Matrixston Wow! Such a good movie.

Evengyny Thanks for the memories!

Voxitype Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Adeel Hail Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

torstensonjohn Most viewers will be pleasantly surprised with the plot and character ark of this film. It has a good pace and really does not drop off anywhere throughout the film. If your a fan of Mel Gibson (or even if your not), he is true to form like in Lethal Weapon or Ransom. He looks to be in amazing shape and his character comes across gritty, worn, and heart broke. Like a soul wandering through the world looking for meaning. His daughter is played by Erin Moriarty who showcases great range and emotion through the story. truly great performances on both ends. There is action/drama/and some raw humor. What the lengths a father will go to protect his daughter is defined here.

Phil Hubbs Apparently this movie is based on a novel of the same name and a French action thriller. I did not know this and I'm surprised. Surprised that's its a French made movie because I certainly didn't get that vibe in the trailers. And I'm surprised at yet another novel adaptation, like almost every other flick!Again the plot is nothing really original (a rarity these days), its main hook is the fact we see old Mel Gibson back in action again. The plot starts with Lydia (Erin Moriarty) who is in a relationship with a gang leader called Jonah (Diego Luna). During a hit on some tenants Jonah claims stole money from them, Lydia accidentally shoots Jonah. Thinking she's killed him she runs off and gets in contact with her ex-convict father John (Gibson). Lydia explains the situation and John decides to look after Lydia at his trailer house in the middle of nowhere (hoping no one will find them). Alas Jonah's gang members come after Lydia and drag John into the fray. What follows is a somewhat slow moving chase thriller as John must protect Lydia from the gang out for revenge.I think the problem with this movie is the fact it doesn't really offer anything new (plus it literally feels like it could be another movie about old man Wolverine/Logan). Gibson's character is your standard gruff, hardassed, tattooed, ex-con who's turned his life around and deep down has a good heart. His slutty looking daughter Lydia is your typical slutty looking mouthy teen, who has gotten herself into sh*t and needs her daddy to bail her out. All the while being somewhat ungrateful about it along the way. The bad guys are your stereotypical tattooed Latino gangsters. And most of the folk we meet along the way are all scruffy looking redneck biker types, complete with some Nazi and Confederate imagery for good measure.As the story unfolds its not hard to guess what's gonna happen really. Obviously at first John and Lydia are a tad distant, Lydia doesn't completely trust John, and John wants to ween Lydia off the drugs and alcohol she's hooked on. It really is the all the usual beats. John must ask favours from various friends, some good like Kirby (William H. Macy) and some not so good like Preacher (Michael Parks). Speaking of stereotypical characters, Preacher has his own biker garage/club set up where he sells all his (Nazi and Confederate) war memorabilia. You know straight away not to trust this bloke. Anyway as time passes John and Lydia grow closer together until at the end Lydia realises how much she loves and needs John (naturally when its too late).I guess the million Dollar question was, was the films main selling point of Mel Gibson being the anti-hero protagonist enough? Could Gibson still deliver a knockout? In my opinion the answer to that would yes and no. Lets not beat around the bush here, Gibson has clearly changed his image in recent years. He's clearly been hitting the gym and getting roided up (health issues at his age?). Anyway performance-enhancing drugs aside, Gibson does look good despite the ravages of time on his looks. Strangely enough he actually looks even more badass in his old age and possibly even more of a better fit for an aged Wolverine.Gibson definitely dishes out a solid weighty performance bursting with raw scary beardy-faced energy. In fact his beard is almost its own character, its an awesome beard, the white patch on his chin being the clear highlight. So much so that when he shaves it off his character noticeably becomes less interesting. All of a sudden we lose the unhinged, wide-eyed, muscular, Wolverine-esque, bearded one. And we're left with a boring looking Mel Gibson from 'Payback' (1999). The thing is I believe you could swap out Gibson with any number of decent action thriller actors such as...Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe or Liam Neeson, and probably get the same result. So even though I liked Gibson in this movie, I'd say his presence wasn't a make or break factor.Overall I'd have to say I was actually somewhat disappointed with this movie. The trailer was pretty epic and kinda gave me the wrong impression really. I was expecting a more rock 'em, sock 'em action flick top heavy with kickassery. But what you get is a more heartfelt, slow paced drama with the odd burst of action that isn't really that good. Yes its authentic, its not over the top and stupid, but I just got the impression we'd be seeing more of Gibson kicking ass. We actually see very little of Gibson kicking ass which seems a waste considering all that muscle he's packed on. In the end the movie finishes as you knew it would do, in fact I'm sure we've all seen the same ending before in other movies. I can't help but think this could have been a really stonking gritty action flick, but Gibson wanted to show his acting chops (which aren't quite there I'm afraid). Its by no means a bad film or a mediocre film, its a very solid film, just not as good as the posters and trailers make out.7/10

