In the 90 years since Bonnie & Clyde went down in a hail of state Police issued lead. The immediate response to the two was horror, yes, but also…curiosity? Most wouldn’t admit it but there was something inherently romantic in their “us against the world” way, something very Romeo and Juliet in the way they met their ends together. That being said it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the two almost immediately inspired creative minds to allow themselves a new sub-genre of work, lovers on a crime spree. Johnny & Clyde wasn’t the first, and it isn’t the best, but it….well, it definitely fits the criteria.
I first thought, like I’m sure you did, that this was a new take on the subject making the two titular lovers both men, something that would offer a new view on an overdone subject. We’ll start by clarifying, it’s not. It’s a standard (in the sense of gender roles in the story historically) take, just that the woman in the relationship just happens to be named Clyde (Ajani Russell). She and her paramour Johnny (Avan Jogia) are on an endless crime spree with nothing but their bloodlust and their love keeping them going. Not content with simple bank robberies, the two are actually serial killers who end up having their sights set on knocking over a casino. Unfortunately for them, the casino is owned by Alana Hart (Megan Fox, because, why not?), who takes her security so seriously that she employs supernatural entities and demons to protect her treasures.
Adding to the painfully unattended to storyline, the film itself just looks cheap. Our “big bad”, Alana Hart’s security demon is straight out of a late 90s direct to video release and the films locations reek of being shot in a (somewhat) dressed up unused warehouse, really just a step above a porno set. I could go on for some time about the problems I had with this film, so in the interest of time I’ll skip ahead to the most glaring issue, our leads. Johnny & Clyde themselves are utterly irredeemable and unlikable, in the case of Clyde there was just nothing there at all, she was little more then an extension of Johnny only doing and saying what he wished for most of the time. I don’t need a deep character piece and, honestly, I like the idea of the main characters being actually evil, but you have to give people some reason to like or connect to them.
Look, Johnny & Clyde swung for the fences. When you do that you either hit the game winning run or you completely wiff, unfortunately it was strike three for the star-crossed lovers. Ultimately what we have is a movie that had a lot of potential but was pulled out of the oven and put on the table WAY too soon. At best you’ll finish watching Johnny & Clyde with an overwhelming feeling of “ehh”, though I can see quite a few folks not making it that far.