Runtime: 87 minutes
Directed by: Jesse V. Johnson
Starring: Scott Adkins, Craig Fairbrass, Thomas Turgoose, Nick Moran, Kierston Wareing
From: Several different companies
Even darker than expected for a movie where Scott Adkins seeks avengement.
I subscribed to Netflix again—you may be able to guess what I'll be watching on that platform next weekend, even though I suspect that picture won't be too good. In the meanwhile, when I have the service I'll see a few genre efforts, including in the action realm. I've mentioned here and elsewhere that I need to see more Adkins and Jesse V. Johnson and once again Johnson did a quality job as the director, not to mention Adkins was credible as an ass-kicker.
It is not the most pleasant of tales-after all, when we see Adkins (playing a character named Cain) in the first act he's a hardened badass who just escaped from prison, has scars on his face and a grill that would impress Paul Wall. He holds various goons of the lead bad guy hostage in a pub; besides the violence becoming quite graphic at points, there is constant cursing (something I'm not always a fan of... at least this has some funny UK slang that is not too commonly heard by a Dumb Yankee like me) and it is a tale that involves family betrayal and a rather rotten brother.
Thankfully I thought it to be pretty good. Even with an improbable moment or two, what I wanted to see most-the action-was satisfying. Dudes get wrecked and all the action was shot in a clear fashion rather than it be quick cut or shaky-cam BS... that new G.I. Joe film this was not. There are many flashbacks which explain how the lead found himself in this predicament—before he was turned on then years of hard prison life Cain was far different. If you want a tough & gritty tale that has plenty of brutal action, this is a worthwhile genre effort on Netflix. It is a shame, though, that both Johnson and Adkins don't do big-budget action films... although Hollywood may ruin them both and they would also have to create the lame unexciting action beats we get far too often from the big studios.
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