Shortly before the whole COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States, back when I was still able to actually go to a theater and watch movies, I saw a preview for a movie called Guns Akimbo that I thought looked decent. Of course, I was kind of skeptical about how well the movie would be when I realized that I wasn’t wrong in my initial belief that the main actor was none other than Daniel Radcliffe. Mind you, he’s done a great job distancing himself from his former child star role of the wizard-who-shall-not-be-named-for-legal-reasons. The only similarities between his former character are his being a huge nerd and the fact that he gets picked on a lot.
But, I digress. Moving on.
Guns Akimbo is a crazy combination of Kickass (2010) and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010). It follows the life of computer geek, Miles (Radcliffe) who’s recently separated from his lady love, Nova (Natasha Liu Bordizzo), and who hates his job, so he takes out his misery by trolling trolls online. His current target: Skizm, an underground death match that’s being run through Miles’ city and streamed online for viewers to consume and comment on. Which is where Miles gets into trouble.
In the game, one killer reigns supreme: Nix (Samara Weaving of Ready or Not). She’s a drug addicted asylum escapee looking to disappear. She’s hard to kill, easy to piss off, and yes, you will hear power-up sound effects every time she snorts something.
Back to Miles.
He’s trolled the wrong troll and gotten on the wrong side of the Skizm controller, Riktor (Ned Dennehy from Bad Omens). He and his gang pay Miles a visit, drug him, bolt some handguns to his hands, then leave him in his bathrobe and boxers on his bed. When he wakes up, things get progressively, yet hilariously, worse.
The Bottom Line:
Overall, Guns Akimbo is just a crazy, fun, shoot-em-up movie that makes for some great quarantine entertainment. A Few things here…
1) Is the movie original? Yeah, not so much. We’ve seen these dangerous game type movies a lot over the years. It still manages to be interesting.
2) Is it going to win any awards? Again, no. Although, I think Radcliffe should at least get an Oscar nod for his performance. It had me rolling and cringing (you’ll see and wish you hadn’t).
3) Is the movie worth seeing? Hell yes. Its bloody, gory, slapsticky, insane, and filled with some pretty awesome one liners. Sure, it’s predictable as hell, but it’s worth it.
Ultimately, it exceeded my expectations. It was enjoyable to watch even if I did cringe at some of the dick shots, but only some. Again, not bad at all for some mindless quarantine entertainment. Go grab a digital copy and give it a shot. Puns intended. – 7.5/10
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Hannah Collins
Staff Writer: Nerd Nation Magazine
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