Bull Review Movie
Bull Review
There's a scene from Bull where Neil Maskell's ominous strongman is enjoying Ice cream. Based on what we know about Bull it's confusing, much like Travis Bickle taking a sip of 99. Inspiring by a stellar performance from Maskell, Bull is a powerhouse ("You're so cruel and you make adults cry" Bull is also told) A brand new entry into the Rogues' Gallery of British cinema's toughest thugs. After more than a decade of successful working in television, Paul Andrew Williams returns to his gritty style of his earlier work, such as London To Brighton and Cherry Tree Lane in this dark grim thriller that doesn't make any new ground, but with its short run duration, packs a huge punch.
Bull begins as it intends to move on. After some furious digging, that is accompanied by a synth beat along with tribal drums meet up with Bull and we don't discover his first name; it's likely not Tarquin and he's in the car with talking guns and cash. Bull finally appears and gets out of the car, and shoots three people before throwing the gun into an auto wash, the whole scene being captured by the camera that remains in the car stationary with the distance making it even more frightening. The scene is the start of a terrifying roller-coaster of vengeance as Bull is absent for the past ten years, returns to his home town to rectify some wrongs. In terms of plot, that's basically the story: Bull killing people in shockingly horrific ways, while focusing to his father-in law, local mob boss Norm (David Hayman in terrifying form) who took extreme measures to cut off Bull from his daughter Aiden (Henri Charles).
In a way that is not typical for payback dramas based on testosterone female characters like Bull's grumpy wife along with one daughter of Norm's– Gemma (Lois Brabin-Platt) as well as Bull's sister-in-law Sharon (Tamzin Outhwaite) are able to register. The film has moments of lyrical opera with slow-motion hijinks during barbeque being a highlight however, it's mostly in the form of gory, gritty realistic as Bull grinds away at Norm and is scored by Raffertie's sharp and effective soundtrack of spasming static. The film is split into two different time frames (there are a few snippets of happy moments), Williams' spare script and Maskell's powerful perfectly tuned performance don't bog Bull himself with clichéd motives or complications and complexities; he's a brutally effective revenge machine. Think of The Bride without the tracksuit in yellow.
