Old Man 2

You can’t keep an old man down in writer-director Mark Battle’s action short, Old Man 2. Having never seen Old Man, I assume it ends where this one picks up. Our hero, the elderly Buster (John Mason), is locked up at the Lockthorn Nursing Facility, run by the evil Dr. Radley Lockthorn (Fabio Falorni). Buster is about to bust out the only way he knows… blow the place up.

During the explosion, Lockthorn is severely disfigured. He’s rushed to the hospital to treat his half-blown-off face. On the way, Lockthorn transforms into a powerful sociopath and promptly kills the attending medic. Buster is flung into a nearby forest dumpster. The blast seems to have corrected his back issues, and he can now walk. On the search for his buddy Doc (Mark Battle), Buster must fend off Lockthorn’s henchmen.

“On the search for his buddy Doc, Buster must fend off Lockthorn’s henchmen.”

It might surprise you that a film from Negative Budget Productions may not have much of a budget. Old Man 2 is a load of DIY action fun. On the positive side, the camera work is crisp and clean, giving this B-movie a professional look and feel. Ultimately, this is a team of middle-aged Rambos having fun making a gory action movie. Dr. Lockthorn’s disfigured face is cheap and cheesy but effective. The action is over-the-top cat-and-mouse type chases using hypodermic needles as the weapons of choice. Some CG and time-tested camera tricks string the action together.

I don’t know the cast’s previous work, but what they may lack in experience, they more than make up for in pure gusto. Mason holds nothing back as our pure who-the-f**k-cares hero. This allows Falorni and his henchmen to run into the snow to amp up the chaos. I did mention the gore already, right?

We’re not quite getting Liam Neeson or Jason Statham middle-aged action, but we do get a sit back and relax action-comedy making for a quick, fun evening. In fact, if you watch Old Man 2  and think you can do better, put your money where your mouth is and do it. These guys did.