May I Kill U?

Directed by Stuart Urban and starring Kevin Bishop alongside veteran actresses Frances Barber and Rosemary Leach, May I Kill U? is a film that tries very hard to be funny. And fails. Miserably. 

May I Kill U? focuses on Kevin Bishop’s lawman Baz Vartis, as he cycles around a riot-scarred London struggling as a “Bicycle Bobby”.  Longing for detective work and living with his alcoholic, overbearing mother (Barber), Baz is transformed into a demented psychopath after being assaulted by a notorious gang leader. This (naturally) causes a seismic upheaval inside the mind of this all round good policeman, causing him to deliver his own unique form of justice – murdering criminals, and capturing their deaths on video.

So far, so familiar. Baz posts these violent deaths on social networks, and consequently builds up a legion of fans – some of whom think he’s a hero for disposing of these “scumbags”. Believing he is doing society a favour, Baz’s penchant for violence soon gets out of control, and leaves him with a thread of problems.

Scenes are interspersed with on-screen text messages and Twitter updates, which only further the film’s desperation to try and be relevant.  Social networking sites, technology and how they are both utilised is a major theme in the film, but it is dealt with in an alarmingly haphazard manner. It’s almost as if the director (Urban) is punching his audience repeatedly in the face screaming “This is the 21^st century! Look how modern everything is!”

Horribly unfunny and struggling under the weight of its own faux social commentary, May I Kill U? is tired, predictable and nowhere near as clever or as witty as it thinks it is. Its aim to try and touch upon the zeitgeist of our time is hideously misguided, whilst the “plot” simply meanders into an obscure and pointless farce with no direction, and with no interesting story arcs. It’s almost as if the film has given up on itself, before it even tried. May I Kill U? is a bottomless pit of mediocrity with little redemptive features. Only the most joyless of masochists could enjoy this painful experience. Avoid. 

Conor Nyhan

May I Kill U? is released nationwide on 11^th January 2013.

Watch the trailer for May I Kill U? here: