Get the Gringo (2012)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Al S

  
  A bold, slick, stylish and tough-as-nails crime-thriller. It packs a pure wallop and keeps you on the edge of your seat. A total blast. A rich in character and well done film for action junkies and will love Gibson in this film. Mel Gibson is back and at his very best, he gives a… More
  A bold, slick, stylish and tough-as-nails crime-thriller. It packs a pure wallop and keeps you on the edge of your seat. A total blast. A rich in character and well done film for action junkies and will love Gibson in this film. Mel Gibson is back and at his very best, he gives a great and gritty performance, showing us why he`s a film star to begin with. It`s a great comeback for Mel as a classic and likeable anti-hero, it`s his best film in years. Gibson couldnt be any better than this. A cool as hell and hard-boiled action-packed thriller. A real blast of pure enjoyment. This movie rocks and rocks profoundly. A grim and intense mixture of story, action and humor. It`s Payback meets Midnight Express. A solid, gripping, funny and explosive thrill-ride from start to finish. A great piece of explosive action entertainment. It packs just as much fire-power as it does smarts and surprises.

• Mike S

  
  Get the Gringo isn't a great film, but it is a sufficiently entertaining one that if anything illustrates that Mel Gibson - in spite of age and personal issues - can still hold his own as a veteran action star. To label this as a fully-fledged action movie is a bit of a stretch… More
  Get the Gringo isn't a great film, but it is a sufficiently entertaining one that if anything illustrates that Mel Gibson - in spite of age and personal issues - can still hold his own as a veteran action star. To label this as a fully-fledged action movie is a bit of a stretch though. If you look to some of its promotional material, it implies a fast-faced plot and a plethora of bullet exchange. Essentially, however, it's a prison flick, where Gibson - who plays a career criminal who gets thrown into the joint after getting caught by the Mexican authorities - spends the better part of his time trying to survive the incarceration through the help of a young boy and his mother. The most interesting aspect of the story is the prison itself; the dirty, gritty atmosphere, which runs like a small society, with stores, housing and some inmates living with their families. In this regard, it's quite original, but it unfortunately doesn't compensate much for the the thin and water-treading script. Too often I found myself waiting for something exciting to happen, and when it finally does, it's very pedestrian in its execution. Adroit acting from Gibson makes it worthwhile though, and it's nice to see him back where he belongs again (not behind bars, but you know what I mean). A decent action-drama, with an agreeable touch of dark humor. Just not really the kind that I'd be in a hurry to watch again.

• Phil H

  
  (aka How I Spend My Summer Vacation) So it seems Mel Gibson has really upset the apple cart in Hollywood, his new action film has been shunned in the US completely which is pretty bad considering Gibson can bring home the bacon. As for this new offering well I'm confused, I… More
  (aka How I Spend My Summer Vacation) So it seems Mel Gibson has really upset the apple cart in Hollywood, his new action film has been shunned in the US completely which is pretty bad considering Gibson can bring home the bacon. As for this new offering well I'm confused, I have read allot about how good this is and how Gibson is back to his best but as far as I'm concerned the film is incredibly average. Its basically a prison flick as Gibson is caught trying to escape a heist at the start and is slung in a Mexican prison, from there he plays bad guys off each other to survive and gets tangled in all manner of gang related issues. OK firstly there is hardly any action here, yes that's right, this is no 'Lethal Weapon' topper. One gun fight mid way through, a few punch ups and a so so finale and that's your lot, very disappointed there I was. The plot is a rehash of...well just about any and every prison/action flick you've ever seen, the main difference here is the setting. A huge prison set up like a small shanty town where criminals are able to serve time with their families including kids!, buy drugs, drink, own guns, use women, have anyone come and see them, go to bars etc...basically an inmate run facility where money talks. At first I thought this was nonsense of Gibson's creation but it turns out there was an actual prison facility like this in Mexico, it was known as 'criminal university' and this does make the film more interesting...almost. I read somewhere that this film was actually suppose to be an indirect sequel to Gibson's 1999 action film 'Payback'. Apparently the main character in 'Gringo' is suppose to be 'Porter' from 'Payback' but simply in a different story, no connections to 'Payback' in any way, just a new adventure if you will. This new film does play out like 'PB' with Gibson's narration, the way he uses people and the fact he is a badguy again. Low down scummy, gritty, dirty and seedy, you can virtually smell the sweaty under stains. Well made with good camera work giving a more realistic feel (but not shaky handheld cam), many Spanish speaking actors equalling subs which makes the film feel more grown up and Gibson grunting his way through it all perfectly but in my opinion its not a good film. Very average swinging towards slightly boring if you ask me, I didn't care about any of the characters, there's no real info or back story on anyone including Gibson's character, the 'action' is subdued and sparse and its all very cliched. To be honest the heist we see Gibson tearing away from at the start looked more interesting than what happened after, why is this so hyped?

