SHRAPNEL -- A Reactionary Action-Thriller That Provokes No Reaction Beyond Boredom

Review by Daniel Lima

Director William Kaufman has had a banner year, with three of his films released this month alone. Warhorse One is a lethargic vanity project that comes alive in a tightly choreographed climax. The Channel is a derivative but solid action-thriller that delivers some of the year’s best action set pieces. Rounding out this trio of releases is Shrapnel, which excises the best parts of the previous two films and doubles down on their worst aspects. The end result is bland, tedious agitprop that fails to deliver any of the thrills of Kaufman’s previous work.
 
Shrapnel details the efforts of a Texas rancher on the U.S.-Mexican border to find his daughter, who went missing after a visit to Juarez. His search puts him at odds with the city’s cartel, and they quickly learn that he will go to any length for the sake of his family.
 
This premise recalls any number of interchangeable, disposable thrillers, many of which are steeped in right-wing reactionary politics. The film earns place in that ignoble cinematic tradition through its portrayal of Mexico as a crime-addled, poverty stricken hellhole. Its protagonist is a physical manifestation of U.S. military might and its right to global dominance. Shrapnel revels in the violence and pain he inflicts on the supposed savages from south of the border (don’t worry, his wife is Hispanic). The moments when the film fully indulges in this ugliness are few and far between, though truth be told, they’re the only moments where the film has anything resembling a pulse.
 
By comparison, most of the film feels inert and stagnant. The first third of the film attempts to set up the emotional stakes, and fails miserably. The characters are utterly indistinct and forgettable, voids of charisma and personality that exist simply to move the plot forward. Every scene feels like padding — two minutes of the lead driving through the desert, a flurry of establishing shots for locations that only get visited once, exposition repeated to multiple characters. It’s all incredibly perfunctory.

Kaufman’s strength as a director, however, has always been in how capably he handles action. The second and third acts are each taken up largely by one action set piece each, both in the condensed environments that allow Kaufman to employ the tactical gunplay that is his bread and butter. To his credit, there are a handful of inspired moments in that first scene where that penchant for creative choreography does come through, where characters use their environment in interesting ways and are forced to adapt to an evolving battlefield.
 
Unfortunately, it falls prey to the same lack of propulsive energy that plagues the first third of the film. So much time is spent just setting up the confrontation, and even when the shooting starts, there are long breaks that deflate any of the building momentum. The moments that work in that first shootout end up being mere flashes of brilliance. The second shootout does away with those, settling for shot-reverse shot firefights down long corridors. It would be disappointing in any action movie, but even more so in one from William Kaufman.
 
It’s strange to say that the best part of a film was when it was at its most repellent, playing to the crassest and debased elements of its audience. Sadly, those are the only parts of this film where anything felt like it had any weight. It’s hard to imagine someone wanting to see a dry, limp, boring action-thriller that caters to unhinged perceptions of life in Central America, and not going out to the theater to see Sound of Freedom. For those who want Sound of Freedom at home, however, there is Shrapnel.

Shrapnel releases in theaters and on VOD July 28.

Rating: 1.5/5