Festival critics rave about ‘Mandrill’

MANDRILL, the third pairing of writer-director Ernesto Diaz Espinoza and martial arts star and choreographer Marko Zaror, has left festival goers and critics cheering despite seemingly everyone’s admission that the film is little more than a goofy and energetic, low-budget homage to the James Bond franchise. The film earned top feature and actor honors at Fantastic Fest where it premiered and critics online from Twitch to Variety are hailing Zaror’s fighting action, acting skills and even his dance moves. Here is a sampling of what those lucky critics who got to see this film ahead of the rest of us schleps are saying.

“Every so often there comes a movie where, no matter how corny or under-resourced the concept, all those involved seem to be having such a blast, auds can’t help but embrace the effort …. Believability is beside the point; Zaror’s enthusiasm alone sells the part.” – Peter Debruge, Variety

“The action scenes range from good to great, and Espinoza and Zaror choreograph and shoot each fight with the kind of sure-handedness we’re seeing all too infrequently these days …. It’s a refreshing return to basics that ends up being surprisingly powerful, especially when the agile and decidedly large Zaror squares off with equally-matched and convincing opponents.” – Quiet Earth

“It’s basically a crazy 70’s exploitation feature packed with just about everything: lots of martial arts action, poker, silencers, colts, hot women, fast cars, everything Bond has, but straight out of Chile (and Peru) instead …. it’s still a damn fine action film” – Alex Billington, First Showing

“Zaror and his team kick all sorts of ass in this film and it borders [on the] criminally insane that Zaror isn’t recognized more for the talent that [he] is …. Very entertaining from start to finish with a more fully fleshed out lead character than any of the film’s influences ever explored, Mandrill comes at you with emotional fists and a troubled soul.” – Andrew Mack, Twitch