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The 51st State cast: Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Carlyle, Emily Mortimer, Sean Pertwee, and Meatloaf director: Ronny Yu 92 minutes (18) 2001 widescreen ratio 2.35:1 Momentum DVD Region 2 retail Also available to buy on video RATING: 7/10 reviewed by Christopher Geary |
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In Liverpool, local criminal Felix De Sousa (Robert Carlyle) and crooked club-owner Iki (Rhys Ifans, at his most manically over-the-top even when sedated) are eager to help McElroy fulfil his ambition to buy a Scottish castle, for a substantial monetary reward (of course), but the Lizard has dispatched his hired gunwoman, Dakota, alias Dawn Philips (Emily Mortimer) - who just happens to be Felix's ex-girlfriend - to bring McElroy back to the USA, and bullish British cop Virgil Kane (Sean Pertwee) is also on the trail of what he suspects is an important organised crime deal. Can McElroy overcome the language barrier that distinguishes Yanks from Brits? Will Felix and Dawn get back together? Does the drug, POS-51, really offer its users "a personal visit from god?"
Hong Kong émigré Ronny Yu is a reliable orchestrater of movie action, as he proved with earlier fantasy and black comedy horror flicks, The Bride With White Hair, and Child's Play sequel, Bride Of Chucky (1998). Here you will find plenty of thoughtless profanity and mindless violence (including a terrific car chase, and a sniper killing a roomful of bad guys), while the proficient use of special effects and flashy editing combine with the film's excellent yet rather loud soundtrack to dramatise and stylise even the most ordinary of narrative events.
Although DVD extras are limited, you get a trendy virtual environment for the animated menus. This grants access to a making-of featurette (six minutes) plus four other video shorts offering background info about the movie, brief interviews with the director and main stars, photo gallery in slideshow format, and a trailer.