seymourblack-1 Most people will expect "Blood Father" to be a modest, run-of-the-mill, action thriller with an uninspiring story but it's actually much better than that. Whilst its plot wouldn't win any prizes for originality, its fast pace, brilliant dialogue and well-choreographed action sequences make it compelling to watch and a storming performance by Mel Gibson (who does anger and frustration so well), adds plenty of intensity and edginess. The well-drawn characters at the centre of the story are a father and daughter who have to go on the run together and their unorthodox relationship and entertaining banter provide a great deal of interest and enjoyment as they both gradually discover that they're actually much closer to their own redemptions than either of them realise.Lydia Link (Erin Moriarty), a teenager who ran away from home a few years earlier, is living with her 30-year-old boyfriend, Jonah (Diego Luna). He's a drug dealer with family connections to a Mexican drug cartel and as part of his operation, uses a number of "stash houses" in which he stores some of his merchandise. When it appears that the drugs in one of the houses have gone missing, Jonah and his gang, accompanied by Lydia, go there and terrorise the tenants. When this doesn't produce any useful information, Jonah kills the man of the house and having given Lydia a gun, orders her to shoot the woman. After a few moments of hesitation and panic, Lydia accidentally shoots Jonah in the neck and thinking that she's killed him, immediately goes on the run. Terrified and with no-one else to turn to, she phones her estranged father, John (Mel Gibson), and asks him for money and whatever help he can give her.John Link is an ex-con and recovering alcoholic who lives in a trailer park and earns money as a tattoo artist. His only remaining friend is Kirby Curtis (William H Macy) who is his AA sponsor and lives in one of the neighbouring trailers. After his long career as a criminal, John is desperately trying to go straight and live a peaceful life but when his long-lost daughter contacts him for help, he can't refuse.After meeting up with Lydia, John takes her back to his trailer where he thinks she can lay low for a while but this soon proves to be impossible when some members of Jonah's gang turn up and demand that she be handed over to them. When John refuses, they ram and topple over his trailer with their SUV and it's only when some of his armed neighbours appear on the scene that the gang eventually decides to retreat. Realising that there's no way that they can safely remain at his home; John decides to go on the run with Lydia to escape the danger that she's in from Jonah's gang. It soon becomes clear however, that her predicament is worse than they realised as she's also being pursued by a Mexican drug cartel hit-man and the police who are following up their investigations into what happened at the stash house. A number of very tense and dangerous situations then follow as John and Lydia repeatedly come close to being killed before events lead them to the story's final, violent confrontation.One of the surprises of this movie is how well the relationship between John and Lydia is depicted as, after years apart, they rapidly build up a rapport which often involves sarcasm on John's part whenever he realises that his daughter has made so many of the same mistakes that he's made in his life. Despite the hard-boiled nature of some of their exchanges, the underlying affection that they feel for each other is constantly apparent and the subtlety with which this is conveyed is one of the most impressive features of Gibson and Moriarty's performances."Blood Father" is full of humour and witty one-liners (e.g. "she's every loser's lucky day" and "Kid, you've got the mindset of a battered housewife") and is also well-directed with great use being made of its locations and a neat symmetry being achieved by the similarity of Gibson's first appearance on-screen and Moriarty's last. This is definitely a movie that impresses with its well-disciplined and no-nonsense approach and will certainly exceed the expectations of most people who see it.

Prismark10 Blood Father is a disappointing and derivative revenge flick with Mel Gibson playing Link, a grizzled ex con on parole, trying to stay straight and recovering from drink and drugs.He lives in a trailer, works as a tattooist and he spends everyday talking to his sponsor Kirby (William H Macy) who is also his neighbour.Out of the blue his missing daughter Lydia (Erin Moriarty) contacts him as she needs money. She has shot her gangster boyfriend lover Jonah (Diego Luna) in the neck and now fears for his life.Link in order to protect his daughter has to step up to the plate, putting his parole at risk as he heads for a showdown against Jonah's gang pursuing them.Gibson is plainly a B movie action star these days making lower budget films that look a bit cheap with a script that lacks polish and finesse. Maybe things will change since his Oscar nomination for Best Director for Hacksaw Ridge.Here Gibson is let down by choppy action scenes and a below average script which at times is incoherent. Even with its short running time it looks flabby.