Threat Movie Review

Yeah, we've seen bits and pieces of Threat before. Part Romper Stomper, part American History X, part The Warriors, this low-budget indie offers a group of gutterpunks in New York City who start a riot, partly by accident and partly from having nothing better to do.

Director Matt Pizzolo's plot summary speaks of "personal demons" and "redemption," the kind of stuff that litters hundreds of films that are really about meaningless violence but which pretend to be about something deeper. Threat at least goes part of the way there. Its actors are too inexperienced and its script is too straight-up to really eke out a deep understanding of urban violence, but Threat isn't a bad stab at doing it.

Maybe with a little more experience and a fleshier tale to tell, we'll see Pizzolo -- who achieves some impressive results with digital video, no money, and a clearly limited cast -- pull off a more fully realized treatise on what ails us. For now, sit back, enjoy his frequently humorous day trip through the city, and wonder whether we can't all just get along.

Minor threat.