Future Justice

Director - Richard Griffin (The Disco Exorcist, Normal)
Starring - Nathaniel Sylva (Dead Bounty, Murder University), Aaron Andrade (Accidental Incest), and Steven O'Broin (Accidental Incest, The Sins of Dracula)
Release Date - 2014
Genre - Sci-Fi/Thriller
Tagline - "In a future gone to hell, one man will bring justice to the world"
Format - DVD (Personal Collection)

Rating (out of 5):

     There are certain filmmakers out there that can still announce a film and make me giddy.  These filmmakers have been at it for years and have built an amazing catalog of films that never fail to entertain.  One of those directors is Richard Griffin.  Griffin started making films in 2000 with Titus Adronicus and followed that film up with Feeding the Masses, Raving Maniacs, Creature from the Hillbilly Lagoon, and so many others.  His horror films are unrivaled but recently he announced he was working on a post-apocalyptic sci-fi flick in the same vein as Escape from New York and 1990: Bronx Warriors.  This excited the shit out of me and I had to see the film.  I contributed to the crowd funding and waited patiently for my film to arrive and when it did I waited no time to watch it.  

     The film follows a military garrison as they prepare to transport a dangerous prisoner from deep space storage back to Earth.  However, on their way back they lose radio contact with Earth.  The trip takes months and when they arrive they discover that a terrible accident has wiped out half the Earth resulting in martial law and anarchy.  The military group meet up with a small group of survivors who have been hiding in an underground bunker but they accidentally lead a para-military unit of survivors to them.  This para-military unit attacks the group killing several of their members and force them to barricade themselves inside.  They then use an illegal laser to punch a hole through the ground to get them.  When the military troupe and survivors think all hope is lost they quickly learn that their attackers are not their real enemies but the radiated mutant living in the pipes is.

     What I really like about Griffin's movies is that he refuses to follow modern trends.  Many of today's directors try to follow trends to make a quick profit but Griffin makes films that pay homage to films that have been forgotten with time.  That is one of the many reasons I watch his films like a kid watching Saturday morning cartoons and may God have mercy on your soul if you disturb me while one of his films are on.  I honestly did not know what to expect from Future Justice but I knew Griffin would not let me down...and I was right.  The film has everything I love about the late 80s surge of post-apocalyptic flicks but with fewer flaws that plagued so many.  You could easily see the love Griffin and team had for these kind of flicks.  The acting in this one is spot on with the entire cast performing perfectly.  The film was well casted and that is something I expect with all Griffin's films.  With that being said, I have a bit of a problem with the look the film's bad ass has.  When you think about flicks from the past you automatically think about the film's hero and his look.  They always have that something that makes them stand out and it almost becomes their trademark.  Snake Plissken has his eye patch, Cobra has the cobra logo on his pistols, and so forth.  However, our hero has a tank top?  A little more thought in his appearance would have helped a lot in my opinion.  The story for this one is one that has been told before but not in the same film.  The story of the prisoner being escorted back to Earth is very similar to John Carpenter's Ghost of Mars.  That similar story is then mixed with almost every other post-apocalyptic story from the late 80s to the early 90s.  Combining them make a pretty fun film.  Finally, the film has a slew of on screen kills and special effects.  Where this is a sci-fi thriller and not an actual horror flick we get mostly gun shots and visual effects.  The visual effects are great and look amazing at times and the few non-gun shot kills we do get look just as good.  Overall, Future Justice is a a fucking superb futuristic action flick that is beautifully shot and crafted by a real fan of this style of film.  The film got everything right and left no room for error.  Check it out because you will not be disappointed.