Machine Gun Preacher

Der Autor von dem meisterhaften Monster's Ball fing an, an Gott zu glauben, und hat seinen Verstand verloren. Aber das Herz blieb – sein Film erinnerte mich an Stones World Trade Center – ein einfach, pathetisch dargestellter Stoff über das Leiden der Unschuldigen und darüber, dass man sich gegenseitig helfen sollte. Ein einfacher, naiver Film für durchschnittliche Amerikaner*innen, welcher Zuflucht bei der Bibel findet. Die Szenen der Predigten über Gott, von denen es hier mehr als in einem Dokumentarfilm über den Papst gibt, sind für atheistische Zuschauer*innen nicht verdaulich und entwerten ihr Filmerlebnis. Wenn danach der Prediger Butler die Schrotflinte in die Hand nimmt, wird der Film zwar ein bisschen unterhaltsamer, aber die Dramatisierung wirkt nicht glaubwürdig. Den dritten Stern gebe ich wegen dem bunten und exotischen Soundtrack, den ich mir schon vorher angehört habe – deshalb war für mich das Erlebnis angenehmer; und wegen dem "großen Herzen“ für Kinder aus Afrika. Wenn ich ein größerer Zyniker wäre, hätte ich an sie überhaupt nicht gedacht. (04.01.2012)

Gerard Butler habe ich diesmal nicht einmal sein Schießen geglaubt. Seine "Verwandlung“ von einem drogensüchtigen Motorradfahrer, der aus dem Gefängnis entlassen wird, in einen Mann, der Gott gefunden hat, und später in einen Rambo-Kämpfer, welcher Entführer von afrikanischen Kindern mit Blei füllt, hat mich deshalb überhaupt nicht beeindruckt. Verstehen Sie mich bitte nicht falsch – ich habe nichts gegen Filme, die eine beliebige Religion von der attraktiveren Seite zeigen. Aber was sollte das hier sein? Ein ungewollt lächerlicher Film. Die Tatsache, dass er auf wahren Begebenheiten beruht, hat ihn in meinen Augen nicht glaubhafter gemacht. (04.11.2013)

About Kony I knew for a long time when last year a big campaign against him started in order to inform people around the world about what is happening in Africa. Subsequently, a film was made, which Czech distributors named a bit stupidly - The Preacher of Kalashnikov. For me incomprehensible, when it's about a man who actually strongly fights against violence...even though again with violence. Anyway, I was incredibly looking forward to the movie for several months and I can honestly say that I was terribly disappointed during the movie. Gerard Butler wouldn't be such a bad choice, the worse part was the storytelling itself. Because his character, Sam Childers, was supposed to somehow evolve from bad to good in the movie. In the movie, it looks like this. Evil Sam leaves prison and is evil. Then he does some evil things and is incredibly evil. He parties, kills, and is still evil. His family starts to believe in God and he laughs at them. Then he makes a huge mess and understands within half a minute that what he was doing is wrong and suddenly he's already sitting in church. This is where I think the creators fucked up incredibly. I wanted to see some character development and not that suddenly he jumps from character A to character B out of nowhere and no one actually shows me that change. And this wasn't the first time. The film prepared such shocks several times and overall the emphasis on emotions wasn't close to it, quite the contrary. It's a shame in such a film, because what else is a film about if not about emotions. However, I can't say that the film was a complete failure. There were scenes in it that were worth attention and flawless. But that doesn't change the fact that the film as a whole disappointed me right from the beginning. Because then it dragged on until the end, until the credits appeared and there was the real Sam Childers. At that moment, I realized that the real Sam is much more likable to me than the whole movie about him. Not to mention the religious propaganda that comes with this movie. But so be it. I won't deny it to him. Americans have it a bit different with the church in their country. Hallelujah. (23.04.2012)

I have one big problem with Machine Gun Preacher, or maybe two. The first is that Childer’s transformations are terribly sudden and the movie concentrates much more on the less interesting parts, like when the asshole becomes a nice guy, while it concentrates only very briefly on the part when the nice guy becomes a murderous maniac, which is much better and more interesting. And Butler’s acting is excellent and it would have been far more bombastic if they had concentrated on a shorter section of time in more detail, rather than trying to map his entire “working" life. The second problem is that I don’t much like what happens in this picture. Building an orphanage in the middle of a war zone is a very bad idea. Did Sam ever think about what those people were going to do when they grow up? (19.05.2012)

I did not believe it. The problem to me is the main actor, or rather the character he plays. It's not that Gerard Butler’s performance is poor, not at all, quite the opposite, but apparently the script does not allow the viewer to feel his transformation impulsively and realistically enough. So I was not convinced by bad Butler becoming good Butler. And since that is supposed to be a key element of the film, it completely failed. At least they maintained a consistent pattern (rough bad Butler, rough good Butler), and fortunately, they didn't turn him into a monk. However, it is still a very inconsistent thing, the same goes for the technical aspect. At times it looks like we won't even see any blood, you get the impression that it is aiming for PG-13 and then some unprecedented brutality follows. I expected the director of Quantum of Solace to have a much stronger action directorial style. I really don't know what to think about all of this. In any case, I believe that this film did not impress any of the many ethnic groups or film fans, despite (or precisely because) everyone could take something of their own from it. (25.03.2012)

Excellent Czech title, but let it be. "The Preacher Kalashnikov" is exactly the kind of film that will make you think about whether you should consider adopting a little black boy from Africa from a distance. But then you will say to yourself whether it is actually worth it when there is a fairly high probability that he will be shot as a child. The strength of the film lies in its foundation, which is the real life of one person and his convictions. Gerard Butler - the main reason why I sought out the film - proves that he can act. You believe his tough pose, love for neighbor, and the anger he carries within himself. As a macho killer, he is probably the least believable, but it comes with the territory. The film is not as powerful as, for example, some documentary from Africa, but it definitely has nothing to be ashamed of. It will attack your emotions, it will shock you. It happens in Africa and we do nothing about it. When attention is drawn to it, maybe at least one person will rise up and want to help. That is enough. The film does not unnecessarily exploit, it makes sense. More: http://www.filmovy-denik.cz/2012/04/diar-milovnika-filmu-c-0004-hugo-buh.html (15.02.2013)