Unhinged (2020) - Proof that Russell Crowe can be F****** terrifying!

2020 didn't give film fanatics many things to be excited about. And even when trailers were released, there wasn't much to draw my attention. And at first, Unhinged started out no different. The trailers didn't impress me, and I wasn't sold by the idea of Russell Crowe being a psychopath. It felt like this film was going to be another overly drawn out film with little to excite the audience.

However, after sitting down to give the film a chance, I was pleasantly surprised at how much this film impressed me. Is the best thing since sliced bread? No, but it doesn't want to be. It simply wants to entertain, and on that front, I believe it succeeds. The biggest surprise was Crowe's terrifying portrayal of a man so deluded and broken away from society. He makes this film work, keeping you on the edge of your seat as to what he'll do next. This performance is what many will remember after seeing this film, which is hugely beneficial as the rest of the performances are very average, often being over the top and highly dramatised. But since this is an American film, that can't be too much of a shock. Considering Crowe's insanity is so well restrained, everyone else feel like they're trying to oversell the drama.

I was also really impressed at how well paced this film was. In the modern age of Hollywood, anything under 2 hours is seen by the general audiences as rushed and not worth their time. All big epics are targeted to run at or past 2 hours to sell themselves as big and epic dramas. But here we have a traditional 90 minute feature, which flows really well, keeps the tension up and doesn't get boring or feel rushed. The drama begins and doesn't let up for the whole length of time. It can be debated that there's too much focus on our female lead's family drama at the start, but ultimately, it helps keep an even playing field between our opposing sides, having context to their lives.

The car chase style to the narrative was also really well utilised in this story, reminding me a lot of the original Terminator films by James Cameron. A short and simple story about a young woman on the run from certain death. Each stage of the action builds up on the tension til we reach an intimate climax between our leads. It also helps that the inclusion of the child character actually played towards the film's end, rather than the kid being there... just because.

I can't say I was the biggest fan of the music in this film thou. It's overpowering and ramming bass heavy drums in your ears. It's thankfully not as big a problem as in Tenet, as the sound is mixed properly here, with clear dialogue and sounds taking precedence. I also have to give credit to the clear motives and rhythms used in the music, creating clear consistency throughout. Cinematography was generally very nice, giving a really nice bleak look to reflect the colours being drained from the lives of our leads in different ways. Additionally, this bleak colour pallet adds another indication that our female lead has very little options when it comes to resolving this increasingly tense situation.

Overall, if you want a film that throws constant action at you for an hour and a half, you can do no wrong with Unhinged. The film is filled with gory action and tense car chases, reflecting the work once done by the likes of James Cameron. If you aren't keen on gore, or just want a film that challenges you more, you may want to look elsewhere. This film is by no means a modern classic, but stands proudly alongside many other modern films, simply there to entertain. And when it comes to entertaining it's target audience, this film certainly accomplishes that!

SCORES

Story - 3.5/5

Characters - 3.5/5

Production - 5/5

Acting - 3/5

Music - 3/5

TOTAL - 7.2/10