Machine Gun Preacher

I have one big problem with Machine Gun Preacher, or maybe two. The first is that Childer’s transformations are terribly sudden and the movie concentrates much more on the less interesting parts, like when the asshole becomes a nice guy, while it concentrates only very briefly on the part when the nice guy becomes a murderous maniac, which is much better and more interesting. And Butler’s acting is excellent and it would have been far more bombastic if they had concentrated on a shorter section of time in more detail, rather than trying to map his entire “working" life. The second problem is that I don’t much like what happens in this picture. Building an orphanage in the middle of a war zone is a very bad idea. Did Sam ever think about what those people were going to do when they grow up? (19.05.2012)

The creator of the masterpiece that is Monster’s Ball converted to Christianity and lost his mind. But he retained his heart – his film reminded me of Stone’s World Trade Center – a simple story full of pathos about the suffering of innocents and the need to help one another. Machine Gun Preacher is a naïve, straightforward movie for average Americans taking refuge in the Bible. Scenes of preaching about God are more abundant here than in a documentary about the Pope. They are too much for atheist viewers and will spoil their film experience. And when Gerard Butler’s preacher stops talking and takes picks up his shotgun, the film becomes more entertaining but less convincing. I’m giving the third star for the colorful and exotic soundtrack, which I had listened to in advance and made watching the film more enjoyable. And also for the “big heart” trying to help African kids. If I were more of a cynic, I wouldn’t even have thought about it. (04.01.2012)

I did not believe it. The problem to me is the main actor, or rather the character he plays. It's not that Gerard Butler’s performance is poor, not at all, quite the opposite, but apparently the script does not allow the viewer to feel his transformation impulsively and realistically enough. So I was not convinced by bad Butler becoming good Butler. And since that is supposed to be a key element of the film, it completely failed. At least they maintained a consistent pattern (rough bad Butler, rough good Butler), and fortunately, they didn't turn him into a monk. However, it is still a very inconsistent thing, the same goes for the technical aspect. At times it looks like we won't even see any blood, you get the impression that it is aiming for PG-13 and then some unprecedented brutality follows. I expected the director of Quantum of Solace to have a much stronger action directorial style. I really don't know what to think about all of this. In any case, I believe that this film did not impress any of the many ethnic groups or film fans, despite (or precisely because) everyone could take something of their own from it. (25.03.2012)

About Kony I knew for a long time when last year a big campaign against him started in order to inform people around the world about what is happening in Africa. Subsequently, a film was made, which Czech distributors named a bit stupidly - The Preacher of Kalashnikov. For me incomprehensible, when it's about a man who actually strongly fights against violence...even though again with violence. Anyway, I was incredibly looking forward to the movie for several months and I can honestly say that I was terribly disappointed during the movie. Gerard Butler wouldn't be such a bad choice, the worse part was the storytelling itself. Because his character, Sam Childers, was supposed to somehow evolve from bad to good in the movie. In the movie, it looks like this. Evil Sam leaves prison and is evil. Then he does some evil things and is incredibly evil. He parties, kills, and is still evil. His family starts to believe in God and he laughs at them. Then he makes a huge mess and understands within half a minute that what he was doing is wrong and suddenly he's already sitting in church. This is where I think the creators fucked up incredibly. I wanted to see some character development and not that suddenly he jumps from character A to character B out of nowhere and no one actually shows me that change. And this wasn't the first time. The film prepared such shocks several times and overall the emphasis on emotions wasn't close to it, quite the contrary. It's a shame in such a film, because what else is a film about if not about emotions. However, I can't say that the film was a complete failure. There were scenes in it that were worth attention and flawless. But that doesn't change the fact that the film as a whole disappointed me right from the beginning. Because then it dragged on until the end, until the credits appeared and there was the real Sam Childers. At that moment, I realized that the real Sam is much more likable to me than the whole movie about him. Not to mention the religious propaganda that comes with this movie. But so be it. I won't deny it to him. Americans have it a bit different with the church in their country. Hallelujah. (23.04.2012)

I didn't even believe Gerard Butler that he was shooting this time, let alone being somehow mesmerized by his "transformation" from a dope-smoking biker released from prison into a man who found God, and then into a Rambo-esque fighter who doesn't hesitate to fill the kidnappers of African children with lead. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against movies showing any religion from a more appealing side. But what was this supposed to be? An unintentionally ridiculous spectacle, which I didn't believe all the more because it was based on reality. (04.11.2013)