Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
"There are many shades of grey ", 18 Nov 2008
In my part of the world (Yorkshire) waz is a verb. If you waz something you throw it away ( hopefully disposing of it in an environmentally vigilant manner) but apparently Waz is really an equation regarding genetics. And it's that equation that is at the heart of this film. I won't go into detail lest I give too much away . Neither is Waz a horror film. It,s pretty gruesome in parts but it's more a gritty psychological thriller than anything .Comparisons with Seven [1996] and Saw [2004] are apt though . Here we have a serial killer making people deal with the consequences of their own actions ,distorted through the killers own perverted filter.
Helen Westcott( Melissa George) has just been seconded onto the force in an unnamed American city ( It looks like New York in some shots though much of the film was shot in Ireland) When a mutilated corpse turns up with a message carved into the flesh she is paired up with gruff detective Eddie Argo ( Stellan Skarsgard) and it transpires the victim was the pregnant girlfriend of a notorious gang member. Eddie seems to have something going on with one gang member Daniel (Ashley Walters) and maybe knows more about the case than he is letting on. As he says "there are many shades of grey " though he actually puts it more colourfully than that.....ironically enough.
Helen is the eyes of the audience for this film .We learn things and see things fresh pretty much as she does. At times she looks more appalled at the attitudes of her male colleagues than the grisly pile of bodies. Needless to say Waz is not a barrel of laughs and the films grainy cinematography ( courtesy of Morton Soborg) adds to it's gloomy ambience. The performances are very good with Skarsgard capably nuancing his role as a man weighed down by his guilt and the things he has seen .Melissa George shows like she did in Paradise Lost that she is an actress worth keeping an eye on and there is a an effective cameo role for Selma Blair.
Director Tom Shankland says in the interview available in the extras ( Along with deleted scenes and commentaries ) that Waz is about altruism and redemption as much as it is about revenge. I can see his point but I feel that pretty much Waz is a film about making people pay for their actions and choices by understanding implicitly the suffering they have caused. Shades of grey again It's cheapened slightly by the supposedly dramatic twist that I saw coming a mile off and a noble act of sacrifice at the end that just doesn't wash.
None the less this is a serious , thoughtful , studied take on the serial killer /thriller genre .Very much worth watching once though I doubt it would be a film many would want to watch again and again . That does,nt mean you should waz it though .
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A dark psychological thriller..., 2 May 2009
Dead bodies are found each with the word 'Waz' carved into the flesh. What's the connection and why are they being killed? The film centres around getting to the bottom of this very mystery.
It's not an action-packed film but rather one of those seemingly quieter films with plenty of dialogue and a gradual build of tension. It's gritty, mostly devoid of colour and filmed probably with a handheld to make it feel more immediate like you're actually there watching everything unfold.
The film is not bad from a suspense point of view. The only problem is that although the plot feels intriguing enough, it quickly becomes quite confusing. It's the last half hour that really pulls everything together. There are some violent scenes of gruesome torture that I really didn't expect but it's in-line with the story being told (as opposed to being just gratuitous violence).
On an originality scale this film is OK - it's the combination of the way it's been filmed and the story itself that makes the film feel original but I have to say I wasn't 'blown-away' by any of it. There are other psychological thrillers (Seven, Saw) that I much rather prefer to this. Overall, not particularly entertaining but worth-a watch.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not what you expect, 18 Jun 2009
First off, this is NOT a horror film. It's closer to "Seven" than it is to "Saw", but even that's not a very good comparison. There is some violence and blood, but the most disturbing images are from the brief flashback to the incident that's at the heart of this film. The twist is not a twist - certainly not a shock, anyway, and is with many thrillers these days it's a pretty downbeat ending (although anything else wouldn't work). At heart it's a film about revenge, but as we are reminded several times there are shades of gray. What would you do to protect a loved one? Could you kill someone you loved to save yourself? The killer believes that altruism doesn't exist in nature - all animals carry the selfish gene of the title, and will do everything to protect themselves. Even at the expense of others.
I really don't understand reviewers panning the acting. Stellan Skarsgard is excellent - ok, he appears to be a stereotypical grizzled and taciturn street cop. But when you get to the end of the film you realise that it's the secrets he has been carrying that have made him that way, and it's a very nuanced performance. Melissa George pouts a lot - I still can't help seeing her as Angel in "Home & Away".
What struck me as odd was that the setting is obviously New York (it's never stated, but there are wideshots of the city, the police cars carry the NYPD badge, and some of the streets are obviously downtown Manhatten) and yet the cast is almost entirely non-American. Selma Blair is the only main member of the cast that is from the States. As well as Skarsgard and George, you've Tom Hardy, Paul Kaye, Sally Hawkins, Ashley Walters, John Sharian - who are all Brits. I have read that it was filmed in Ireland; if that's the case, then a big thumbs-up to the production design. Downtown Dublin makes a very convincing Brooklyn/Bronx.
All in all, highly recommended - as long as you're not expecting "Saw" or "Hostel".
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