REVIEW: Dangerous

Directed by David Hackl, a production designer and director, best known for Saw V, and written by Christopher Borrelli, Dangerous is a psychological thriller that will have you trying to figure out who really is the most dangerous. The film stars Scott Eastwood as Dylan Forrester, Famke Janssen as Agent Shaughnessy, Kevin Durand as Cole, Tyrese Gibson as the local sheriff, and Mel Gibson as Dylan’s therapist, Dr. Altwood.

WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS

Dylan is a reformed sociopath who can’t feel anything at all. He takes medication to try and feel emotions, but is on a long path to recovery. He breaks parole to go to his brother Sean’s funeral, but once he gets to Guardian Island, Washington, Dylan soon realizes that his brother’s path and his path might have crossed more than he previously thought. The inn on the island that his brother helped build used to be a navy base, which has secrets of its own. Before going downstairs to give his condolences to his mother, Dylan goes over social cues that are written down on a card for him. Dylan pops a pill and heads on down.

He tells his mom that he’s sorry for her loss, but she doesn’t want him to say anything. She doesn’t even want him there. She storms out of the room completely. While I understood why the mother reacted the way she did towards Dylan, she is painted as a real bitch and a complete turn-off. At times I wanted to just knock some sense into her as a character.

Yes, her son is a former mercenary with a horrible past, but it seems like she was always cold to him as a mother because he couldn’t feel anything, and it makes you dislike her as a character wondering how someone could be so cruel to their own son, and makes you wonder if the reason he is so disconnected in the first place isn’t only because he has a psychological disorder, but also because his mom never connected with him, not once, it doesn’t seem like. He was close enough to his brother, who wrote him letters, and it’s his sister-in-law that invites Dylan to the funeral, in hopes that everyone can make amends with one another.

It doesn’t start out that way though. The sheriff has his suspicions about Dylan and after seeing a print out on his boat that Dylan is a wanted man for attempted murder, he goes back inside to arrest Dylan. He puts him in the bunker on the island to hold him there until the authorities get there, but the thing is the authorities never get there.

Instead, it’s other mercenaries who show up, looking for something Sean hid from them. The sheriff is suspicious of them as well and they get into a shoot out and the sheriff dies. Jo, who also works at the inn, lets Dylan out of the bunker, and Dylan tries to save everyone, including his family. His mother still thinks that he is lying and that the reason the mercenaries are there is because of Dylan. She never expected that it was because of her other son. She tells him to leave so that the mercenaries will also leave, so Dylan walks away and heads on out.

He then calls his therapist, Dr. Altwood, to get his advice, even now. Dylan decides to go back and help his family get out of this mess. He refuses to kill anyone since that’s not what he does anymore, but he does hurt them. During the movie the viewer finds out that Cole (one of the missionaries) and Dylan used to work together, but Dylan is now reformed. He’s there because he wants something that Sean hid for him. An underground tunnel in the wine cellar leads them down into another part of the island where a WW2 Japanese submarine and gold bars are stored. Cole, who now has Dylan’s mother held hostage, asks Dylan to carry the gold for him, and if he can get the gold up top safely for him, he can have his mother back.

Dylan struggles to carry it, but once he gets closer to the top, the agent, who has been trying to get onto the island for some time now, has managed to get there and gets in the middle of Dylan and Cole’s fight. Dylan doesn’t want to do this anymore and throws the gold over the edge and into the water. Cole throws Dylan’s mother over as well, but she’s holding on for dear life. Cole and Dylan fight more, and while Dylan never wanted to kill anyone again, he ends up killing Cole, but tells the agent she’ll live. He and his mother finally reconcile. The next morning Dylan calls his therapist and tells him everything that happened and tells him he’s going to try and be himself for awhile and throws the rest of his pills into the water, and drives the boat away.

Dangerous, at times, is an uncomfortable movie to watch, not only for the violence, but the psychological damage that seems to also be happening to the characters. It also isn’t a movie with much depth. There’s not much diversity in the movie either, which is a shame, since the only diverse characters in the movie are killed off pretty early on. This movie definitely isn’t for the faint of heart, but if psychological thrillers are your jam, this movie is one to watch.