All Rise...

Judge Roy Hrab is a saintly sinner, or the other way around. He keeps forgetting.

Editor's Note

Our review of Sinners and Saints (Blu-ray), published January 4th, 2012, is also available.

The Charge

Nothing's more dangerous than a man with nothing to lose.

Opening Statement

"You don't have to take this conversation in that direction. I'll come through. Just give me a little more time."

Facts of the Case

New Orleans. Post-Katrina. The city is broken. And criminals appear to be taking over. Police Detective Sean Riley (Johnny Strong, The Fast And The Furious) is a loose cannon, taking down criminals with brute force and extreme prejudice, much to the chagrin of the department and his captain (Tom Berenger, Platoon). However, an old friend puts Johnny on a collision course with some brutal international mercenaries. In turn, the mercenaries appear to be getting on the nerves of Jurgen Prochnow (Das Boot) who is wearing a Bluetooth in his ear…

The Evidence

Sinners And Saints is not all that. In fact, it's not much of anything, especially in the coherency department. At the end of the day, a lot of the extreme violence in this film comes down to the contents of a video tape. The contents relate to mercenaries killing US soldiers in Afghanistan (maybe). The problem is that it's never explained what the tape is really all about, and why the mercenaries (and Jurgen Prochnow) want to get the tape back so badly.

Instead, Sinners And Saints delivers a lot of violence over its 104 minute runtime. Graphic violence and carnage. Almost every villain in the film is equipped with a military issue automatic weapon. As a result, people are shot to pieces with lots of blood. However, the film ups the ante. The baddies light people on fire, but then put the fire out, so they can light them up again. Then they put out the fire again, and light the person up for a third time. It is completely unnecessary (and sickening), but it seems the lack of meaningful plot required that shock violence be used to let the audience know that the bad guys are really, really bad.

The acting is wooden; there's a lot of glaring and staring. The dialogue is pitiful; there's a lot of shouting and swearing. Even worse: some of the names hyped in the credits, like Prochnow, Berenger, Kim Coates (Prison Break), and Method Man (The Wire) appear in only a handful of scenes (or less).

The standard definition 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer is detailed with good color. The strong Dolby 5.1 surround audio mix keeps you deep in the action.

The extras are the same as those on the Blu-ray edition: a making-of featurette and deleted scenes.

Closing Statement

Skip it.

The Verdict

Guilty.

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