Guns Akimbo

A rare action movie to come out of laid back New Zealand, this hyperactive, hit-and-miss effort from writer/director Jason Lei Howden (Deathgasm) plays like a next-generation Crank. When nerdy programmer Miles (Daniel Radcliffe) falls foul of online fight club Skizm, its psychotic owner (Ned Dennehy) bolts guns to his hands and sets him against reigning champion Nix (Samara Weaving). Showing a real flair for physical comedy, Radcliffe is good value as the out-of-depth keyboard warrior. The film's best moments come when he stands up for himself in front of his awful boss (Richard Knowles), or shares some downtime with a crack-smoking tramp (Rhys Darby). But by mimicking the breathless tempo of a video game, Howden falls prey to video-game problems: the violence is unreal and weightless; the up-to-the-minute visuals seem immediately dated; and the reliance on slo-mo/sped-up footage feels like we're watching on fast-forward. In this instance, that's not necessarily a bad idea.