Best movie ever!

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

I didn't really know what "Johnny Mad Dog" was going to be about, but I'm really into obscure foreign films as they usually become little gems. Still, with not much about this on IMDb and little being known about this film I was going to give it a miss on Film4. However, when I heard my favourite critic, Chris Tookey saying that he loved it I had to give it a chance because often anything he loves, I love. However, this is one of the few films we will have to remain indifferent on."Johnny Mad Dog" follows a group of child soldiers in Liberia 'fighting for freedom' by murdering and raping innocent families and even children. I found it all quite upsetting actually and it really is not a fun watch. Don't get me wrong I like a gut-wrenching, hard hitting film as much as the next person, maybe even more so, but I prefer it when a bit of plot is thrown in. For me "Johnny Mad Dog" was simply horrible people doing horrible things. There is a nice sub-plot with the little girl regarding her father and brother which follows her journey which is interesting. She's the only character you could feel sympathy for, but her story was pushed to the side for the child soldiers.There isn't anyone to like and after a while it becomes repetitious and dull. I suppose this is its point, that horrible things and unacceptable things are happening in third-world countries now and something needs to be done. It reminded me of "Full Metal Jacket" in a way (which I also only gave two stars) in that it shows the horrors of war through realism. There are a few scenes that are actually quite gripping and well written, but most of them are just repetitive and boring."Johnny Mad Dog" was quite beautifully shot, especially when it juxtaposed the raw hand-held close-ups in the war scenes with still ones, like with the boy in the wedding dress at the beginning. It's also quite interesting when these heartless child soldiers show some compassion and I really did like the ending. I did feel moved after watching it, but I can't help but think with a clear narrative that this could've been something of a masterpiece.My opinion was that I was bored through a lot of it. It's not nice to watch and I would not watch it again, but it is something that I won't forget. Still, films can be extremely hard-hitting yet grip you at the same time with a strong narrative e.g. "Schindler's List" is a film I am anticipating to see again and it showed images probably more-so horrific than this. "Johnny Mad Dog" is a thought-provoking piece and it was effective in the way that they used first-time actors, but it wasn't for me.

As some of the previous reviews have reflected, this movie is confusing in the fact that the PLOT and COUNTRY and Purpose are not easily recognized. Some may call this pointless and the other spectrum may call this raw; but the truth is that this movie is all of the above. It does not outline it's plot as ludicrously as 'Step Brothers' or as reflective (aka thought provoking as City of God) it is what a a true journalistic amateur (aka 'raw') would have documented if he was watching some children in a street gang in an unamed African country. This movie was shot in Liberia, but as a historian and patriarch of Nigeria; I have heard similar type stories. Not ALL movies are made to make you feel good. Some (thank the Lord) are just that..........movies. THINK for yourself.

Johnny Mad Dog is a war drama in an unknown African country. The movie follows a group of African rebel soldiers that plunder and murder civilians.To make a good summary of the movie, it's 90 minutes of African rebels harassing and shooting civilians with their AK47's. We are given a shaky camera and A LOT of close ups which is confusing since you don't really know what's going on. It ends very abruptly and leaves you with a lot of questions.No characters to care for and no logic. You feel no sympathy for the main character this "Johnny Mad Dog". You just want him to die.I don't know what Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire wanted to say with this movie, and to tell you the truth, you're not missing anything if you don't see it.

the other reviewer bellow sums everything up pretty much as i would do overall. i just have to add that i like this much more then "city of God" mostly because there is no over-the-top acting here and this is much more expressive from a realistic point of view. also the 2 or 3 war scenes are also very raw with realistic common sense military tactics.but the strength of this movie comes from its subject matter and from ALL the actors. watching this one realizes that there is no need for drama classes to become an "actor" if you were able to "play" the designed "role" beforehand...hands down to ALL the actors here(both girls and boys). the dramatization and the conclusion also stands out as well as all those little details abundant in many scenes.the dialogues are very raw and used in good realistic measure.one warning to the viewer: the language spoken is an English African dialect, so you might have a need for a subtitled version. subtitles are already available for it on the net.