Greetings
valued Dan's Movie Report readers, I was given the glorious exclusive
opportunity to view 'Payback' a shot at reviewing the U.K. Screening
copy! In the United States the film will be entitled 'Debt
Collectors'.
Please
see my brand new interview with Jesse V. Johnson over on the
Action-Flix.com site @
Please
note, I am reviewing the U.K. Version so there will be no spoilers as
with all of my reviews. Also please read my review of the first film,
which I gave a 9 out of 10!
Kindly
read my more in depth interview with Jesse regarding the first 'Debt
Collector' film @
Essentially
you have a continuation of the French and Sue saga. 'Payback'
involves a road trip to Vegas to set off the film in motion, the best
part is part 2 had a much larger budget, or so it seems, the scope of
the film, felt bigger, fights were more epic. I know hard to improve
on the original, but in most cases they did!
Here
is what I really liked about 'Payback' the addition of twists and
turns, the story is interesting, and plot thickens. I enjoyed all of
the locations. Time was taken to do location scouting. There is a a
particular scene, small spoiler, that involves Parkour, I will not
say what happens, but the way it was filmed is great! Angles, people
running etc... I could see everything not off in the distance. Luke
LaFontaine who I plan on interviewing again, did an amazing job
coordinating the action! One thing about Luke, he knows the actor's
strengths! Much respect go to the new ladies in the mix, Mayling Ng,
always a menacing villain! Marina Sirtis, who I met years back really
was amazing doing a 180 and playing not an Empath so hah, she has
stuff to say! Marina is exactly the opposite in 'Payback' as her real
life persona, she is kind compassionate etc.. That said, Jesse was
right I was blown away by newcomer Charity Collins, she was the
craziest of the three! Her acting and natural ability are quite
stunning, respect ladies, take three bows!
On to
Mr. Scott Adkins, and Louis Mandylor, what can I say, Legends!
Sometimes, legends have to fight it out! No Spoilers! There is good
road banter that hearkens back to the early days of Hawaii 5-0
reboot, clever, yet crazy! Some true hysterical lines are when Marina
Sirtis calls Adkins a Shoe Salesman! No more jokes! OK there are
several!
Director
Jesse V. Johnson, once again wrangles a bigger cast with ease! In
Triple Threat, he got the most out of all of the characters! In
'Payback' he had to really push himself with a combination of new and
veteran actors. I like the mix of characters. Quite honestly I had a
bit of trepidation not bringing Selina Lo back but once again, he
proved me wrong as this film had a darker aggressive tone, needed
angrier ladies, Selina though was spitting mad in the first one! I
kind of hope Selina and Mayling are brought back for part 3, cause, I
need a swords vs staff fight! There I said it! Ha, evil laugh, but I
know a part three is a given if this is successful! BUY the DVD!
Musically
'Payback' is excellent. Fitting theme music for the various action
pieces! Sound editing is great as can cleanly hear the voices. Adkins
really works hard on his vocal timing and humor not just his kicks
and fists!
I have
two very minor downers yet sticking points on 'Payback' I found that
while the running time of 97 minutes was far too short, now the first
one had a smaller scale so 95 minutes felt perfect. I wanted to see
more of the gangs, the players, outside of French and Sue, I know
but Danny, DTV films need to be 90 minutes or around that prior to
credits crawl. In this film there is a lot going on and unless you
watched the first film, will feel a trifle overwhelmed. The second
one was a scene in a hotel room, where Sue and French are speaking,
although the dialogue is great I feel that it went on a bit long,
again, this is very minor, I would say take out a portion of that and
add to learning more about various gang factions at play, and an
additional 5-7 minutes to make this a 105 minute film!
I know
why am I nit picking, well, I am giving the movie a kick in the balls
9.5 out of 10 rating ha-ha, I take only .5 cut for those two issues.
I like the DVD cover art much better on the U.K. Release and it is a
fitting title 'Payback' as in Germany the first one was called
'Payday'! If you are in the USA , Amazon has it for pre-order now
comes out June 2nd,
make sure you do order the first one if you have yet to see it!
https://www.amazon.com/Debt-Collectors-Scott-Adkins/dp/B086Y4GYV2/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Debt+Collectors&qid=1589860660&sr=8-1
Now in
the U.K. 'Payback' Comes out Digital June 8th DVD July
6th. I will have more release information as it arises,
Dazzler Media is releasing! Special thanks to Mike Fury, John M
Jerva, and of course Jesse V. Johnson for making this review
possible!
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