Runtime: 97 minutes
Directed by: Jesse V. Johnson
Starring: Scott Adkins, Louis Mandylor, Vladimir Kulich, Marina Sirtis, Ski Carr
From: Several companies but again this was watched on Netflix
This is literally a movie where they alternate between using a Hyundai Accent hatchback and Hyundai Accent sedan... and it's supposed to be the same vehicle.
I've seen a decent amount of director Jesse V. Johnson's work, including 2018's The Debt Collector. He creates exciting low-budget action pictures, usually starring Scott Adkins. Both deserve better careers but me carping again about modern Hollywood will have to be done on another occasion. While The Debt Collector had too many F-bombs and made the strange decision to include several pretentious shots involving COWS as a clumsy metaphor, otherwise it was a fun time as there was more comedy than expected as Adkins and Louis Mandylor hung out as the latter introduced to the eponymous line of work. Thankfully it did deliver on the action beats.
There being a sequel is a little surprising-don't ask why if you haven't seen the original-and it was watched on Netflix, where because it's Netflix they use the title The Debt Collector 2. It's more of the same, although the whole experience is at least one step down. The exclusion of the pretentious moments is the only benefit; otherwise the story treads familiar ground, just not as well. The camaraderie between the lead duo, the heels they have to try and collect from, the banter, all the F-bombs... it's all worse than before. Even the action is inferior in this case, including the climax. The biggest sin, though, is plot momentum—or rather the lack of plot momentum. Until the third act starts winding down this just plods along.
The two leads still possess their charm and none of this I'd call “bad”; however, the whole exercise is just mediocre. Even a scene that blatantly rips off a moment from a Carpenter classic seems misplaced. Alas, I can't carp too loudly when this is the sixth Johnson picture I've witnessed and it's the first one that wasn't at least fine to me. The film is still more worthwhile than a lot of the Hollywood action films we've been “blessed” with in recent years... or I'm sure a good amount of the Netflix Original action movies too.
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