MARTIN Luther King Jr famously decreed. "Hate begets hate. Violence begets violence. Toughness begets a greater toughness."

His words strike a chord in Outlaw, Nick Love's film set in a lawless present-day Britain, in which citizens of London take up arms to dole out violent justice to the criminals.

But while Luther King added "we must meet the forces of hate with the power of love", writer-director Love meets the forces of hate in his film with a blitzkrieg of gunfire and mindless carnage.

What's the point in heated debate and discussion when you can just as easily point a sawn-off shotgun in someone's face and pull the trigger?

After months fighting for his country in Iraq, Sergeant Danny Bryant (Sean Bean) returns home to a nation he no longer recognises, riddled with violent crime and corruption.

His wife has a new man and the locks have been changed. The veteran Para is horrified and can barely contain his anger when a gang of hoodies dares to challenge his authority.

Seeking refuge in a cheap hotel, where the security guard Simon Hillier (Sean Harris) secretly spies on the guests via specially installed CCTV cameras, Bryant vows to bring law and justice back to the streets of the capital.

He joins forces with Hillier, who was prevented from joining the army because of a criminal record, and a group of likeminded men.

Together, the vigilantes plot to wreak revenge on the people who have harmed them, including drug baron Manning (Rob Fry) and his henchmen.

Scripted in reaction to contemporary concerns, Outlaw has serious and sobering points to make about the emasculation of modern society, the threat of violence in our everyday lives and fears about crumbling law and order.

Unfortunately, once Bryant and his posse take to the streets the film becomes a senseless bloodbath.

The descent into total anarchy, where citizens empower themselves as judge, jury and executioner, is no solution to spiralling crime statistics.

It just makes a dire situation even worse.

  • See it at the ABC.