nix (Weaving) where she mows down a warehouse of goons is likely the best action scene I’ve seen since Hit Girl made her debut in Kick-Ass. The soundtrack is on point too and really helps sell the fun in spite of the overwhelming carnage. Radcliffe is VERY funny here and although he is most certainly playing a loser, you feel for the guy because he has to resort to letting a homeless crack addict dress him at one point because THE DUDE HAS GUNS BOLTED INTO HIS FREAKING HANDS.
This entire movie could have solely relied on the GUNS MELDED TO THE DUDE’S HANDS gimmick but there’s so much mayhem going on, that you tend to forget that the leading man is unable to eat, go to the bathroom, or even put his own pants on. Guns Akimbo is a frenetically paced film that takes aim at the internet and how it’s molded society into a group of bloodthirsty cowards, but it’s also just… a lot of goddamn fun. There’s some serious social commentary simmering below the carnage and I appreciated that aspect because it’s something that has not only bothered me for a long time now, but it’s actually been used to target the actual promotion of Guns Akimbo directly by trolls who are grasping at whatever they can to try and ruin the release of a wonderful movie. Oh the irony…
Guns Akimbo is a riot and a perfect follow-up to Howden’s cult classic heavy metal horror masterpiece Deathgasm. If you’re a fan of Daniel Radcliffe, be prepared to see him in ways you never imagined (check for that pissing with gunhands sequence people….) and Samara Weaving gets to annihilate damn near everybody which is reason enough to see the damn flick.
Rating: 4.5/5