Movies often take us on remarkable journeys, filled with engaging plots or compelling characters. “Citizen Vigilante,” however, opts for a different route—one that dabbles in the absurd and raises more eyebrows than applause. Directed by Alan Smithee, this film stars Armie Hammer in a role arguably as questionable as the movie’s entire narrative. One might say the film is so bad it’s funny—literally, laughter erupts in moments you wouldn’t expect.
Hammer’s role comes after a period of personal and professional challenges, seeing him as a vigilante roaming an unspecified European locale, perhaps Croatia. With a plot thick with vigilante justice tropes, he targets criminals and the flawed justice system that frees them. If the name sounds oddly familiar, it might be because this is essentially “Death Wish” on a European holiday, only with less coherence and more bullet-riddled SWAT teams.
The film takes every opportunity to lecture and moralize, as if the audience needs reminding about the collapse of social order—a topic as fresh as last year’s bread. Picture this: Hammer’s character lecturing a drugged judge in what can only be described as a mobile kangaroo court, discussing justice laws in a car ride destined for doom. It’s as if the plot has been trapped in a time loop of misguided righteousness.
Now, let’s talk tactics. One particularly “memorable” scene has our rogue hero mowing down not one, but two SWAT teams, from the safety of a homemade fortress packed with enough firepower to rival a small army. Based on this film’s logic, Team B was a thing. When laughably unrealistic moments fill your script, you know you have cinematic gold—or bronze, if we’re being generous.
True, the movie indulges in the exploration of dark themes. The protagonist isn’t squeaky clean, nor is he meant to be. There’s a raw grit to the grim narrative, mistakenly making its anti-hero not a knight in shining armor but rather a muddied, tarnished pawn. In its muddled way, the movie argues if lawful justice falters, society may find themselves drawn to these dubious figures of authority. It’s an interesting cultural observation, albeit one dressed in a series of cinema blunders.
The picture hasn’t just sparked debate over its quality, but over the broader implications of speech and artistic expression. Should movies present and even romanticize such vigilante fantasies? Some say yes, inviting diverse voices into our cultural conversation. Others, like the gallant Douglas Murray, urge caution, worried these narratives may inspire real-world imitation. Yet, with Hollywood’s monopoly on creativity under challenge by new technologies, voices previously muted by convention now have a microphone—or perhaps a bullhorn. Somewhere behind the stumbles, stories like “Citizen Vigilante” hint at a shifting tide in our cultural storytelling. So, in a twist worthy of its own bizarre script, this dreadful movie might just be a harbinger of a new era of uncensored creativity, one sharp edge at a time.
