Watch This Space Film Magazine Issue 2 | Page 16

Review The Third Bandit (2016) Written by Chris Whyte 'The Third Bandit', on opening, appears to operate in the room marked 'young delinquent road movie', the door of which was kicked open by Malick's 'Badlands', decorated by 'Bonnie & Clyde' and smashed up by Micky and Mallory in 'Natural Born Killers'. Where those films had the luxury of feature run times, director David I Strasser uses his ten short minutes in a mystifying way. What starts as a beautiuful, slow burn introduction of our central duo soon turns into something altogether more unsatisfying as a large section is devoted to showing us how much of a psychopathic wild-card their associate Donovan (Will Kemp) is. Donovan, in his own words, is an 'agent of change' rather than a terrorist or cult leader. Yes, and I'm a fitness intructor. The performances are decent, if wantonly hammy (though Samantha Hum is excellent, subtle) and the cinematography, outside of the slow motion exterior shots is handheld because, you know, we need to know just how CHAOTIC everything is guys. IT'S CHAOTIC AND WE'RE SHOWING YOU....because the script sure isn't going to. In a way it's a shame that Strasser didn't conform to expectations and show us the couple on the road, heisting and killing their way to some kind of redemptive (or not) conclusion; it would have made a much more interesting ten minutes; the exterior shots are beautiful- what a shame that they only bookend the piece. Instead we have what amounts to little more than a drama school improvisational workshop set in a single room. CHAOTIC remember? What would have thrilled is opening up the story, referring to the events depicted and showing us our newly made trio on their adventure after they had left Donovan and his chums. Still, as a whole it's fairly unremarkable and clichéd in the wrong ways. Perhaps a 'part two' would provide the thrill that was promised.