Johnny Mad Dog (2008)

The ideas in the movie were interesting but there were a couple of problems that prevented it from fulfilling its potential. The idea of covering the issues with child soldiers, gives this movie a lot of depth and makes it very interesting. Although the movie pushes the boundaries of taste when depicting the children's acts, it is important in developing the characters of the child soldiers. Yet for all the soldiers (except Johnny Mad Dog) don't have any other aspects of their personality developed and we don't ever see them on a deeper level than the caricatures they play. This means the point being made through the child soldiers is made redundant as we never see them as rounded characters. In the early part of the film (when the soldiers story isn't a large feature) the story of Laokole and her attempts to get her father and brother away from the advancing soldiers is engrossing. It has a much greater depth then the other parts of the film and creates personal empathy for characters that isn't achieved in other parts of the film. Yet the story of Laokole is lost when nearing the end of the film, which is a great shame as that story added a much more human side to the film. The plot of the film seems to lack fluidity and seems at points to be a set of isolated events with the same characters. This prevents character development and means the audience can't get involved in the story. The ending of the film drags on, with many possible points to end being missed, making the impact lessened by an ending that seemed to drag on. Overall, Johnny Mad Dog has a lot of potential with some interesting ideas and with some aspects that are well performed. Yet it fails to meet the potential, with the big faults being the one-dimensional characters of the child soldiers and the overly long ending.