Uwe Boll’s Controversial Film on Immigrant Violence Takes Dreadfulness to New Heights
Uwe Boll has long been known as a notoriously bad director, and his latest film, *Citizen Vigilante*, continues that legacy in spectacularly awful fashion. This anti-immigration action flick is so poorly executed that it demands to be dissected, if only to ensure it doesn’t slip by unnoticed. While the film is rife with racism, misogyny, and a blatant dehumanization of immigrants, it’s also a laughably incompetent production in every conceivable way.
The premise of *Citizen Vigilante* sounds like it could lead to a coherent story: Armie Hammer plays Sanders, a man on a mission to avenge the murders of wives and mothers across Europe, supposedly at the hands of “undocumented immigrants.” He embarks on a violent quest to exact revenge on every illegal immigrant and their defenders. However, the film fails to deliver even this basic plot outline, instead presenting a disjointed series of poorly crafted scenes.
The film opens with a cold open featuring a woman’s brutal death in a Croatian city, immediately establishing a sense of place with the word “EUROPE” plastered across the screen. After this shocking moment, we’re treated to a painfully slow 40 minutes of almost nothing happening. The nameless woman’s death is quickly forgotten, and we’re informed through a poorly executed news segment that a vigilante is on the loose. Instead of witnessing any of this supposed spree, we’re subjected to scenes of a police chief and his heavily armed squad trying to catch the killer, interspersed with random, unconnected interactions involving Sanders.
In one particularly tedious bus scene, Sanders confronts a group of unruly teenagers who refuse to pay their fare. Instead of taking action, he delivers a long-winded lecture about the economic consequences of fare evasion. This is the kind of riveting content we’re forced to endure.
As the film drags on, we see Sanders visit a brothel, where instead of committing violence, he engages in a painfully dull negotiation over the price of sex. The scene takes an absurd turn when he stops mid-encounter to lecture the woman about mold and ventilation. This bizarre moment is just one of many that highlight the film’s utter lack of coherence.
The first act of violence doesn’t occur until 45 minutes in, when Sanders ambushes a group of police officers in a ludicrously staged shootout. The officers stand in a neat row, making it easy for Sanders to mow them down in a drawn-out sequence that’s more comical than thrilling. The film’s portrayal of violence is cartoonish, with exaggerated bloodshed that feels more like a parody than a serious action scene.
As the narrative continues, Sanders reveals himself to be a slumlord, demanding that his staff evict tenants who are late on rent, even if it’s illegal. This portrayal is baffling, as we’re meant to sympathize with a character who is clearly in the wrong. His interactions with various families and victims of crime are equally disjointed, lacking any meaningful connection to the overall plot.
The film takes a dark turn when Sanders confronts a Muslim family whose son was convicted of rape but released into rehabilitation. In a shocking and morally repugnant scene, he shoots the boy and then murders the entire family, justifying his actions with a twisted rationale about their “archaic value system.” This moment is the only instance where the film’s supposed theme of vigilante justice is actually depicted, yet it’s presented in such a grotesque manner that it feels more like a failed attempt at shock value than a coherent narrative.
Ultimately, *Citizen Vigilante* is a jumbled mess that fails to deliver on its premise. The editing is so poor that scenes often repeat from different angles, and the overall structure is nonsensical. Hammer’s performance is lackluster, and the supporting cast appears bewildered by the material they’re given.
While the film is undeniably racist and Islamophobic, it does so in such a clumsy way that it alienates even the audience it seems to target. Instead of a straightforward action film about a vigilante killing immigrants, viewers are treated to a bizarre exploration of mundane topics like ventilation and economic theory. The film culminates in a final scene that suggests viewers should take up Sanders’ mantle of violence, leaving a deeply unsettling message.
In the end, *Citizen Vigilante* is a painful experience, filled with dull moments and a few grotesque scenes that don’t justify the overall tedium. It’s a film that’s best left unwatched, as its few memorable moments are overshadowed by the overwhelming sense of boredom and incoherence that permeates the entire production.
