Review by Jon Donnis
So, there is this film and we want to cast Vinnie Jones.... Yep, you got it, a gritty gangster film!
Ok, to be fair it is a bit more than just a gritty gangster film, it has a lot of car chase scenes too!
We are quickly introduced to a character that we only ever know as The Thief (James Clayton), in fact the one moment in the film where he says his name, there is a hilarious cutaway to a plane propeller, so we never do hear his name spoken. Anyway, The Thief is sneaking about in a drug dealers' hideout which just happens to be in a car scrapyard. The Thief steals millions in cash that just happens to be lying around, while a bunch of gangsters are taking care of "business".
For some bizarre reason after getting the cash and jumping in a car for his easy escape The Thief decides to put some music on, and we quickly have a shoot out, chase scene.
Once The Thief has properly escaped, he pulls over and checks the boot of the car, a shot rings out, luckily missing The Thief. Inside the boot is Mia, (Lina Lecompte) she is the pregnant wife of Temple (Vinnie Jones), the head gangster. Mia wants to escape from Temple, and for now will go with The Thief.
Before you know it, Temple is going crazy that someone has stolen his cash, and seemingly taken his pregnant wife with him.
Cue lots of henchmen all looking to retrieve the money and Mia.
The Thief is clearly modelled on Paul Walker from the Fast and Furious films, and in various scenes we get nice close ups of foot hitting the gas, close ups of the gear stick while doing J turns, he even looks a bit like Paul Walker.
The film is very generic, lots of boxes ticked for what you would expect in an action film, but that doesn't necessarily need to be a bad thing. I get the feeling that the public are sick of identity politics, and woke agendas being pushed through films, and really just want to watch something that does what it says in the synopsis. And you can make a fair argument that Bullet Proof does deliver.
Vinnie Jones pulls his angry faces, beats a few people up, his henchmen have individual styles, and some suspect face tattoos. The car chases are fun, the shoot outs are action packed.
The film has a perfect 90 minutes runtime, which is what you want in an action film. A mid budget means the film looks decent, and the cast are all professionals. This is a fun old fashioned action film.
The Good
James Clayton is a fun pick for the thief you want to succeed. Vinnie Jones is excellent as the moody mob boss type that we all know he was born to play. This is a good film.
The Bad
Incredibly unoriginal, I prefer the original name of Death Pursuit too.
Overall
It is a 90-minute action film with Vinnie Jones, it delivers everything you would expect.
I score Bullet Proof a solid 7/10
In cinemas now and available to stream on Roku.
