Johnny Mad Dog

2008

1h 35m

Drama

War

List

77%

Tomatometer

26 Reviews

65%

Audience Score

5,000+ Ratings

An African teen (Christophe Minie) leads a band of young fighters on a bloody rampage through local villages.

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Critics Consensus

Authentic and confrontational, Johnny Mad Dog is a punishing depiction of the lives of child soldiers that is difficult to shake.

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Keith Uhlich

Time Out

Fortune cookie wisdom from the nihilism brigade.

Rated: 2/5

Jun 19, 2023

Full Review

Joseph Jon Lanthier

Slant Magazine

Director Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire's deftly stylized camerawork reminds us at key intervals that what we're seeing is artifice, dramatization.

Rated: 3/4

Jan 22, 2011

Full Review

V.A. Musetto

New York Post

The movie is harrowing and hard to forget. But just when you think there's no hope, Sauvaire throws in a tearful moment of redemption.

Rated: 3/4

Jan 21, 2011

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Clay Cane

BET.com

Educational, truthful and important.

Rated: B+

Jan 26, 2011

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Eric Monder

Film Journal International

...it's difficult to recommend Johnny Mad Dog, despite-and in some ways because of-the fact it is very good.

Jan 21, 2011

Full Review

Christopher Null

Filmcritic.com

breathless, ferocious, and deeply unsettling

Rated: 3.5/5

Jan 20, 2011

Full Review

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Audience Member

The teenage rebel Johnny Mad Dog leads the small group of younger boys commanded by the older General Never Die, who feeds them cocaine.[1] The film follows the group's march towards the capital Monrovia, and follows them in a gritty realistic manner as they move through a series of towns and villages, where they terrify and often execute the population. The soldiers are depicted as almost feral, committing acts of pillage and rape, with scant regard for even their own lives. They wear a variety of outlandish outfits – including butterfly wings and a wedding dress – and have nicknames such as No Good Advice, Captain Dust to Dust, and Chicken Hair... "Johnny Mad Dog" is a French/Liberian war film directed by Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire and based on the novel Johnny Chien Méchant (2002) by the Congolese author Emmanuel Dongala. It tells the story of a group of child soldiers fighting for the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) rebels in 2003, during the latter part of the Second Liberian Civil War. It´s tragic, dramatic, authentic and emotional. A force of nature showing the tragic side of civilwar and child soldiers. "Johnny Mad Dog" is well made, but the storyline is a bit scattered and the focus is a bit everywhere. Plus you have no sympathy for the main characters as they have no empathy for no one.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/21/23

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Audience Member

This movie was terrible, simply put. There is 0 plot, the acting is horrible, and the sound effects are even worse than the acting. It is very uncomfortable to watch. I don't know what the producer/director was trying to achieve, but he landed way below the mark. Don't even waste your time.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I came across this movie last night and...OMG. Genuinely, it was raw. But at the same time, as a woman, I could not take my eyes off the screen until it was over. Rewinding several times. It was so real. I am telling the truth - I had to get up and turn the light on. It was around 2 in the morning and I was uncomfortable. The music, the colors, the energy. Everything felt right, true. Real. I was all about it, yet the subject matter is so not right. I haven't been able to unthink this movie in the hours since I first watched it. I will be talking about and recommending this one for quite some time to come (to those I know can appreciate/handle it.) I will be watching again. The end for me was completely deep but I can't talk about it so... //////////////////////////////////// SPOILER ALERT IF YOU SCROLL DOWN All I will say about the end is simply that it is brilliant. After all the killing and fighting and taking... Life continues. Makes me think of the words, "and the meek shall rise." Pardon any typos. Dictating to iPad. What a trip.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/20/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Brutal and honest.... Watch it!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/04/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Dramatization of African Politics turns this in to a basic popcorn drama. 25/01/2014

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

01/13/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Orrible kids on the rampage, doing horrible things that include killing and rape. Very real grim stuff. During the movie i was trying to guess which country this was set in and guess Liberia

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/28/23

Full Review

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Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire

Director

Christophe Minie

Johnny Mad Dog

Daisy Victoria Vandy

Laokole

Dagbeth Tweh

No Good Advice

Barry Chernoh

Small Devil

Mohammed Sesay

Butterfly

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Synopsis

An African teen (Christophe Minie) leads a band of young fighters on a bloody rampage through local villages.

Director: Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire
Producer: Elisa Larrière, Alexandre Lippens
Screenwriter: Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire
Production Co: MNP Entreprise, Scope Pictures, Canal+, Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC), Explicit Films
Genre: Drama, War
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 3, 2019
Runtime: 1h 35m

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