Since there’s been a bit of a drought of new movies going on due to the coronavirus, I decided to check out one of the smaller movies that passed me by this year. I normally miss these limited releases like Guns Akimbo, which is a shame, because it provides a much different experience than I normally get with mainstream movies. The movie basically feels like it’s trying to be nothing more than a fun, video-game-like experience that’s trying to offer style over substance in the best way possible.

The basic premise here is that there exists this website called Skizm, where viewers watch willing participants battle it out in a fight to the death. It’s basically just society watching people murder each other for entertainment. Our protagonist is Miles, a nobody who gets his kicks by trolling the comments on Skizm. The people behind Skizm don’t take kindly to this, though, so they kidnap Miles and nail guns to his hands. When Miles wakes up the next day, Skizm tells him that he’s been unwillingly put into a deathmatch with a ruthless killer named Nix. He has 24 hours to kill or be killed.

I don’t really have a ton to say about Guns Akimbo outside of the fact that I just had a fun time with the movie. This isn’t the kind of movie that has any deep importance. Rather, I just thought it looked like a fun time, and so I unplugged my brain for 90 minutes and enjoyed the ride. Also, with it being a smaller release, I don’t think it will have much widespread appeal. If there was a real sleeper hit I’d spend more time convincing people to not miss out on it, but I don’t consider Guns Akimbo to be a must-see by any means. In fact, it feels like it’s for a niche audience, and that’s part of why I liked it so much. This was a movie that tailored to my interests and delivered what I wanted from it, but others might not feel the same way. So, in the end, absolutely watch it if it matches up with your interests, but otherwise you can overlook it. It’s worth it to people like me, but I can recognize when a movie is for me and not for everyone. Personally, I thought Guns Akimbo was a really fun movie, and I enjoyed what it had to offer.

3.5/5