Popular reviews

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  Review by AshCrow ★★★★ 2

  Don't want to die? Don't be born.

  Johnny Mad Dog kommt zwar in Sachen stilisierter Inszenierung nicht an andere Filme mit Kindersoldaten Thematik wie Beasts of No Nation oder MONOS ran, überzeugt aber dafür mit ungeschönter und roher Authentizität.

  Fast schon dokumentarisch gibt Johnny Mad Dog realistische und brutale Einblicke in den Alltag von Kindersoldaten. Von Gehirnwäsche über falsche Versprechungen oder dem vorgaukeln von Unbesiegbarkeit durch die einnahme von Drogen. Ein verrohends Bild der Jugendlichen wird gezeichnet die wie wilde Tiere durch die Straßen ziehen. Morden, Vergewaltigen, Verhören und Plündern sind an der Tagesordnung während sie in bunt zusammengewürfelten Outfits Angst und Schrecken verbreiten. Einen freien Willen oder eine eigene Identität hat hier anscheinend niemand mehr, die sind genauso in…

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  Review by Cory 🤍 ★★★★

  “You don’t want to die, don’t be born”

  Bleak, raw, intense, powerful, realistic, violent, depressing, savage, hopeless, and terrifying depiction of civil war.

  With a cast of unknown but convincing young actors, many of which are actual former child soldiers, the acting is what makes this truly stand out.

  This felt like a combination of Come and See (1985) and City of God (2002).

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  Review by pascal klos 1

  
  
                    
                                          Identitätsverlust 

                                             Abstumpfung 

                                           Identitätssuche 

  
  Realistisches Abbild von Kindern und Jugenlichen die durch einen Krieg zu Maschinen "erzogen" wurden. Ihnen wird zuerst ihre Familie und ihre Identität genommen, um sie anschließend zu gewissenlosen Mördern auszubilden. Gehirnwäsche und Drogen beschleunigen den perfiden Prozess. Das Endprodukt ist ein Soldat im Körper eines Kindes, was…

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  Review by mook ★★★ 4

  This loosely plotted snapshot of child soldiers is authentic, bleak and violent but I had the same issue with this that I had with 'Waltz with Bashir' – lack of context. I didn't know what country this was taking place in, who or what the rebels were fighting against, if there were more groups of child soldiers like the one this film follows and if the rebels were on the 'right' side.

  After watching it I looked up the film to find out it takes place in Liberia during their Second Civil War (1999-2003) and the rebels were supported by the UK and US. If I had known this before the film it mightn't added a bit more interest for me... 6/10.

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  Review by IV ★★★★★

  Absolutely incredible. I don’t think there was a moment that I did not have the chills. It was almost too much.. I honestly considered turning it off as my mental capacity for this brand of terrible is already brimming the cup..

  As awful as this was, I could see it again. 

  
  (Similar to my last entry, I had to order this DVD from the UK. I think it’s on YouTube if you don’t wanna go through the trouble.)

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  Review by Ronan Doyle ★★★½ 3

  Cards on the table from the get-go: I'd not even heard of Liberia before sitting down to watch this. Such is the wartorn horror of so many African nations; they can be ravaged by the worst examples of human unkindness all while we don't even realise they exist in the first place. This film very deliberately never states its setting, insinuating that this could well be any country in the region, so widespread is the extent of cruelty and hatred. The cast of former child soldiers adds to the realism of the situation, and coupled with some impressive effects they manage to fully sell the verité style and make us feel as though we are caught up in the throes…

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  Review by Tom Morton ★★★★

  Terrifying, brutal, raw stuff - a war movie that not only mostly stars children, but a lot of them are children who had actually fought in the war being depicted. No wonder it feels so frighteningly authentic, even if the idea of people this young killing OTHER people this young seems like something that should absolutely never have happened, anywhere.

  Everything is so punchy and fierce, the sound design is amazing - some of the most wince-inducing gunshots and explosions I've heard in a while. The young cast do an amazing job - I don't know what proportion of them are effectively playing themselves but there are some incredible characters. Johnny is the leader of a unit, and his second-in-command…

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  Review by fatpie42 ★★★★½

  I went into this expecting it to be a really horrible and shocking film and, in many ways, it is. The easiest thing is to provide you with the synopsis:
  Fifteen-year-old Johnny Mad Dog heads a platoon of soldiers who are younger than he is. Charged with overtaking a city in an attempt to unseat the government, Johnny leads this band of killers on a murderous rampage toward their destination. Meanwhile, the studious Laokolé lives with her young brother and disabled father and dreams of a better life- until Johnny's hurricane of destruction comes her way.

  Shot in Liberia, many of the phenomenal young actors actually lived through conflicts similar to those in the film. They bring the weight of…

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  Review by Liam Hathaway ★★★

  A gruelling war drama which showcases how children in the poorest countries of Africa are taken away from their families, indoctrinated, given guns and are made to fight. The film feels so raw and visceral that you can't help but wonder why the filmmakers didn't simply make a documentary instead - it would have been twice as compelling.

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  Review by hannahdodson 1

  My uncle wrote this but then didn’t put me in it…. I’m sick. :/

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  Review by deathtrap47 ★★★★

  Johnny Mad Dog is an intense roller coaster of brutality. Children being told their invincible to exploit them on the battlefield. It’s all terrible and all upsetting. I’m happy they added the perspective of the little girl running from the violence. It was aspect of innocents fighting to survive and what the repercussions of this fighting has on people.

  Really surprised to see that not many people have seen this one.

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  Review by Juan Bacaro ★★★½

  Otro rewatch de fin de semana. Vi esta película hace 4 años.

  Suerte de amasijo despiadado entre la infancia despedazada -y niños haciendo interpretaciones impecables- al mejor estilo de la infausta "Turtles can fly" y el plomo y la dureza de la favela brasilera en la violenta "Cidade de Deus". Pero, esto sucede en otro lado ...en el continente africano.

  Buen trabajo que, curiosamente, es el único largo de un director llamado Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire.

  La película obtuvo un premio llamado Regard Hope, en Cannes, en su edición de 2008.

  Nunca es grato ver a un infante armado. Aquí todos lo están. Esto constituye solo un abreboca dentro del arsenal de trágicas historias de niños soldados.

  Para armar el tríptico perfecto de ficciones sobre este tipo de dramas salvajes en el contexto africano se puede ver entonces "Jerusalema" y "Munyurangabo". También se puede sumar "Rebelle" (conocida como "War Witch"), que incluso llegó al Óscar en 2013.