Screenhead

I have to admit, I’ve always held the MTI video lineup at arm’s length.  Sometimes, they manage to get some really effective pieces clocked out, and other times, they don’t succeed so well.  It’s a real “feast or famine” situation, and the only difference is whether or not they managed to find a script that works with their generally low budget standard.

Moscow Chill, one of their newest, works.

Featuring Norman Reedus, the actor who brought us some really sweet performances in both The Boondock Saints and The Messengers 2: The Scarecrow, Moscow Chill introduces us to a downright uber-hacker (who is in fact so leet that he can cause ATMs to jackpot via remote) who’s been recruited from prison by Russians who want him to use those magnificent skills to recover forty million dollars for a Russian mob figure.  Of course, it’s hardly as easy as it sounds–is it ever?–and so our hacker and his newfound Russian buddies will have a lot of problems on their hands.

Yes, this is an action movie.  Sure it is.  It’s also got a little bit of crime drama / thriller element on its side.  But, much in the same way as Ocean’s Eleven did, it also packs in a healthy slug of comedy.  I was downright astonished with how often I found myself chuckling at the antics of Moscow Chill.

There really is a lot to like here–the scenery is beautiful and widely varied, if a little on the gray side, the performances are solidly done and highly believable, the plot itself is taut and well done.  There’s just so much to enjoy it’s hard to walk away from Moscow Chill feeling dissatisfied.

And when I even managed to spot some romantic entanglements going on in here, I couldn’t believe it.  It was downright unsettling to discover that this, which I thought would be just another action flick going in, turned out to be a possible date movie.  Fellas, remember this one: Moscow Chill has plenty for not only you but also for the lady in your life as well.  Rent this one and you’ll get a night’s entertainment that she’ll enjoy too.  And there’s never anything wrong with that–plus it gets you brownie points next time you want to see Face Slicers 17.  Not that there really is such a thing, but you get the general idea.

Okay, granted–it’s low-budget and a smidge predictable, but only a smidge.  You can pretty much see coming how things will go for Ray, and it won’t be much of a surprise how the whole thing turns out.  But that’s all right–we’re not here for twist endings.  We’re here for a fun little action movie with some good laughs and a little Russian flavor on the side, like sour creme on borscht.

Moscow Chill proves to be effective on a whole lot of levels, and is surprisingly enjoyable for its low budget.  The Screenhead Ten Scale rewards effort, and thus is happy to hand it an eight out of ten.  Low budget, sure, but low class?  Never.

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