Rating: 8/10

Writer/Director: Ernesto Díaz Espinoza
Cast: Marko Zaror, Celine Reymond, Alejandro Castillo, Luis Alarcón
Studio: Mandrill Films

Mandrill (played by Chilean action star Marko Zaror) is equal parts James Bond/Frank Martin with a pinch of 70s exploitation action hero thrown in for flair. However, where heroes and hitmen like 007 and The Transporter are blank slates when it comes to emotional attachment, Mandrill wears his heart on his sleeve, opposite side of his shoulder holster. He cries, he dances, he's a regular Casanova. Not to mention that he lives in a more self-aware world, where great men of action and romance grow up watching other great men of action and romance on TV, wishing to emulate their every wardrobe, firearm, and punch-kick combination choice. And, of course, desiring for their chance to chose from the endless buffet of beautiful women.

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And that's where the story begins, with the boy, not the man. He's awkward. He's scrawny. He doesn't have his way, or a way, with the ladies. Yet, he has a drive and a determination to become something more. Mandrill comes from a bloodied past, as he witnessed his parents being gun downed by the villainous crime lord Cyclops when he was only a young boy. With a little help from his on-screen hero John Colt and his uncle, the boy gives way to the Mandrill, now out for revenge from the man who orphaned him. But when he finally gets his chance, he must chose between retribution or romance as, in a Shakespearean twist, he falls in love with the Cyclops' daughter. Will Mandrill chose the revenge he has waited his whole life for or the love he has longed for his whole life?

Why can't he do both? Mandrill, the man, does not have to play by the conventional rules set forth by spies/hitmen before him because MANDRILL, the film, does not. It feels as if it was made by guys who grew up watching action films of the 70s, 80s, 90s, and today, making it a compilation of all the conventions we have come to know, love, and expect while at the same time breaking the rules a bit. The film itself plays out in a very similar way in the sense that Mandrill is a character seen idolizing a fictional hero in the same way that it feels as Espinoza has as a filmmaker. It is a wonderful mishmash of old school and new school, while existing in this current state of more realistic, vulnerable heroes (think Craig's Bond in CASINO ROYALE). Even still, MANDRILL explores the psyche and emotions behind a ruthless hitman even more than most American films do. Don't misread this as saying that the film does not have the action and humor expected from this genre because it most definitely does. Zaror's ability as a martial artist, combined with Espinoza's style as a film maker that draws from both current and vintage cinematography of the genre, provide for an over all homage to action films and action stars.

Which is exactly what makes MANDRILL "Cooler than Shaft, Hotter than Bond, Faster than Lee."