Above: I Am Vengeance: Retaliation poster (C) 2020 Evolutionary Films, All rights reserved not monetized. Below: trailer from Evolutionary films (C) 2020
Greetings
valued Dan's Movie Report readers, across my desk today comes the
long anticipated action film 'I am Vengeance: Retaliation'. I must
admit the film has been on my radar for awhile and I have a pending
interview with actress Katrina Durden as well. To be honest, after
watching the film, I was unsure if I wanted to review, yet feel
compelled to do so.
Director/Writer
Ross Boyask assembles an action film that promises more than the
first installment, yet sadly fails to deliver on almost all fronts.
Yes there is wall to wall action and fight sequences, expertly
choreographed by Tim Man, and a really great action performance by
Katrina Durden, yet the film feels hollow. At 82 minutes including
credits crawl, there is no story line and the only plot is basically
trying to take an ex military man to justice played by Vinnie Jones.
Sean Teague (Jones) apparently killed his entire team and also the
father of Jen Quaid, played by Katrina Durden. In 'I Am Vengeance:
Retaliation you have two groups of competing mercenaries each trying
to take the other out, yet oddly manages to take the time to drop
fully loaded weapons to engage in hand to hand, or foot to mouth
combat. Katrina's Jen Quaid has no desire to see Sean Teague brought
to justice only to the morgue, and trust me she has unloaded an
entire stockroom of whoop-ass on various thugs, I mean, I need a
beating, I am calling Katrina!
The 19
fight scenes aside, the singular location and very modest use of
scenery made the second installment of 'Vengeance' feel
claustrophobic. I wanted to see more chases, and some real dialogue.
Just not enough to keep up the interest. A short action film can be
excused for not delving into a detailed plot or story as what you are
selling is a proof of concept. 'I am Vengeance: retaliation feels
like a proof of concept short stretched to 80 minutes. Yes the action
s really great, some of the fights are pretty amazing, but ultimately
the film itself is a rather disappointing outing. Just not enough
emphasis on story.
The
film was shot in the U.K., yet is released first in the USA, I am
assuming the audience is a DTV market low budget fan, 99 percent male
and mostly 15 to 30 yrs old. A couple good things, is 'I am
Vengeance” Retaliation' hits the mark and should do modestly well
in the niche it has carved out. Stu Bennett is a solid action guy,
and with the dearth of ex-wrestlers in action films should have no
problems getting in on some bigger productions in the coming years.
Actually that is a market for this film, wrestling fans.
Some
bright spots on the film are the power and finesse of Katrina Durden
and the guile and tact of Phoebe Robinson-Galvin as Kate Lynch. The
ladies have a copious amount of action and are very adept at handling
it. Phoebe is more of a girl next door type, yet she is surprisingly
agile and not afraid to fight. Katrina Durden has a breakout role and
should most definitely be a lead in a new film with a better script
and larger budget. Katrina wears some skin tight leather and she
still moves like a black panther when she fights, damn impressive.
The film is pretty well lit and the filming itself is great for the
action, the audience can see what is going on. I like the fact that
many times a fight would happen and the camera would pull back just
in time for a character to do a big move or finishing hit.
Overall,
'I Am Vengeance: retaliation' is kind of disappointing, I wanted
more, and I liked the first film better. Not liking to compare, but Jesse V.
Johnson's two 'Debt Collector' films have far better plots, all the
while not really sacrificing action. Ross is a good director, but I
feel that a second script writer would have helped him add some
meaningful dialogue and story for the characters, I wanted to see
more character interplay, not just small talk between fights. 'I Am Vengeance:
Retaliation' rates a very average 5 out of 10, a possible rent if you
are into low budget action.
Film is available now in the USA to rent or own, watch for other dates soon.
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