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Movie Review by The Spastic Cannibal
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04.06.10
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He ain't the acclaimed, hard-hitting actor who played such notable roles as Chaney and Kersey... This here is the story of another, equally awesome, bare-knuckle brawlin' Charles Bronson who has earned the title as "Britain's most violent prisoner" since the 1970s. From my research, the movie paints a fairly accurate portrait of the real-life criminal who made a name for himself after his initial prison sentence back in '74 after being charged with armed robbery. A seven year stretch spawned into 'life' over time as Michael Petterson (nick-named Charles Bronson during his short work as an underground fighter) continually AND skillfully fought through torrents of prison guards, held many of them hostage, attempted to murder inmates, and just went about general noncooperation...
Tom Hardy portrays Bronson quite effectively and relatively sympathetic at times - bringing an adequate amount of confusion to the character who methodically "worked" to remain in prison and, more so than not, solitary confinement for his vicious outbursts. I wouldn't go so far as to call "Bronson" a study into this particular character, but the "artsy" elements, along with Hardy's, almost likable, performance keeps us from knowing too much which, as a result, makes him pretty interesting... Also a good deal of well-shot sequences - such as the beginning "battle" in his holding 'cage' and a scene during his stint in a mental facility (the dance). The use of unlikely music works extremely well during these scenes.
So overall, "Bronson" holds together nicely with the guy's on-going struggle through prideful persistence against conformity and prison regulation, though the "comical" stage routine interludes were a little overkill on the "artistic" factor and the very end didn't really come across as strong as it could've been, in my opinion... Despite this, I highly recommend this flick which is a surprisingly solid biographical depiction of one bad-ass dude...
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Rating: 7.0 out of 10.0 - 2 votes cast total
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