A very hard watch, similar to Passion of the Christ. Probably won't want to watch it more than once every few years but the first time through is well worth it. Needless to say, but it's not family friendly by any means. But if you're fascinated by the dark underbelly of society, and want to be entertained by it without the clichรฉ Tony Montana tragic story arch, or a glorification of degenerates, then this is the film for you.
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Well, there is a karma element to the plot, but
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Basically, the film is showing the audience, ( through amazing cinematography and color choices), that God is always with Vince's character. It goes from blue to green, to red/orange. And even when they are in the depths of f**ked up scenarios, God is there with them. For example, when
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But that leads me to the other minor subplot that seems to be very Libertarian. There are several lines of dialogue that point out how corrupt the Prison Industrial Complex is and depict the (Statist) police forces as being motivated by sadism and not actual justice. Which is why
Back to the Libertarian themes: the red arm bands were unmistakeable nods to nazis. Personally, I'm not much of a Libertarian anymore and any nazi parallels feel overdone, but I am still sympathetic to the anti-police sentiments portrayed so I can dig it. It adds some depth to the film instead of some cuckservative rightwing propaganda.
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Furthermore, the Korean guy, the Soros guy, and the racist White drug dealer were all very realistic. For the first time in many years, I could suspend disbelief and get immersed in a plot without some token anti-stereotype like a Black doctor deus ex machina that saves the day in a Chinese town. However, aside from the artsy cinematography, the realism of this film makes the gore hit hard.
Prepare yourself for a doozy and buckle up, fren.
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MAJOR SPOILERS BELOW!
Click to reveal screenshots of color symbolism for analysis.