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By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
It’s been a weird year for Armie Hammer, the disgraced movie star who got canceled for the wildest reason of all: in 2021, his leaked messages to women revealed cannibalistic fantasies! Many thought he would never act again after such a wild revelation. However, he found a second chance with Uwe Boll, a provocateur who has been described as the world’s worst director. Boll cast Hammer in Citizen Vigilantea movie where a man gets so fed up with violent immigrants that he starts murdering them. The film was quite divisive: some saw it as dark satire, others saw it as an anti-woke rallying call, and everyone else saw it as right-wing ragebait.
How did Hammer see it? Earlier this week, an unnamed source close to the actor claimed that Hammer called Citizen Vigilante “hateful” and “disgusting.” Before the dust even settled on these alleged comments, Boll spoke out, claiming that Hammer had a great time making the film before he started ranting about what audiences really want to see. Now, it’s harder than ever to divine how the controversial actor really felt about starring in this year’s most offensive movie. One thing’s for sure, though: despite being shared online for free and amplified by Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, this film will not be the lasting rallying cry against immigrants that many conservatives were hoping for.
Somehow, Death Wish Returned
The plot of Citizen Vigilante is straightforward and (in typical Uwe Boll style) quite deranged. Armie Hammer plays an American veteran living in Europe who gets fed up with violent immigrants after his wife is murdered by one of them. He then begins a kind of two-pronged attack on the dangerous immigrants that he believes the justice system has been too lenient on. Online, he shares video screeds against his enemies; offline, he takes justice into his own hands, murdering criminal immigrants, Death Wish style. The movie ends with him murdering 10 Syrian refugees, ranting about the woke left and the need for citizens to do what the justice system will not.
What did Citizen Vigilante leading man Armie Hammer say about the film? A source close to him recently told Puck News that the actor, in tears, declared the film “hateful” and “disgusting.” The same source claims that, after watching the finished product, the actor declared, “That was not the movie I thought we made.” While this is open to debate (like, it seems impossible to read these lines and not realize what the movie is about!), the source claimed that Hammer was willing to star in the upcoming Citizen Vigilante sequel, but only if he is offered “life-changing money.” For context, he received $250,000 for the first one.
The Worst Movie Climax Ever Made?
That particular bit of celebrity gossip was still hot off the presses when Citizen Vigilante director Uwe Boll offered a retort. He told TheWrap that “Armie was perfect for the part and I loved working with him. He was prepared and delivered every day on set.” Continuing, he said, “We both had a great time working together, even if the subject matter of the film is very serious and real.”
He then claimed, “It was clear that the film will split the audience, but I never cared about reviewers – I care about the audience. 94% on Rotten Tomatoes or 4.5 on Amazon shows that the audience loves the film.” Concluding, he said, “50% of the audience doesn’t feel connected anymore with the crap the studios are spitting out–they needed and wanted a blunt and hard film about reality.” While it’s unclear what RT scores have to do with claims about Armie Hammer hating the movie, Boll is focusing on audience scores because the critical score is an abysmally low 6 percent.
The Comeback Is Already Over
Right now, this is a classic case of he said, she said: Hammer (who has not confirmed anything this source said) reportedly hated Citizen Vigilantewhile Boll claims the actor had a great time. It’s possible that both things are true, of course. Hammer might have enjoyed finally acting again and getting a decent payday, but maybe he’s now worried that starring in a film whose worst moments are being shared by the worst people on Earth might hurt his comeback chances. In that case, he might be a bit like Jonathan Majors: doomed to star only in films designed as provocative political propaganda.
Still, this current controversy will likely hurt both Boll and Hammer. While a Citizen Vigilante sequel is in the works, it’s unclear how much money the first film even made after being banned in the director’s native Germany. Plus, Hammer is now in the awkward position of either disowning the only movie he’s made in half a decade or leaning into being the new right-wing mouthpiece. His current silence hurts him either way, while Boll has successfully pigeonholed himself into only making movies for people who call everything they dislike (and have been told to dislike) “woke.’
Still, I’m afraid to be too mean to the edgelord director. Otherwise, his next film might be about hunting down all of the evil critics who commented on Citizen Vigilante after committing the worst crime of all: actually watching this piece of sh*t film!
