FANTASIA FILM FESTIVAL
I really do want to see more from Canadian director Gabriel Carrer, mainly because “The Demolisher” brought back waves of Nicholas Winding Refn and Michael Mann with it. “The Demolisher” is a slow burn and really stellar revenge thriller that picks up after an admittedly sluggish first half hour. “The Demolisher” picks up steam and collides in to an all out assault of blood shed, gore, and violence that help to explore the crumbling of a man’s sanity. Evocative of films like “Ms. 45” and “Death Wish,” Carrer channels the idea of trauma and its lasting effects and how it can toy with one man’s idea of justice for his beloved wife.
Ry Barnett plays Bruce, a man who is haunted by his wife’s crippling injury during the line of duty. She’s painfully dependent on Bruce to feed and care for her, and he vows to go out and find the people that crippled her. The individuals in question are a gang with a gorilla plastered on their clothing, and every night Bruce patrols the streets looking for the insignia. But his crumbling sanity, matched with his guilt make him a definitely delusional and paranoid individual who begins to consider that perhaps he may just be imagining culprits at every turn. The audience follows along with Bruce as he guns down and beats alleged criminals, all the while encasing himself in a SWAT uniform that ensures he can roam around unharmed.
Barnett’s performance is fascinating, as he slowly unravels in to this mad maniacal monster of a man who begins losing his senses and doesn’t know how to bring himself back from the brink. His wife loathes his quest for vengeance but she doesn’t exactly seek to stop him either, also desperate for vengeance against the gang that crippled her. Twists and turns are brought about in the second half when Bruce catches young Marie pawning a necklace he’s convinced belonged to his wife, and suddenly sees her as a threat. What begins as a mere mission transforms in to a fight for survival between the two. Bruce suddenly is hell bent on finding and killing Marie, who turns out to be much more resourceful than he ever realized.
Carrer implements wonderful direction to unfold the compelling last hour with great implementation of slow motion, as well as a sharp soundtrack that helps magnify the tension involved in the battle between Bruce and Marie. Carrer uses these devices throughout the majority of the film, preferring to show rather than tell, and rarely ever exercises verbal exposition. We know something heinous happened to Bruce’s wife, and it unfolds through nightmarish visions, and flashbacks. It’s also amplified by Bruce’s unbearable guilt and self disgust that prompts him to beat himself up whenever he’s failed to find someone to unleash his fury on. Carrer is a talented visionary, and “The Demolisher” is a unique, intense, and often times very compelling analysis on the nature of revenge.