Split Lip (2019) Reviews

• montage after montage

  detectivedevito2019-01-28

  When the movie started, I was truly captivated by the mysterious monologue that broke the fourth wall and I immediately knew I was in for a ride. Unfortunately, that ride felt less like a thrilling rollercoaster and more like I was a grown man riding a merry go round. From the outside it looks very bright and colorful, but once you're in, you realize you are on a slow and dull ride. Now don't get me wrong. Theres a lot that I really enjoy about this movie. Aside from a couple random shots, the cinematography was top notch. They really knew how to make boring scenery visually captivating. On top of that, the acting was just as incredible. The film truly shows how much undiscovered talent exists within the film industry. Every single role, lead or support, gave it there all in the making of this indie film. Lastly, the concept of the movie was incredible. They've created a wall full of assassins from all over the world and I wanted to learn more about every single one of them. Unfortunately, where the movie lacks is dialogue. Not that the dialogue is bad, although it was awkward at points, but that there was a lack of it. So much of the movie had no dialogue at all which is not always a bad thing, but it made an action movie feel extremely slow. Many of the shots stuck around a lot longer than my interest did, especially the incredibly uncomfortable desert dance scene. Also, I was really distracted by how unrealistic the foley was. Not only were sound effects repeated, but they seemed a little tacky. This was something that was most distracting when brass knuckles were used. Overall, I think with more work put into writing and cutting down longer shots this could have been a truly impressive independent movie. With that being said I see a lot of potential from everyone who was involved and am excited to see what they all work on in the future.

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• Are you ready...

  danm-537242019-01-22

  The cinematography and the acting we're both top notch! Some of the fight scenes might strain credulity a little bit yet exciting and entertaining nonetheless. I absolutely loved the ending. A quality film, kudos to Christopher and the entire fast and crew!

• Expected the unexpected!

  t-115442019-04-20

  Lets start with the main character she's the next Angelina Jolie with her moves as she captures the audience with her rawness from scene one .The movie has shots of adrenaline and just a splash of comedy throughout making it gritty at moments however there are some scenes that are drawn out . Overall, this movie shows the strength, power and yet the humbleness of an assassin that's rarely portrayed in movies.

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• Must See

  scorpionking-389592019-04-20

  I really enjoyed this film! This is for sure a must see! Given with the way it ended, I wonder if there'll be a part 2?!

• Good emotional core!

  danielsafemilk2019-01-27

  First of all, I really enjoyed this movie. I was engaged the whole time and it felt like the right length for the story it was trying to tell. The strongest part about it was the excellent emotional core of the story as told by the interactions between Samuel and Set. Their relationship being a tenuous friendship that feels like it could crash down at any moment. The ending and it's surprises are really satisfying too. Set's character traverses her arc quietly, but she does it powerfully, silently sucking the audience in to her almost Stygian self destruction. Meanwhile, Samuel is funny on purpose, which is hard to do, he is easily likable and offers much needed levity and a very thick and heavy emotional atmosphere without jarring the scenes too much. For a film that's billed as a brawler type film, there aren't actually very many fights, and the fights themselves are filmed in a very western style, which means there's cuts before hits actually connect (maybe a limitation with actor safety and not having access to professional stunt people) but it makes the fights both hard to follow and feel less impact. I'd say this film was more of a drama with fights in it rather than a film about fighting. There are also some strange plot points regarding the boss and the main character that honestly don't make sense. The sister character (while very well acted) felt like she was built as a plot device to cause/stir up conflict rather than to be a part of the world. The acting was great and the shots out of the fight scenes were gorgeous. The film doesn't rush itself which is great, and there are some very Blade Runner-esque shots of just holding on a character as they feel an emotion, which is awesome. Overall, fixing up the shots in the fight scenes, and handling some of the plot threads with the boss and the sister slightly differently would crank this up to an 8 for me. I am really excited to see what this group of people does next, and I'm really glad I got a chance to see this awesome movie on the big screen!

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