13 (2010)

Sometimes a movie can have more impact on you if you don’t know anything about it. I try to do this as much as possible, because you usually won’t have high expectations and won’t be disappointed as quickly. This is also the reason I usually skip most trailers as well, unless it is for an action movie where the story is not as important.

I hardly knew anything about 13, expect that Jason Statham and Mickey Rourke were in it. For me those names are enough reason to see a movie, so I was looking forward to seeing it and really was not disappointed. I will try to tell as little as I can about the story.

The film introduces Vince (Sam Riley), a young man who, because his father ended up in hospital, is forced to decide the house they live in to pay the hospital bills.
He works as an electrician and hears the man of the house talking about a letter which will make him rich. The guy overdoses and Vince decides to find the letter and follow its instructions without knowing what he’s getting himself in to. It doesn’t take long before he finds out.

13 is a remake of the French movie 13 Tzameti, which I have not seen, so I can’t say if the original is better. Having watched the trailer it looks about the same. This is a brutal movie and you will initially be shocked if you don’t know anything about it.

Storywise the movie sometimes is quite predictable, especially because there are some well-known actors in certain scenes which allow you to guess what’s going to happen.
The movie had a storyline involving 50 Cent and Mickey Rourke, which really didn’t add anything to the movie. It was unneccessary and didn’t add anything to the movie. Would have rather seen they left it out. The movie had a very strong ending.
Choosing a relatively unknown actor for the starring role was a good choice as it really makes you wonder what will happen. All the well-known actors all play smaller roles, so don’t expect to see a lot of them.

13 is a good thriller that’s well worth watching.

Score: 7