Batman’s whole shtick was that he was sick of seeing Gotham turn into a
cesspool of crime with the police just standing around twiddling their thumbs.
Driven by his desire to avenge his murdered parents, he decided to take matters
into his own hands and dole out justice his way. Seeking Justice is about a more believable, low-tech network of
batmen out to do what the police are incapable of.
Laura (Jones), a concert cellist, is raped on her way home. While in the
hospital waiting room, her distraught husband Will (Cage) is approached by Simon
(Pearce) goes up to and reveals that he is part of an organisation that knows
who the rapist is and can deal with him permanently without dragging Laura
through endless court proceedings. The only catch is that Will must promise to
repay the favour when the organisation calls on him to. Will warily agrees.
Fast forward a few months and Simon shows up again out of the blue. He
tells Will that he has to repay his favour by killing a child molester, that
the murder will be framed as an accident and that Will won’t be implicated in
the murder. As Will categorically refuses to do so, Simon starts to move in
ever closer, subtly threatening his house and wife should Will fail to repay
the debt.
Seeking Justice was
a lot better than this reviewer thought it would be. It’s legitimately tense
and Cage gives an appropriately conflicted performance. He’s torn between the
desire to make these criminals and murderers pay for their actions while
grappling with the fact that no one should play God and decide who lives
and dies.
Pearce’s Simon, like the best villains, is 100% convinced of the
righteousness of his actions. Consumed by abhorrence of these criminals and the
pain they inflict on their victims, he decides to stamp them out. He’s not
evil; just severely deluded, drunk on the feeling of power that comes from
being able to retaliate in whichever way he sees fit and from having at his disposal an army of
men, who owe him a 'favour'.
Jones’ Laura shows how the rape
continues to have an effect on her life. It isn’t something that she can put
behind her or forget. She installs new locks on the door, bars on the windows
and arms herself with pepper spray and a gun. She’s completely lost any sense
of safety and her life now revolves around being prepared for more attacks.
While quite generic, Seeking Justice is well-acted and shot. The
pacing keeps things tense, which is amplified by how grounded the film is and
how much we empathize with Will and Laura. The story, while slightly
outlandish, could happen and the film succeeds in making it seem not only
realistic; but highly probable too. This makes the film far more unsettling
than it had any right to be.
