Paintball and Running Around with Your Head Cut Off: A Movie Review

Director: Daniel Benmayor.

Writer: Mario Schoendorff.

Paintball is a film shot in Spain by first time director Daniel Benmayor. Partially produced by European film company Filmax, Paintball was released on DVD in North America late in 2010. The film is amateurish early with little character development, while this horror train begins to pick up speed by the last third of the film. But will the pacing issues, lack of characterizations, and poor acting get viewers to the final act? This reviewer barely made it; yet, others will likely get off at the first available station.

Several semi-pro paintballers head out into the local mountains for a weekend of fun and simulated battle good times. Set to capture the opponents flags, this squad, led by David (Brendan Mackey) do everything wrong in the paintball rule book. Soon masks are hanging loosely around necks, characters are screaming, while few characters use cover, to protect themselves from future welts. Then, the pacing issues begin. Starting slowly and then adding in some early action, the film seems to start and stop, as if searching for its legs. Understandably, this is Benmayor's first film, but the lack of continuity in the flow of the film makes watching this piece a little frustrating. More problems arise, however.

What is one way to make audiences feel apathy towards the characters on the screen? There are many answers to this question. However, Paintball gives almost no intro' to the characters and their histories are not detailed in anyway. The masks make identifying characters difficult and with everyone screaming, who really cares about them anyways? If you are in a battle for your life against an adversary using real bullets, then show some courage or mental toughness. Writer Mario Schoendorff either painted these actors to be hysterical most of the time, or actors Jennifer Matter, Patrick Regis and others did not take Horror 101. Continuous screaming and crying simply gets annoying after 40-50 minutes.

Most of the actors in this film have had some previous experience in this genre. Yet, the believability of the character's actions or reactions is not there. If you were introduced to a real life game of war, would you scream and wave your arms around, in the open? Hopefully, you said no to this question, but the performances from the actors or the coaching from the filmmakers is deficient. Late in the piece, thermal imagery shows some interesting blood effects and the finale is worthy of note; however, the missteps early in the film dampen the entertainment value of this piece. There will be or have not been any Oscar nominations here.

Finally, the final scenes are climactic and the addition of a caring voice via radio heighten the intensity of the film. But, the foibles of this piece outnumber the film elements that are choreographed correctly. Much like a dumbed down Surviving the Game (1994), Paintball offers unbelievable action, with characters doing everything in their power to remove themselves from the screen. When the characters are finally offed, your reaction might be a simple shrug, which is not the reaction one wants from an intense thriller.

Acting/believability: 5.5 (beyond dumb).
Writing/plot/story: 6 (an interesting premise, not utilized fully).

Overall: 5.75 (watch it when the film releases on television).

Skip this one, unless you are really forgiving:



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Posted in: 2011,movie review