The Liberator

THE LIBERATOR is an indie action flick shot in Essex. The film's tireless protagonist hunts for a stolen antique and finds himself up against a series of powerful villains hell bent on stopping him from retrieving the priceless artifact. It's a cheap-looking film for sure, with routine plotting and acting, but it does have some martial arts action going for it. Most of the fights are saved for the climax. The action suffers from lacklustre choreography but you can still see that the performers are fairly skilled at pulling off the kicks and sparring.

A thoroughly enjoyable, stress free watch! The chemistry between all the actors is spot on and the interaction between the leading man and the supporting cast is well balanced and at times highly amusing. In fact Ben Lettieri has a laid back charm that is welcomed and very refreshing if you're tired of your heroes always trying to act tough and give it the big 'I am'. I bet he has a lot of 'haters' out there. The martial arts, although not of Bruce Lee caliber, is fantastic! The filmmakers understand how to alter the techniques for film in order to be more aesthetically pleasing and we get a real mix of players and styles, kung fu, kickboxing, karate, wrestling, jiu-jitsu and more probably. I also enjoyed the fact that the fights weren't too overdone for a martial arts flick. Again the filmmakers did an excellent job of finding, in my opinion, the perfect balance of stylized and realistic choreography. It does all have a kind of guilty pleasure vibe to it but it absolutely works and you can take that naughty comment as a complement.

What can I say. I have to admit I loved this film! The Liberator is a total 'badass' character. He's reminiscent of traditional actors from previous generations, reminds of a cross between Sean Connery and Roger Moore. And I like his fighting style, kind of a raw emotion and determination behind him that we used to see from the likes of Van Damme as opposed to the more robotic matrix type of fighting in most films these days. The other martial arts guys are really good and have the same feel to them. Keung is amazing! I also appreciate more than the director knows the fact that they have added such classic old school comedy to it as well. Especially good is the main villain, Miller and I was also fond of Detective Stevens. If you like your leading ladies to be elegant, sexy and Bond-esque then you're in for a real treat! After watching something else totally diabolical right after this, I can honestly say that watching this movie made Saturday night.

Fun action film with an all round good cast. Running time flies by thanks to good fight scenes and funny moments. The end fights really stand out. Love the character Miller he is especially amusing. I also love the scene in the pub. Music really adds to the film as well. Really good little indie film that doesn't take itself too seriously and is very enjoyable.