One technical issue that vexed me right from the start was the ballistics of a gunshot. The angle of the barrel of the gun was all wrong in relation to the inflicted damage displayed. What so greatly bothered me about this is how easy a thing it would have been to correct. Unfortunately, some minor blocking issues were not the worst of it.
The most glaring shortcomings of Can’t Kill This sadly lie with the latter half of the script. The majority of the film is spent on the trail, hunting the immortal Joe, which is inherently compelling. Seeing all the ways this man touched the lives of people through the years is almost awe-inspiring. But when that goal is finally and expectantly achieved, the movie has no idea what to do next.
“The acting matches the over the top and wacky nature of the film…”
No attempt is made to explore who Joe is, what his origins are, or how he came to be immortal in the first place. It feels like a wasted opportunity to bring real substance to the proceedings. The route that was taken instead results in such a massive tonal shift for the ending, that it feels like we’re no longer watching the same film as when we started.
I admire Can’t Kill This for its acting, production values, and the overall work that clearly went into it. But in my opinion, a movie lives and dies by the story it’s trying to tell. And contrary to its title, the story is dead on arrival. Scargiali needed to take a bit more time to develop the character of Joe and find a satisfying resolution to the story. As it is, it is a harmless goof of a film that may entertain some upon first viewing.
"…bouts of violence were so visceral and unexpected that I could not help but wince."
