In cinema's and available on demand May 1st!
'Born of War' is about Mina, a relatively ordinary girl trying to find her place in college (and ultimately the world) who is suddenly thrust into a desperate fight for her life when her parents are killed by the fanatical cohorts of her true father, a terrorist leader intent on taking down an oil company in his native land, who has only just learnt of Mina’s existence after her mother fled his country over two decades ago. Having escaped capture Mina is taken in by British Intelligence and a plan is formed to lure her father out of hiding using Mina as bait.
Without going into any spoilers the plot gets deeper and more complex than that and if you’re familiar with the genre it’s possible you can already see the various twists coming, but I was genuinely surprised and I like that. 'Born of War' is the second film from rising star (I hate that phrase) Vicky Jewson. Now I am fully familiar with Vicky’s story, I remember all the reports when she started her first film at just eighteen. Being as I am the same age, just a few months separate us, she seemed to be living the dream and was and inspiration to my younger self. Admittedly when it comes to Vicky’s first film, 'Lady Godiva', her age is largely considered the only noteworthy thing about the film, but I’m hesitant to dismiss someone just because they didn’t get it right the first time, it was more than I had managed after all.
This second attempt whilst far from flawless is certainly an improvement and it would appear the action thriller genre is a far more comfortable place for Jewson. Let’s get the politics out of the way, yes this is an action film with a female lead, the tightness of whose catsuit is not the primary selling point, by a female director and no those two things don’t happen nearly enough, in fact I can’t immediately think of another time that combination has actually ever happened. I’m not here to debate sexism, good is good and bad is bad, and whilst there’s certainly something positive to be taken away from this I’m here to talk about the film on it’s own merits.
Without going into any spoilers the plot gets deeper and more complex than that and if you’re familiar with the genre it’s possible you can already see the various twists coming, but I was genuinely surprised and I like that. 'Born of War' is the second film from rising star (I hate that phrase) Vicky Jewson. Now I am fully familiar with Vicky’s story, I remember all the reports when she started her first film at just eighteen. Being as I am the same age, just a few months separate us, she seemed to be living the dream and was and inspiration to my younger self. Admittedly when it comes to Vicky’s first film, 'Lady Godiva', her age is largely considered the only noteworthy thing about the film, but I’m hesitant to dismiss someone just because they didn’t get it right the first time, it was more than I had managed after all.
This second attempt whilst far from flawless is certainly an improvement and it would appear the action thriller genre is a far more comfortable place for Jewson. Let’s get the politics out of the way, yes this is an action film with a female lead, the tightness of whose catsuit is not the primary selling point, by a female director and no those two things don’t happen nearly enough, in fact I can’t immediately think of another time that combination has actually ever happened. I’m not here to debate sexism, good is good and bad is bad, and whilst there’s certainly something positive to be taken away from this I’m here to talk about the film on it’s own merits.
Now despite the criticism I am about to level at the film, and I am, it did manage to keep me engaged all the way to the end and I’m a firm believer in “the story is king”. Here we have a smart, albeit slightly disjointed, story with just enough twists and turns to make you think without confusing you. In tone and style I’d liken this to the thriller series '24' or perhaps the upcoming 'Spooks' movie, and I’ll be interested to see if that can hold my attention in the same way seeing as the trailer already struggles to keep me awake.
I will say that the opening set piece, whilst well staged, is largely unnecessary and gives the audience a lot of information which is later played off as part of the mystery, meaning we waste a fair amount of time revealing stuff that wasn’t particularly hidden in the first place, possibly at the expense of other more important characterisation that is most definitely missing.
If it sounds like I’m conflicted on 'Born of War' it’s because I am. For every nice thing I can think to say about the film a negative point pops up to cancel it out. Beautiful staging - uninspiring cinematography; strong female lead - lack of characterisation across the rest of the cast; neat, clever, twisting plot - uninteresting dialogue and a villain who, to be blunt, is just boring. The action set pieces are all well thought out but seem to have been victims of a lack of rehearsal time, and the film as a whole just lacks that final coat of paint.
