By: Lana K. Wilson-Combs
I like the premise of
Sacramento screenwriter Joe Carnahan?s new movie
?El Chicano.? I Just wish the story hadn?t been so plodding and scattershot.
?El Chicano? is directed and co-written by Hollywood stuntman Ben Hernandez Bray(?The Grey?) and is about a Latino, superhero in Los Angeles who defends the defenseless.
Twin brothers Diego and Pedro Hernandez (both played by Raul Castillo from TV?s ?Vida? and ?Riverdale?) grew up hearing about the legendary ?El Chicano,? the barrio?s Grim Reaper. He?s an evil masked vigilante who rides around on a motorcycle and dishes out his personal style of justice to all the bad guys.
When they were kids, Diego and Pedro saw up close and personal how this guy rolls. He leaves his mark on his victims by slicing and dicing them up with an Aztec knife. What ?El Chicano? does to Shadow (Emilio Rivera, TV?s ?On My Block?), a feared gang leader in East Los Angeles nearly scarred Diego and Pedro for life.
Years later, Diego has joined the police department vowing to make a difference in his community. Pedro went the complete opposite and turned into a hard knock criminal. His life is tragically cut short and there aren?t many answers to how he died.
But when a Mexican drug cartel led by El Gallo (Sal Lopez, ?The Green Ghost?), goes on major killing spree Diego is tasked with investigating the incident. He discovers the dead bodies all have tattoos on their arms like his brother Pedro.
What gives?
Diego snoops around some more and his leads take him to a storage facility. Once inside it he's startled to find that all signs point to Pedro being "El Chicano."
Diego decides that he must pick up where his brother left off which makes his captain/boss (a very good George Lopez, Upcoming, ?The Tax Collector?) suspicious about his actions.
?El Chicano? isn?t your typical feel-good superhero movie. It?s incredibly violent and just when you think it will settle in, it never quite does and that?s such a letdown because ?El Chicano? had so much to offer.
Editor's Note: Check Out My N2Entertainment.net movie talk segment on the Kitty O'Neal Show Fridays at 6:20 p.m. on radio station KFBK 1530 AM and 93.1 FM.
Watch This Trailer For
"EL CHICANO"
Lana K. Wilson-Combs is a member of the Broadcast Film Critics? Association (BFCA), The Black Film Critics Circle (BFCC), The Alliance Of Women Film Journalists (AWFJ) and a Nominating Committee Voting Member for the NAACP Image Awards.
