As the film gets off to a heart-racing start, it immediately identifies itself as an uber-cool action-comedy — what else should be expected from a film with a name like Guns Akimbo? Starring an uber un-cool Daniel Radcliffe and written/directed by Jason Lei Howden, Guns Akimbo is the kind of movie for gamers and gamers alone — the title, Guns Akimbo, references dual-wielding in gaming, after all. She ain’t pretty, and she might not be the most clever, but by gosh is this film fun. It’s immature and over-the-top, but since it is seemingly aware of its bro-ish nature Guns Akimbo can be readily enjoyed for your respite between Ingmar Bergmann films.

Guns Akimbo follows Miles (Daniel Radcliffe), a nobody Coder-monkey for a mobile app during the day who unwinds by trolling forums for the popular internet reality show, “Skizm”, a real-life battle royale that is filmed live via drone webcasts. One day, Miles is kidnapped and forced into participating in the latest battle, and what’s more, guns have been surgically attached to his hands, making it difficult to do anything but shoot. His opponent, Nix (Samara Weaving), is a troubled, psychotic criminal who is the crowd favorite and relentlessly chases down Miles. When the puppetmaster of the game, Riktor (Ned Dennehy), makes things personal by bringing Miles’ beloved into the fray, Miles finds the fighter within himself to face the onslaught of violence head-on.

Just think of Guns Akimbo as a culmination of the modern “cool” films — character styling and industrial/synth soundtrack reminiscent of a Luc Besson film with the nauseatingly fast-action camerawork of a Guy Ritchie Film, furthermore. The atmosphere and premise remind me of those underappreciated 2009 stunners Gamer and Crank 2 who, like Guns Akimbo, seem to provide some social commentary on our internet culture, gun worship, and man’s ever-insatiable appetite for bloodsport. Let’s not forget the comedy in this movie as the film is hilarious, and there is a distinct Deadpool-style tone to the dialogue. The film is a videogamer’s wet-dream — drones, high-speed chases, punchy one-liners, darkly chic villains are non-stop full throttle once the bloody games begin.

At least kickass women do not have to be dolled up and traipsed about in booty shorts to be badass and sexy in this film; Samara Weaving as Nix was killer, literally and figuratively. I’ve seen each Harry Potter movie too many times and, as a result, have a soft spot for Daniel Radcliffe — he’s since done horror and even nudity, but for some reason, it is this movie that puts him in a whole new light to me. He is awesome, as usual! My only problem with this movie is its villain — the villain is very important to the success of a film, however, in Guns Akimbo, Riktor never found the right balance between cartoony and menacing and was sadly lacking in the latter. Otherwise, while recognizing Guns Akimbo for what it is — the millennial’s answer to the one-man army protagonist — this movie is entertaining.

The badassery of this film cannot be contained — Guns Akimbo is a non-stop, hard-punching, blood-splattering thrill ride. Each new fight scene is like a new level of chaos, upping the ante on guns and violence as the film unfolds to its final showdown and cheeky ending… tsk tsk for the unearned ‘sequel possibility’ ending. The lines between goodie and baddie become blurred, and by the end, you will be cheering for some very anti anti-heroes. Thanks to film distributors Saban Films, Jason Lei Howden’s action-comedy Guns Akimbo has an upcoming limited theatrical release date on February 28, 2020.

MOVIE RATING — 7 out of 10 ☠️