The biggest problem with 'Born of War' is perhaps that it looks cheap, which feels like a low blow to a low budget independent movie. The cinematography is frequently hindered by the limits of the locations, as I said already the action could have been a lot smoother in places and the sound mix could definitely do with another pass. The one area that wasn’t neglected is the design, the middle east locations are used to great effect, the set pieces are well thought out and there’s even a Bond-style end boss fight on a swanky private jet. If only the practicalities of all this superficial loveliness had been given the same attention we might be looking at something really incredible, as it is we’re just looking at a film that tries hard but doesn’t quite make it all the way to the finish line.
I will say that the opening set piece, whilst well staged, is largely unnecessary and gives the audience a lot of information which is later played off as part of the mystery, meaning we waste a fair amount of time revealing stuff that wasn’t particularly hidden in the first place, possibly at the expense of other more important characterisation that is most definitely missing.
If it sounds like I’m conflicted on 'Born of War' it’s because I am. For every nice thing I can think to say about the film a negative point pops up to cancel it out. Beautiful staging - uninspiring cinematography; strong female lead - lack of characterisation across the rest of the cast; neat, clever, twisting plot - uninteresting dialogue and a villain who, to be blunt, is just boring. The action set pieces are all well thought out but seem to have been victims of a lack of rehearsal time, and the film as a whole just lacks that final coat of paint.
The biggest problem with 'Born of War' is perhaps that it looks cheap, which feels like a low blow to a low budget independent movie. The cinematography is frequently hindered by the limits of the locations, as I said already the action could have been a lot smoother in places and the sound mix could definitely do with another pass. The one area that wasn’t neglected is the design, the middle east locations are used to great effect, the set pieces are well thought out and there’s even a Bond-style end boss fight on a swanky private jet. If only the practicalities of all this superficial loveliness had been given the same attention we might be looking at something really incredible, as it is we’re just looking at a film that tries hard but doesn’t quite make it all the way to the finish line.
At my screening Vicky came onto stage before the start of the film to give a relatively typical thanks for coming, hope you enjoy the movie as much as we did, type speech coupled with a miniaturised breakdown of how production went and what they were trying to achieve. At first it felt like she was overselling the movie but at some point she flipped to almost apologising for it, explaining how financially challenged they were (although it’s rare to see an indie filmmaker that’s ever said they had enough money) and the corners they cut and risks they took to get the film to us.
This slowly began to activate the cynic in me and much like the Hulk he often threatens to break free and wreak havoc on the surrounding population, don’t poke the bear as they say. Biting off more than you can chew is a mistake not an excuse, and having now seen the film I can say that more has been accomplished with less. That being said I’ve certainly seen less accomplished with more and the accomplishments of 'Born of War' are not to be sniffed at, flawed though it may be.
I’m hesitant to call this film good. Ultimately I think it falls short of that for me but it certainly isn’t boring and for what it is it’s quite impressive; well deserving of finding an audience, which I don’t doubt it will. The production as a whole felt like a team trying their hardest but through lack of time, experience … and yes … money, couldn’t quite achieve what they were after. But I’ll take sincere effort over genuine incompetence any day, a few more Vicky Jewson’s making action films and a few less Michael Bays and we might be getting somewhere.
This slowly began to activate the cynic in me and much like the Hulk he often threatens to break free and wreak havoc on the surrounding population, don’t poke the bear as they say. Biting off more than you can chew is a mistake not an excuse, and having now seen the film I can say that more has been accomplished with less. That being said I’ve certainly seen less accomplished with more and the accomplishments of 'Born of War' are not to be sniffed at, flawed though it may be.
I’m hesitant to call this film good. Ultimately I think it falls short of that for me but it certainly isn’t boring and for what it is it’s quite impressive; well deserving of finding an audience, which I don’t doubt it will. The production as a whole felt like a team trying their hardest but through lack of time, experience … and yes … money, couldn’t quite achieve what they were after. But I’ll take sincere effort over genuine incompetence any day, a few more Vicky Jewson’s making action films and a few less Michael Bays and we might be getting somewhere.
Review by Kristian Mitchell-Dolby.
See this review on The Fan Carpet.
See this review on The Fan Carpet.
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