"Green Room" is a decent enough thriller starring Anton Yelchin, Joe Cole, Alia Shawkat, and Callum Turner as the members of a punk band named The Ain't Rights (or the Aren't Rights, if you prefer). One night, they're the musical act at an isolated night club catering to Neo Nazi skinheads. Before they can leave, they are witness to a murder, and the people running the club have confined them to a room so that they can deal with the problem in their own way. The Ain't Rights will then be forced to deal with the evil club owner, Darcy (the great Patrick Stewart), and his unrelenting minions.
This viewer wasn't as blown away with this movie as some people, feeling that while the situation was reasonably riveting and the pacing very good, the story and the characters are mostly pretty thin. It was hard to care about what would happen to our protagonists or how things would get resolved. In addition, the villains seemed to be pretty sloppy individuals.
The movie is somewhat redeemed by acceptable action sequences, and some highly enjoyable violence & gore. Pat, played by Yelchin, gets his arm f'd up badly at one point. There are also some very nice torn throats thanks to the attack dogs employed by the thugs.
The cast does manage to be engaging. The real-life fate of Yelchin was truly sad; he does alright here, and likely had a solid career ahead of him. Imogen Poots is fine as Amber, a bystander who finds herself imperiled along with the band members, but this viewer was particularly taken with Ms. Shawkat. Classing up the joint considerably is the always terrific Stewart, who's an effectively soft spoken criminal mastermind.
Entertaining stuff, although it doesn't really live up to the reputation it has, not for me, anyway.
Six out of 10.
