Bull
British crime flick gorily shows that revenge is sick.
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I’ve always been a sucker for a good old-fashioned revenge yarn … whether it’s Charles Bronson in the “Death Wish” pictures, Dolph Lundgren in “The Punisher” (1989), Thomas Jane in “The Punisher” (2004), Ray Stevenson in “Punisher: War Zone,” Uma Thurman in “Kill Bill” or Keanu Reeves in the “John Wick” flicks. “Bull” (now playing in select theaters and available on VOD) is the latest entry in our lengthy revenge cannon and it’s a particularly nasty exercise in the subgenre.
Bull (Neil Maskell, he played Winston Churchill on “Peaky Blinders”) is a mob enforcer who unwisely chose to mix his personal and professional lives by marrying Gemma (Lois Brabin-Platt), daughter of crime boss Norm (David Hayman of “Sid and Nancy”). When Gemma’s drugging worsens, Bull seeks sole custody of their son Aiden (Henri Charles). This doesn’t sit well with Gemma or Norm, who alongside fellow gangsters Carnie (David Constant), Marco (Jason Milligan) and Beardy (David Nellist) makes an attempt on Bull’s life leaving him for dead. We flash forward 10 years with Bull returning from exile to take out the trash and reunite with Aiden.
As written and directed by Paul Andrew Williams (“London to Brighton”), “Bull” is simple story told relatively simply. It’s most commendable elements are the ferocious performances of Maskell and Hayman, the originality of some of its kills (Bull cuts a dude on a Tilt-A-Whirl and the ride’s momentum speeds up his bleed out, Bull places a pillow on another cat’s face and sits atop it suffocating him) and the agency of some of its female characters (Brabin-Platt’s Gemma isn’t a damsel in distress – she opts to dirty her hands). This female agency doesn’t come without consequences however – it’s disquieting to watch Bull dispatch women with knives and guns just as soon and just as brutally as he would their male counterparts. Bull’s also not above threatening the children of those who did him wrong.
A last minute plot twist paints the whole picture in an entirely different light and calls to mind a beloved cult favorite from the early-to-mid 1990s. Fans of early Ben Wheatley efforts such as “Down Terrace” and “Kill List” (which also starred Maskell) will likely respond to “Bull.” It’s lean (a scant 87 minutes), mean and offers little else in between. “Bull” gives audiences the jolts inherent to the revenge subgenre while simultaneously rubbing our faces in and judging us for enjoying the ugliness at hand.