Banned, The R-Rated Thriller From The Legendary Director Is Now Streaming Free On Social Media
By Chris Snellgrove | Updated
No one has ever accused Uwe Boll of being Steven Spielberg or Martin Scorsese. Still, he’s a legendary director for those of us who love a certain genre of film: action schlock. He is responsible for bringing us bonkers video game adaptations like House of the Dead, Alone in the Dark, Blood Rayneagain Post office. Even if they don’t adapt to the games, his movies are reliably entertaining…the kind of stuff made for watching with a best friend and a six-pack. Unfortunately, the director has flown a little too close to the sun with his latest film, Citizen Vigilante.
The movie was designed as a comeback for canceled star Armie Hammer. He plays an American living in Europe whose wife is stabbed to death by an immigrant. His solution? Killing as many aliens as possible, all of whom are portrayed as cartoonish villains. It’s basically like what if Death Wish they were made by your obscene racist grandfather, who used to be a father. Therefore, the film was banned in Germany, so Boll decided to take matters into his own hands. Exclusively, he’s released the entire film on X, where you can watch it now before it’s taken down.
A New Kind of Vigilante Film
What is interesting about vigilante films is that they all have one thing in common: a man who is tired of injustice and law enforcement and decides to start killing criminals on his own. The only real variables are what the sentinel finally sends and who it targets. In Citizen VigilanteArmie Hammer plays an American living in Europe (the exact city is not specified) whose wife is murdered by a violent immigrant. Afterwards, he wages a one-man war against all violent aliens while his actions are celebrated by fans on social media.
To put it mildly, Citizen Vigilante built from the ground up like a rightwing catnip. It’s a movie where all your problems are caused by island aliens, and the solution is for one brave white man to kill as many as possible. The movie (no shock here) has been praised by internet fairies who often wring their hands and complain about how politics should be kept out of the movie. Boll, who is from Germany, was finally successfully banned Citizen Vigilante by refusing to confirm its rating, citing concerns that the film is a form of hate speech that incites violence against immigrants. The director responded by temporarily releasing the film on X, where you can watch it now.
The Perfect Storm of Controversy
Citizen Vigilante it was always meant to be a controversial film. Uwe Boll has always been a larger-than-life character, relentlessly criticizing various Hollywood studios for left-leaning and politically correct films. Meanwhile, lead actor Armie Hammer was fired years ago after a number of women accused him of sexual harassment and assault. Although the actor denies these allegations and has never been charged, some of his leaked DMs to women have revealed that he has sexually suggestive thoughts. So, Boll bringing back the #MeToo guy who wishes he was Hannibal Lecter is controversial, to say the least.
Although Boll spoke out against the banning of his film in Germany, he is currently fulfilling his dream. Circling studios and rating boards, he has now (temporarily) released his film for free online. No doubt, he hopes that the message of standing up against the perceived threat of immigration will resonate with today’s audience. What if that doesn’t work, though? Undoubtedly, we’ll get an amazing online meltdown from the director about how no one else had the intelligence and vision to create what could be an AI movie: “ChatGPT, remake Death Wish, but do it 1000 percent racism.”
