At a Glance
What is it: A new movie by
B-movie schlockster, Uwe Boll
Releases: June 19, 2026 on Prime Video and Apple TV.
Genre: Action
Review: 27 July, 2026
CITIZEN
Vigilante would never, ever emerge from the commercial Hollywood machine. One, it takes unflinching aim at illegal immigrants in Europe. Two, it stars Armie Hammer, the former heartthrob cancelled for his private struggles. And three, it's made by Uwe Boll, perhaps the worst director to ever make a movie.
Yet in an age where notoriety often counts for more than quality, Citizen Vigilante has successfully courted controvesy and carved out a niche for itself online. The film pits Hammer as Sanders, an American living in Europe. Sanders is ostensibly looking after his family's property empire, but he’s mostly focused on his true passion: blasting crims into submission, giblets be damned.
The American immigrant has a particular bone to pick with brown-faced men who, in the film, have swept into Europe and are now flaunting the law without a care in the world. In his black coat and polo neck, Armie plays Sanders like a cross between the Terminator and a medicated frat boy in need of a constant fix. And when there are no migrants around, he's willing to settle for white Europeans. You know, anyone who's been a bit naughty - including cops and judges.
There's just one problem. This cautionary morality story fails because Sanders is no better than the people he's hunting. In fact, he’s worse
Armie Hammer as Sanders: vigilante, multimillionaire and bus ticket holder.
For the film to work, Sanders has to be beyond reproach.
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Uwe's House of Horrors
The German director has horrifiyng audiences with his directing skills for more than two decades. Here are his most notable stinkers.
House of the Dead (2003)
A better writer would have made it harder for the audience to hate Sanders, turning in a script with a character that was curiously beyond reproach. After all, Batman breaks the law in Gotham, but we root for him all the same (as an aside, Citizen Vigilante was originally going to be titled Dark Knight, until Warner took action). But Sanders has every worst instinct imaginable. He sleeps with prostitutes, berates his employees, and kills innocent people.
That last one, the killing of innocents, is a bit of a deal-breaker. It occurs during one jaw-droppingly bad scene when our handsome Yank decides to make a point about the way civilians stick to the rule of law too rigidly. He swings his Audi into the wrong lane at 100 mph and causes the driver approaching him to crash. Yes, a civilian punished for an attentiveness to the law, in a film that has hitherto been arguing that law and order is all we’ve got. Make it make sense.
And before you ask - the civillian driver dies. I know this because Uwe Boll then has the civilian’s car blow up. With a literal fireball. Billowing amber-yellow flames dancing merrily in the chaos. "You see that?" Hammer asks his passenger as the bonfire rages at his rear. We can’t unsee it, mate.
a truly original move, Sanders has to film his every thought. Cue the little camera, the voice modifier, the blurred face. Aaaand off to the press they're sent, these clips played back to slack-jawed civilians on daytime tele. Even with the voice modifier, you can still hear that Sanders is American, or Canadian, or, you know, from somewhere out West. Catching him should be a doddle. How many other 6'6" blue-eyed Yanks are walking around the city?
Alongside the self-recorded stuff, we're also shown repeated cuts of Sanders talking to someone off camera. Who that person is we'll never know -- perhaps a cop or a therapist -- because Boll simply forgets to include the scene that explains why Sanders is being interviewed, and who he's being interviewed by.
But then, this is Boll. That there should be any care invested in the production seems to be alien to Uwe. As long as the final cut has some sound, some music, and some choppily-edited visuals, what more do you need? Yes, what are you complaining for? Who cares if the action is sick-inducing and that later scenes have been placed in the wrong order in the edit (see if you notice this last point). At least there was a camera present to shoot the whole thing, OK.
IN
The obligatory vigilante with-a-camera trope is on full display in Citizen Vigilante
Postal (2007)
House of the Dead has earned the dubious
reputation of "worst film of all time." It's a
reputation weall earned.
The famously violent Postal videogame was
the perfect vehicle for Boll's next movie.
The German has never been afraid to court
controvesy. In fact, he's actively sought to
do it. jjoi
What's astonishing about this Dungeon Siege
adaptation is the number of high-profile actors
Boll got on board. Liotta, Statham, Forlani,
Perlmen. The list goes on.
In The Name Of The King (2007)
his part, Hammer does the best with the script he's been given, playing Sanders with all the warmth and wit of a man auditioning for the Terminator reboot. I suppose we have to mention that there's a supporting cast too, but they’re all just props. You have the Interpol agent you know nothing about. You have the wayward youths, the corrupt government officials and, of course, the migrant criminals.
Migrants! Oh, go on then Uwe - get some attention.
I believe in artistic expression and I believe that movies have the right to take a stand on political issues, no matter how contentious. But while there's a good movie to be made about the state of immigration in Europe, this is not that movie. Citizen Vigilante is mean-spirited, ugly, and unable to present a coherent argument. Yes, Sanders is that most insufferable breed of human: do as I say, not as I do.
My conclusion, then, is simple: if a movie this bad is generating interest, audiences are evidently desperate for movies that have a point of view. But Hollywood, for its part, seems mostly content to stick to diversity quotas, Marvel movies and rom-com slop. Say nothing, offend no one. Remember when films situated us in their protagonist’s highly subjective -- and often controversial -- point of view? Taxi Driver, anyone? Heroes don’t have to be likable: they just have to make sense.
Citizen Vigilante is making headlines because it’s crass, violent and unflinching. But mostly because it’s unflinching. It tackles a taboo subject without a shred of self-awareness or an ounce of class. Deep down, we all know there’s a kernel of truth at play, but to really explore such a topic, you need brave new voices. Where are they? If Uwe Boll is the best we’ve got, we’re in a very bad place indeed.
FOR
Despite his reputation as one of the worst directors in film history, Boll has worked with a series of notable actors, including Jason Statham, Christian Slater, Ray Liotta, and now Armie Hammer.
Did You Know?
3/10
The first 30 minutes are
intriguing...
...the final 30 are
excruciating
Character motivations make
no sense
Poorly edited and scored
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