If I understand correctly from IMDB, this film ends the plot of a trilogy but was the middle film in order of release. I haven't seen the other two, but I think Chained stands perfectly well on its own-- except maybe an epilogue, a few seconds long, that I guess refers back to film no. 1.
The protagonist is a tragic figure. He's a man who thinks fast and brooks no nonsense, which makes him good at his job-- he's a policeman-- but brings him into constant conflict with a world that's swarming with too much nonsense for one man to handle.
Much of the film has a documentary feel. The lead actors, although they carry the movie as well as any glamorous star could, do not have the charming looks that we audiences are accustomed to. The camera dogs them in intrusive close-up, and as the actors speak their dialogue they do not make a point of conveniently speaking in turn but often overlap.
It's a movie that has more pity and terror in it than laughs and warmth. I don't predict great commercial success, but it's won a number of awards and I certainly wouldn't call them undeserved.
