Hitmen

The Language of Film

May 24

Hitmen is the latest film from UK gangster auteur Savvas D. Michael and it's another signature feature from him with much to be offended by. A married couple from London, totally out of character, beat to death an obnoxious gap year student from America whose powerful family connections in the US put a $1 million bounty on their heads giving licence to a collection of hitmen to hunt them down. Available 5th June 2023 on DVD, Blu-ray, all VOD platforms and select cinemas.

Luke (Daniel Caltagirone) and Lauren Loveday (Lois Brabin-Platt) are a seemingly ordinary common married couple from London having a drink in an East End pub, owned by Lauren's brother the physically imposing and East End gruff Tony (Charlie Rawes). Their 10 year marriage is at a crossroads with Lauren wanting a divorce saying they've grown apart since she was a young girl. Their conversation is interrupted by Jackie (Max Lohan) a young American gap year student who tries to chat up Lauren and the ensuing argument leads to a violent outbreak resulting in Jackie's brutal beating.

The news of Jackie's untimely death gets back to his beloved grandfather Michael Hero (Eric Roberts) in the US. Michael, a powerful self-made immigrant CEO of a blue chip company, puts the wheels in motion to get revenge for his favoured grandson's murder. He sends his henchmen The Major (Nentley Kalu) and adopted son Danny (Elijah Rowen) (who incidentally narrates the film) to meet Don Salvatore Piazza (Marco Leonardi), a mafioso type character in Italy to make the necessary hitmen arrangements. Meanwhile Michael's real son and Jackie's father, Paris (Ronan Summers), is looking to get back into favour with his father by revenging his son's death himself. Realising there is a ransom on their heads Luke and Lauren go into hiding and so ensues a farcical hide and seek with the pursuing assassins.

Put together under the Saints and Savages production, the clue is in the name here. What Savvas D. Michael does well is put together a stylised film with plenty of swagger but there is also an overt amount of bad mouthing tirades and political incorrectness that would have many a human rights campaigner up in arms.

The script which has picked out some crowd pleasing genre themes of violence and revenge is told with a Scorsese like commentary, unfortunately here's where the similarities end as Savvas D. Michael's attempts at a profoundly poignant narration is bewildering at times with lines like, "When a great man is hurt, all just and fair men suffer."

It has the makings of a good gangster film. The cast is an interesting ensemble of characters with the assassins having various murderous ticks and typically he introduces a headline name or two along with some of his regular cast members. The locations are established with cinematic aerial shots and the violence, gunfire and explosions are pulled off with Hollywood like special effects, all emotively pieced together with his eclectic sound track of classical opera and world music.

A UK based independent film with an ambitious script reaching out to an international audience, it's a totally over the top mix of violent action and comedic farce; Savvas D. Michael is clearly on a mission to offend his audience while having a good time making movies.