This review is of the TV-14 edited version of the film. All thoughts below should be addressed as such as a review of the unedited version would be more negative

It’s time for one of those really grim movies. The kind of title where you know it’s not going to have a super shiny ending and the path to getting there will be very difficult. Definitely not for the faint of heart. That being said, either way this is not a film I would be likely to recommend. The plot certainly takes a turn by the end but it’s not the kind of turn that was going to save the movie.

The movie starts off with a kid named Barry finding out about a big Nazi scheme. This is big enough where all of their most important players are meeting up and so he quickly contacts the legendary Nazi hunter Ezra. Unfortunately Ezra doesn’t really believe him and is in a bad mood which leads to the villains murdering Barry before he can say more. When Barry’s friend approaches Ezra, the hunter realizes that he can no longer ignore what is going on. So he begins to snoop around and ask questions but what he doesn’t realize is that this is a plot that has been in the works for many years. It will be difficult to stop the plan and even more difficult to stop it without big collateral damage.

I do have to say that Ezra being so slow to help was a little off putting. The whole point here is that he is a big Nazi hunter and yet when the opportunity presents itself he isn’t ready for it? I would have liked for him to have been a little more on the ball. Now it’s fair to say that Barry was going to die either way but it would have still been nice if he would have at least had the knowledge that someone would continue on with his work. Barry did well to find out so much with his little amount of time and connections.

Meanwhile the main villain Josef is a hard man to bring down. This guy has a lot of connections and of course he is very eager to start everything off. The guy has been waiting for this moment for many years and absolutely does not hesitate. I wouldn’t expect him to either although at least one of his minions isn’t quite as gung-ho about the whole thing. At the end of the day it’s not much of a distinction though as he still goes through with the orders. Whether you follow them reluctantly or eagerly, the end result is what counts.

The villains are Nazis after all and the film doesn’t hesitate to remind you just how cruel they are. They run live experiments on both humans and animals, they viciously murder their opponents, etc. If you were expecting some kind of mercy or a softer look then think again. It’s definitely good that they don’t downplay the atrocities the Nazis committed but at the same time it does limit the movie.

It makes the experience more of a quiet somber one. At the very least it can be depressing to see the fact that so many of them were still alive and kicking there. There are enough for them to be in different companies, at parties, etc. Yeah you were definitely hoping they would all be bumped off. Meanwhile Ezra needed to step up his game as a hunter and take more of them down. From the accolades we know that he has taken a whole lot of them down but of course there are always more and that’s where things get tricky.

We do get to see some of Josef’s good detective skills at work though as he starts to interview people and put together dates in order to really close the noose around the villains. He pieces things together fairly quickly and also knows when to play hard ball like when he forced the lady to answer his final question. He was definitely getting that answer before he walked out of the facility.

So while I do have big issues with how he acted at first, at least later on he got with the program. He’s a lot older at this point so you can expect there to be no real fight scenes but he still gets to have his deductive moments. His sister Esther is also very useful in the film as she helps in an administrative role. As always it is good to have someone on your side. When you’re alone then the danger really starts to creep up on you.

Now the title of the film may have you confused but by the end it makes sense. That’s where the film hits you with the tough moral question of what you can do here. It sort of depends how hard you buy into the sci-fi angle here. In general I do find it hard to choose any option of punishing someone before the crime was actually committed. While the characters did already seem insane, it can still be a dangerous leap to try and neutralize everyone. I suppose I would probably lean on the main character’s decision here if pushed into a corner but ideally they should all be monitored. It’s just a tough call because that wasn’t going to happen. They would either all be slaughtered or you could prevent them from being found. When you are limited to those two choices then leaving them alive is probably best although things might get dicey for the world.

The film can get surprisingly violent at times. I would say the worst of it is still off screen but there is a body count to be sure. At the end of the day it’s a film that doesn’t really hold back at all and I would say there’s a number of scenes you could cut out. Ultimately though the biggest weakness really comes down to the fact that it feels like an investigation without much of an ending. When you really think about it, not much has changed since the beginning. At least some characters know what is going on now but the program was not fully stopped. Now it’s just a matter of nature vs nurture.

Overall, The Boys from Brazil definitely has an odd tone about it. It’s a thriller but not in an action sense and more in a rather strange kind of view. You see the dark underbelly of what’s going on without any true way for the heroes to come out on top. I can’t say there is a lot of fun to be had here, nor is there a whole lot of replay value. In the end this means you should probably check out another film instead, you can do better than this one.

Overall 3/10