So, let me get this straight: Uwe Boll’s “Citizen Vigilante,” starring Armie Hammer, in his “comeback vehicle,” explicity tackles illegal immigrant violence in Europe? Is that what it’s really about? I thought it might take a more subtle approach to the topic, but no—apparently, the film is extremely militant in its handling of the subject.
Turns out, Germany freaked out and has now effectively “banned” the film from being shown in the country, blocking it from normal distribution over there. Will other countries follow suit? Boll is furious, saying his film is less violent than “John Wick” and “The Equalizer,” and those films never got banned.
A Hollywood Elsewhere write-up by Jeffrey Wells—the first review I’ve read of the film—calls “Citizen Vigilante” a “furious anti-immigration” parable. Basically, it’s a riff on Michael Winner’s “Death Wish,” with Middle Eastern villains.
Hammer plays Sanders, a simple man turned vigilante overnight who has grown deeply frustrated with what he perceives as rising street crime involving immigrant groups. His violent response to the “thugs” leads to him becoming a social media folk hero.
With the film effectively banned in Germany after the country’s film ratings board, the FSK, refused to grant it either an “18+” classification or a “No Youth Clearance” designation, Boll claims the board is using youth protection as a pretext to suppress a film that addresses what he calls “the reality that mass migration from predominantly Islamist countries has severely compromised security in Europe.”
So, Boll isn’t even hiding it. He’s made an anti-immigration story about modern-day Europe. He tells Wells, “if I had made a film about five neo-Nazis raping a migrant girl it would [do quite well] in Germany. But now my movie is banned instead because I made a movie about the reality.”
When this project was first announced, Boll described “Citizen Vigilante”—formerly titled “Dark Knight”—as a return to his “Rampage”-era filmmaking, calling it a “very dark and violent movie” that tackles the current “landscape in Europe,” shaped by the “migrant situation,” including “rapes and knife attacks.” I thought Boll was being hyperbolic, but I should have taken him at his word. That is exactly what the film appears to be about.
Hammer, who recently opened up about the “brutal experience” he endured after sexual assault allegations surfaced against him in 2021, saying he had been “canceled” and left “broke,” is hoping “Citizen Vigilante” will serve as a successful comeback vehicle. It will certainly spark conversation—I’ll give him that.