Bad Ass (2012) Reviews

• Time for a real honest review for Bad Ass!

  Thrill_KillZ2012-04-13

  Alright I think all of us know that this for Danny Trejo's sake was not going to be anywhere near the caliber of Machete, that was funded in the millions & written very well. What we have here is a decent low budget VOD or netflix watch. The story is very simple, Trejo a man who served 7 years in the Vietnam war & upon arriving back to society he faced what every soldier faced upon returning home, a place to fit in. He struggled through the next 40 years running his hot dog stand & minding his own business. Then one day on a public bus he kicked the crap out of two punks harassing an old man & it was filmed by another bus rider & leaked onto the internet. It goes viral & he is proclaimed by the public as "Bad Ass". A title he wasn't looking for but he was happy to finally be fitting in with society. After his one & only friend was murdered senselessly he became the man the public wanted him to be & started on journey of ass kicking his way to find answers. This film won't win any awards but it was certainly entertaining for 90 minutes, and all you punks giving it a 1 rating should go sky diving without a parachute because obviously your brainless body is just in the way. It's 5/10 solidly, actually it's worth more than that for the great message it leaves the viewer. So to belittle this fine piece of film is in itself a crime! I couldn't help thinking of Gran Torino & Harry Brown a bit at times due to the fact of all three characters being in a war, all being senior citizens & all they wanted was a little peace & a bit of happiness and they were "called" back into duty for something they truly believed in.

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• Not Bad But Not That Good

  LeonLouisRicci2013-03-27

  This is a low-budget entry in a sub-genre. The Geriatric, OG, Geezer, violent Vigilante Movie. With the aging Baby Boomers we are likely to see quite a few more. It has always been cathartic to see Superheroes and maybe regular Folks standing up to oppression and intimidation. From Robin Hood to Batman to Paul Kersey to Harry Brown, we get satisfaction from their noble efforts. In this one Danny Trejo gets to show some good acting chops as an against type, soft spoken, good hearted Bad Ass. He is quite good here with more range than usual and demonstrates why he has so many devoted fans. The Film itself is not very well constructed and has some barely needed and sometimes embarrassing subplots, like the fetching Female neighbor with the cute and wise-cracking Son. But the action is acceptable and quite violent at times. Not a bad Movie but does not quite rise to the level of a Cult Movie with staying power or a gritty real-life Noir. It really does not know what it wants to be and for that matter and that lack of direction the Film fails to be better than a standard B-Movie.

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• An aging bad ass, but a bad ass nonetheless...

  paul_haakonsen2012-06-05

  For a movie of this caliber, then "Bad Ass" wasn't actually too bad. "Bad Ass" is about Vietnam veteran Frank Vega (played by Danny Trejo) who moves into his mother's house after she passes away. He is enjoying an overnight Internet stardom as his acts of beating up two skinheads on a bus was caught on phone camera. Frank's friend gets killed, and seeing the police doing nothing about it, Frank decides to take things into his own hands. This movie sort of have elements from "Gran Torino" and also some of the old Charles Bronson movies. Sure, it is all stuff that has been seen before, but it actually did come together nicely enough in the movie and worked out great. And Danny Trejo proves that, despite up there in years, that he still can perform and do physical movies. The story-wise was sort of funny, sure it was unrealistic, but still it proved to be entertaining enough. However, the part with the young neighbor falling in love with him, was a bit too much, and not really a necessary part for the movie in whole. The showdown between Danny Trejo and Charles S. Dutton (playing Panther) was actually fun to watch. Just don't expect to be challenged by a complex storyline, because it just ain't there. And try not to pay too much attention to the shoddy dialogue, just watch the movie for what it is; an aging Danny Trejo out for revenge. "Bad Ass" is a no-brainer type of movie, just put it on, sit down and disconnect your brain. This movie is fun to watch and is actually entertaining. However, I doubt that I will watch it a second time at any point, the movie just didn't have enough weight to support that, at least not for me.

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• Danny Trejo's Grand Torino

  siderite2012-04-25

  I don't really care where the idea came from, this film was a lot of laughs. Imagine Danny Trejo doing his old and tough routine, but doing it with humour and a physicality that few could achieve aged 68. And it wasn't just him. Ron Perlman did a bait and switch again, appearing only a few scenes into the movie, instead the role of the villain being taken by Charles S. Dutton, who also appears only a few times, but it is obvious he is having just as much fun as Trejo did. Add in a little bit of Harrison Page and you have your geriatric A-team in a film that felt pretty close to real. Even Richard Riehle did a small appearance. Of course, it wasn't all fun and games. The hero of the city for beating up a few guys, maiming and killing a few others, that wasn't realistic or cool, really. The explosions and gun shot effects were shoddy and low budget, but let's face it, the movie wasn't about special effects. And the girlfriend stuff... let's say it was completely unnecessary and threw me off a little. But bottom line, this is a low budget, yet very fun film, without being a true comedy. It is full of good humour and references to other films of the genre, like Death Wish. I liked it a lot.

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• Accuracy

  rustler-343-3471082012-04-13

  For a film that was "based off true events" Hollywood couldn't do more to demonize the actual participants. "Bad Ass" is based off of an altercation on a bus where Thomas Bruso, a European American, was attacked by an African American. You can watch the video at http://epicbeardman.net/ Once Hollywood got a hold of this, the good guy became Hispanic, and the bad guy became a duo of neo-Nazis, because it would be too politically incorrect to have otherwise. Bad Ass serves as your standard "good guy down on his luck" feel good film. Good guy sees bad guy, good guy punches bad guy, good guy wins. Oh, and another thing, the first reviewer who gave the film 10 stars wrote the review a month before the movie came out.

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