Citizen Vigilante

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Citizen Vigilante
Who is Armie Hammer getting revenge on?

“Why is the movie ‘Citizen Vigilante‘ banned in Europe?” That’s the title of the video YouTube shoved in my face. And what do I see on the thumbnail? Armie Hammer. I didn’t watch the video, but the news intrigued me. So I immediately went to dig into what the hell was going on.

I was in absolute shock when I saw the director’s name. I hadn’t watched anything by Uwe Boll—the German director infamous for his trashy video game adaptations—in, what, twenty years or more. And all this time, the guy hadn’t been sitting around. You have to give him credit: years of relentless criticism didn’t break him. He kept shooting in defiance of everything and everyone. And he’s still shooting.

I never thought a single one of his movies would end up on my site. Well, maybe I’d add “Postal” someday—since it’s the only decent film in this director’s filmography. Until now, that is. By the way, do you even remember who directed “Postal“?

So what is “Citizen Vigilante“? A triumphant and slightly scandalous comeback for Uwe Boll? Even though he never really left. And an equally triumphant comeback for Armie Hammer (especially if you know the context of his personal life over the last few years). And I absolutely love Armie Hammer. Plus, the plotline in this movie is highly controversial. Controversial enough that the German rating board, FSK, refused to give it an age rating due to extreme violence (a few bloody scenes) and accusations of an anti-migrant message.

It’s not a total ban, technically. They just refused to give it an age rating, which effectively blocks a wide theatrical release and physical media distribution, but doesn’t forbid owning it or streaming it online.

The plot of “Citizen Vigilante” is based on the story of a fifteen-year-old girl whose rape resulted in suspended sentences for eight out of the nine accused migrants.

And even the richest migrant in the world and a well-known opponent of censorship, Elon Musk, mentioned the movie on his social network, X.

And could there be better advertising for a director who, I don’t know, finds funding somewhere for two decades now, churning out terrible, low-quality movies? The audience rating for “Citizen Vigilante” hovers around 6.3 – 6.5.
His previous movie got a 4.3.
The rest of Uwe’s filmography is roughly at that level or even worse.

You know how I feel about ratings, and I always say you can’t trust them. But in the case of Uwe Boll movies, the ratings are well-deserved.

So what happened?
Did the director finally shoot a good movie?
Did Elon Musk’s promo help?
Are viewers so starved for Armie Hammer that they’re mass “thumbs up”-ing the new movie with his participation worldwide?
Did everyone who is sick of all the bans, migrants, and tolerance artificially inflate the rating?
Or maybe the high ratings are explained by all of the above?
I’ll share my opinion at the end.

The Nicolas Cage Route

Anyway, I’m glad Hammer is back, and I hope this is just the beginning. They’re hardly going to offer him roles in A-list movies. But roles in indie and auteur films? Quite possible. With directors who don’t depend on public opinion and aren’t funded by major studios. That is, if Hammer takes the Nicolas Cage route—it’ll be awesome, primarily for us, the audience. But probably not for Hammer himself.

Maybe a new beginning will let him reveal himself as an actor from a new angle. And the paved road of Cage is perfect for this: psychosis, arthouse, and horror movies—exactly what’s needed. We’ve already seen Hammer in the mainstream. We’ve seen him in indies too, but those were prestige indies, festival darlings—just remember “Call Me by Your Name”.

But Hammer also did the unconventional horror “Wounds”, which stands out quite a bit in his filmography. Actually, what am I even saying—if you look at his whole filmography, he doesn’t have a single similar role. All the movies are completely different, and the characters he plays don’t look alike at all.

This isn’t Jason Statham, where you can watch his entire filmography like a TV series with the same character. No offense to Statham. I’m sure I’ve even seen him in dramatic roles without fights. It just turned out that way, just like the last twenty years of Liam Neeson’s filmography, with a few exceptions.

You’ll never guess what my favorite Hammer role is.
“The Man from U.N.C.L.E.“—a great Guy Ritchie film. You couldn’t ask for a better cast: Henry Cavill, Alicia Vikander, and Armie Hammer as a Russian spy.

Hammer has Russian, German, and Jewish roots. His great-grandfather emigrated from the Russian Empire to the US. And his grandfather lived and worked in the USSR, was a confidant of Lenin and a friend of Brezhnev. But Hammer’s ties to the USSR go much deeper. In a Russian late-night talk show, Armie briefly talked about his Russian roots and his tattoo in Russian. If you’re interested in the details, there’s a Wikipedia article about the Hammer family. They even shot a documentary series about them, right against the backdrop of the cannibalism accusations against Armie.

After the scandals, Armie’s personal net worth dropped to $10,000.
Meanwhile, the Hammer family still holds a fortune of about $200 million out of the $800 million left by his great-grandfather. But Armie himself, by his own words, didn’t get a single dollar from that sum.
A descendant of an oil tycoon with a billion-dollar inheritance is now barely making ends meet and is forced to star in a Uwe Boll movie.

Still the Same Uwe Boll

Having watched “Citizen Vigilante“, I can say with a high degree of certainty: the high ratings for Uwe Boll’s new work (compared to his other films) are driven by the societal discontent that the movie reflects, not by the quality of the movie itself.

In almost thirty years, Uwe Boll never learned how to direct. Meanwhile, debut films by YouTube bloggers, shot for pennies, look ten times better. Just remember “Obsession“, shot for a mere $750,000. The picture quality and directing are simply incomparable.