Montana | Film review - Vigilante killer Lars takes a lippy orphan under his wing

Montana Lars Mikkelsen McKell David 1.jpg

Ludicrous revenge thriller Montana finds Lars Mikkelsen’s vigilante assassin taking lippy East London orphan McKell David under his wing and training him in the killing trade as he seeks to bring down the Serbian gang lord who slaughtered his wife and son during the Bosnian war two decades before. Cue mawkish surrogate-father/son bonding and unconvincing training montages. Mikkelsen somehow retains a dour dignity, but co-star David is flimsy, as are the script, direction and most of the supporting cast of bent coppers and trigger-happy henchmen, including those urban crime regulars Ashley Walters and Adam Deacon.

Certificate 15. Runtime 106 mins. Director Mo Ali

Montana is available on DVD from Entertainment One and is currently showing on Sky Store.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8zngfWiVqc

Jason Best

A film critic for over 25 years, Jason admits the job can occasionally be glamorous – sitting on a film festival jury in Portugal; hanging out with Baz Luhrmann at the Chateau Marmont; chatting with Sigourney Weaver about The Archers – but he mostly spends his time in darkened rooms watching films. He’s also written theatre and opera reviews, two guide books on Rome, and competed in a race for Yachting World, whose great wheeze it was to send a seasick film critic to write about his time on the ocean waves. But Jason is happiest on dry land with a classic screwball comedy or Hitchcock thriller.