Movie Review: Mayhem (2017)

Synopsis: When the law firm he works for messes up on a major legal case, Derek Cho is made the fall guy and is fired. As he is being escorted out by security, the building is put in lockdown because of the "Red Eye" virus, a pathogen that causes those it infects to lose their inhibitions and act out their impulses. Knowing the disease makes him immune to prosecution for anything he does while infected, Cho decides to get revenge on his former boss, John Towers, and enlists help from Melanie Cross, a woman who is about to lose her house because of a bank the firm represents. However, they only have eight hours until the virus is no longer a viable defense, getting to his former boss on the top floor requires going through a lot of security and Towers is using the same strategy to try to get rid of Cho first.

Who's in it? The movie stars Steven Yeun, Samara Weaving, Steven Brand, Caroline Chikezie and Kerry Fox.

Review: I added Mayhem to my movie library a couple weeks ago mostly because I recognized the lead actors and figured it, at minimum, might be a movie that is entertaining just from being so bad. My wife and I watched it last night and I was half right. The movie was entertaining but because it was surprisingly good.

I think the thing I liked most about this film is the characters are relatable. I mean, who hasn't wanted to get revenge on a bad boss who made your life a living hell or a creditor that wouldn't give you a break when you needed one? Cho (Yeun) and Cross (Weaving) are given that chance and take full advantage of it.

The other thing that makes this movie work is it doesn't try to overthink things or make the plot too complicated. There's not a lot of downtime once the building is put in quarantine and the pair begin their 9-floor ascent to extract their revenge. It's also a nice mix of violence too, sometimes they are shooting people with nail guns, other times killing them with saws and every once in a while, it's just a fist fight. 

The Yeun/Weaving pairing works well. The sex scene between their two characters was a bit awkward and probably not needed but they had a nice dynamic at all other points in the film. I especially liked how, despite their shared agenda, they couldn't fully trust each other either because it was unclear just how much the virus would impact that loyalty and, after Cho turned down Cross' hardship request on her loan, it wasn't exactly as though they were friends to start.

What helps this movie even more though are the main villains, Towers (Brand) and the woman who framed Cho, Karen Powell (Chikezie). They were intelligent, evil and proactive, not content letting Cho come to them and instead taking added precautions to ensure he never made it to the ninth floor. Movies like this only work if the villain is worthy.

Final Opinion: The film more than exceeded my expectations and was both fun and entertaining. It might be a bit too gory for some people but otherwise is worth taking the time to watch.

My Grade: A

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