• Eric H

  
  As if to make a point, Gibson's latest sees him working under a (presumably) Jewish director. Tellingly though there are very few American actors sharing the screen with the troublesome Aussie here. Like a wanted man he has fled south of the border in an attempt to resuscitate… More
  As if to make a point, Gibson's latest sees him working under a (presumably) Jewish director. Tellingly though there are very few American actors sharing the screen with the troublesome Aussie here. Like a wanted man he has fled south of the border in an attempt to resuscitate his career. This movie won't do him any favors, it's dull in the extreme. I can't think of a more terrifying prospect than spending time in a Mexican jail but the prison portrayed here is like a holiday camp. I suspect in real life a "gringo" wouldn't have time to hang a Rita Hayworth poster in his cell before finding a knife in his back. Gibson somehow seems able to run around causing trouble despite sticking out like a sore thumb as the only Anglo-Saxon in the place. Grunberg was Gibson's cameraman on "Apocalypto" but making the move to director may not have been a wise career choice. The movie feels thrown together and directionless, but Grunberg would probably say he wanted to evoke a documentary look. Personally I prefer my movies to actually look like movies. This is the latest large scale production shot on a Red One camera. For those of you who aren't sad obsessives like me, the Red One is repeatedly touted as a digital camera that finally rivals film for quality. Pull the other one. Every movie I've seen shot with this camera ends up resembling a porn. It handles motion terribly, the slightest bit of onscreen movement results in a nauseating blurring effect. A movie which features as much running around by actors and cameramen as this becomes near unwatchable at points. Filmas a format is sadly extinct now because Hollywood wants to save money. I just wish they could be honest about this instead of trying to convince us digital is a technically better format. They killed film for the same reason they killed Technicolor, to cut down budgets. "Don't piss down our backs and tell us it's raining" to quote Josey Wales. Personally I like Gibson. Not as a human being obviously, but as a screen presence and a film-maker I think he has something to offer. In my dream world Hollywood is still churning out westerns and Gibson is the new John Wayne. Perhaps he needs to travel further south, back home to Australia, a country which currently has a far more interesting film industry than the U.S.

• Sundeep B

  
  Well, Mr Gibson is back to his "Ransom" form with this gritty and gruffy, tough as nails action. The film is just Gibson material and the levity he brings to this kind of a grim set up is just unique to him. This film set up in a Mexican prison hell and Mel Gibson, who was… More
  Well, Mr Gibson is back to his "Ransom" form with this gritty and gruffy, tough as nails action. The film is just Gibson material and the levity he brings to this kind of a grim set up is just unique to him. This film set up in a Mexican prison hell and Mel Gibson, who was the co writer of the script, writes himself a tailor made role which made him what he is known for. Good ride.

• Henrik S

  
  A very basic and run-of-the-mill prison drama. Unlike those set in the states or abroad, it does away with most of the shockploitaitojn (rape etc.) and instead tries to portray the doings and undoings of the in-prison 'Mafia' or crime cartel and how Mel Gibson fights and… More
  A very basic and run-of-the-mill prison drama. Unlike those set in the states or abroad, it does away with most of the shockploitaitojn (rape etc.) and instead tries to portray the doings and undoings of the in-prison 'Mafia' or crime cartel and how Mel Gibson fights and frowns his way from new shmug to top dog (or does he? No spoilers here). Problem is, that the film pretty much delivers both on the action front but also when it comes to chlichees, no twist you don't see coming, no character that does not wear his character on his face all the time like a Dickens villain (good guys look nice, bad guys look bad, stupid guys look stupid etc. you get the drift). Still, when the film pits the grim Gibson against the rest of the (prison)world, he can still carry the tension but the film just lacks other interesting characters and more twists in the storyline to keep you guessing. Nothing to write home about and this won't resurrect Gibson's dead career but if you catch it on TV at some point, you might as well.

• ernest e

  
  Excelent original story, few tacky moments but overal original. Mel gibson back on his feet doing a good job like he did in the old days.

• R?o?d?r?i?g?o? R

  
  This is a movie with a fresh, fast pace, which leads us to follow Mel Gibson and theft at the border, they do take him to a prison in Mexico. And that happens in jail most of the movie ... but surprised you are well spent. Good points are the performances, until the child is able to… More
  This is a movie with a fresh, fast pace, which leads us to follow Mel Gibson and theft at the border, they do take him to a prison in Mexico. And that happens in jail most of the movie ... but surprised you are well spent. Good points are the performances, until the child is able to have good acting, the story is simple, but is become complex, to be a film something solid. The action sequences are not flawless but if resaltables. As for the script, the principle is wrong and falls in some dialogs something absurd, but is improving to give us a script acceptable but not remarkable. Finally "Get the Gringo" is a movie that is entertaining only.. but why 4 stars? Because it fulfills its mission: to entertain, and yet not fall into the stupid and unnecessary and gives us a film, not brilliant but to enjoy.

Read all 8 featured audience ratings