‘Supremacy’ Review
Stars: Danny Glover, Joe Anderson, Dawn Olivieri, Derek Luke, Evan Ross, Lela Rochon, Mahershala Ali, Julie Benz, Nick Chinlund, Robin Bobeau, Anson Mount, Alex Henderson, Jenica Bergere, Shaun Taylor-Corbett, Tyrin Turner | Written by Eric J. Adams | Directed by Deon Taylor
Apparently “inspired” by the true-life case of Robert Walter Scully, Jr. who killed a police officer in 1995 before taking a family hostage, Supremacy tells the story of Tully (Anderson) a white supremacist who just got paroled. But his first night out could be his last…
After being pulled over, Tully just killed the cop (Ali) and goes on the run. And no one’s going to listen to an ex-con with the Aryan Nation. Tully and his girlfriend (Olivieri) add home invasion and hostages to the body count. But no one counted on Mr. Walker (Glover), an ex-con himself, to fight back—using his understanding of the racist mind to turn the tables on a desperate and violent man. But will it be enough to keep his family alive?
Surprise, surprise. A racially-motivated home-invasion thriller that features white supremacists taking out their anger on a black family after murdering a black cop. Hmmm, sounds eerily similar to another film that recent WASN’T released thanks to the BBFC (I’m not bitter about the Hate Crime ban, I’m not). Maybe it’s because this film features a big-name star in it’s cast? Or maybe it’s because the BBFC deemed that this particular film had more merit than a low-budget exploitation movie – which is funny given that Supremacy is directed by Deon Taylor, who helmed the torture-porn slasher Chain Letter.
OK, maybe I’m going off on somewhat of a tangent. Back to the review…
Whilst Supremacy shares a number of the same themes as Hate Crime it obvious there is a tonal difference between the two. For one, this film definitely aims for loftier heights. By using an “inspired” story, director Deon Taylor seemingly wants to make what is essentially an exploitation film seem like a Hallmark channel TV movie of the week; and fails miserably at doing both. And then there’s Danny Glover. An actor who, despite making an appearance in a number of truly miserable straight-to-DVD movies in recent year, still brings an air of gravitas to his performances. In the case of this film, Glover is in fact the ONLY reason for even contemplating watching Supremacy. Honestly, the rest of the film is pretty much give or take, but Glover is (as is usualy the case) a joy to watch.
The kind of film that will enthrall bored housewives watching daytime TV but bore exploitation movie fans (go watch infamous 70s flick Fight For Your Life instead), Supremacy is out now on DVD courtesy of Koch Media.
