Action

Avengement – A Raw Extremely Violent Revenge Film

Published

4 years ago

August 7, 2019

So…prison turned you into a stone-cold killer, did it?
Nah, prison didn’t.
You and my brother did.

I’ve just seen the Philippine revenge film “Maria” in which a beautiful woman beats up everyone she encounters. And before I know it, the next one presents itself already. This time it’s a flick from the UK and from a completely different level. Not only the story itself is acceptable. Also, the endless series of fight scenes will bring fans of action movies into ecstasy. Scott Adkins is a man with brutal force who crushes his opponents without mercy with his hammer blows. So expect a large amount of splattering blood, shattered bones, cracked skulls and wisdom teeth flying around. In other words, “Avengement” is a very brutal movie.

At first, I expected something similar like “We still kill the old way” or “Legend“. An English crime/action film full of violence but with that English politeness still present in the background. Well, that doesn’t apply to “Avengement”. Every kind of courtesy is being crushed into the ground here. You can compare it with “Brawl in cell block 99“, but on English soil. This film is a relief when you compare it to all the digitally created violence Hollywood produces lately. In this film, the physical prevails a bit more. When looking at Disney and Hollywood violence, you’d give a “wow” cry. With “Avengement” it’s rather an “ouch” cry. The physical violence is so realistic, you sometimes can feel the pain yourself. And not only Adkins’ opponents moan noisily. He too suffers and regularly has to take hits.

Extreme brutal and cruel.

Not only does Adkins needs to show how extreme anger runs through Cain’s veins. That’s about 90% of the total playing time. You’ll also see how normal and fair Cain is at the start of the movie. A decent man who begs his brother to help him with the idea to start a gym. The transformation, however, is frightening when he’s in jail for a while. A punishment he got when a job he had to do for his brother went terribly wrong. It’s there that the fairly well-behaved Cain is slowly turning into a cruel hot-head. The constant attempts of fellow prisoners to kill him one way or the other ensures that he trains and practices every day. These confrontations are already very brutal and cruel. It’s also here that he gets metallic teeth. When he finally ends up in a private pub, Cain is a scarred man. Both internally and externally. The only thing that interests Cain is revenge.

Who the hell is Scott Adkins?

To be honest, I didn’t know who Scott Adkins was in the first place. Completely unknown to me. Well, mega-fans of action movies will probably turn their nose up at me. And I admit that I don’t understand how it’s possible that I didn’t know this tough Englishman yet. For all I care, he can safely join “The Expendables” next time. He certainly won’t look out of place next to Statham and Van Damme. He certainly isn’t a person you want to bump into at night. That’s for sure. Not only does Adkins show in this film that he masters the necessary fighting techniques, but for once I didn’t have the impression that the I-wait-patiently-for-my-turn-to-be-beaten-up principle was applied here. A method that’s usually used in such action films. You’ll see someone waiting patiently on the side who, as soon as a colleague sticks to the wall, quickly takes his place. Something that nerves me immensely every time it’s used.

Just watch it.

“Avengement” certainly isn’t a first-class film and won’t win loads of film prizes. Maybe using flashbacks isn’t something that will get you excited. Me neither. But if you just want to enjoy a raw, extremely violent revenge film, then this is really suitable for you. I certainly enjoyed it intensely. Just watch the trailer, and you’ll agree instantly.

My rating 7/10
Links: IMDB

FILM RATING

Action

Godzilla Minus One | Official Trailer #2

Post war Japan is at its lowest point when a new crisis emerges in the form of a giant monster, baptized in the horrific power of the atomic bomb

Published

3 weeks ago

November 6, 2023

Staff

Genre:

Action, Adventure, Drama

Release Date:

December 1, 2023

Director:

Takashi Yamazaki

Cast:

Ryunosuke Kamiki, Minami Hamabe, Yuki Yamada

Plot Summary:

Post war Japan is at its lowest point when a new crisis emerges in the form of a giant monster, baptized in the horrific power of the atomic bomb

FILM RATING

Action

The Continental Review: Not The Prequel We Needed

Published

2 months ago

October 4, 2023

Kevin Verma

Ever since Lionsgate greenlit this series in early 2017, fans of the franchise have been eagerly anticipating to see how the John Wick universe expands. 4 movies in, the John Wick franchise is widely known as one of the greatest action movie franchises of all time with our titular character (a.k.a Baba Yaga) becoming one of the most iconic and bad-ass figures ever in Hollywood. The Continental: From The World of John Wick is a prequel series that tells the story of Winston Scott and how he became the manager of New York’s The Continental branch.

The miniseries was developed by Greg Coolidge, Kirk Ward and Shawn Simmons. It is executive produced by Paul Wernick, Rhett Reese, Derek Kolstad, David Leitch and Chad Stahelski, the director of all four John Wick movies. It is structured as a 3-night event told through three 90-minute episodes. The series was originally supposed to air on Starz, but the network sold it to Peacock in 2022. After 6 years in development, it finally aired on Peacock this September.

A lot has been made of the subtitle of the project ever since it was announced. The fact that the makers needed to include it says a lot about the show. It almost felt like the prime marketing asset for it many times as the other promotional material didn’t necessarily create a lot of hype for the show. Albert Hughes directed the first and third episodes, while Charlotte Branstrom directed the second, and disappointingly both directors do not bring the same novelty or creative prowess that Chad Stahelski managed to bring in the John Wick movies.

The show also surprisingly lacks any real star power. This franchise is one of Lionsgate’s most prized assets, so you would imagine that they would make sure to get a big cast and crew for this prequel miniseries, but they didn’t. Colin Woodell as Winston Scott is the clear standout among the cast despite delivering only a decent performance, which says a lot about the acting standards in this 3-episode miniseries. Many have criticized the casting of Mel Gibson in the series, but I personally had no issue with his performance and he’s also the most recognizable member of the cast despite having no real audience pull anymore.

The writing doesn’t offer too much to ponder upon or any seriously shocking turns in the story as most of the focus is on making the product as epic, badass and action-packed as possible. Some of the characters had some interesting layers to them, especially Charon (Ayomide Adegun) and Lou (Jessica Allain). Lemmy (Adam Shapiro) provides some much-needed comic relief with his witty dialogues. The structuring of the story works really well as a 3-night event which sets the high stakes and sets a standard of intensity for the narrative.

But the thing that people were most looking forward to, was the action and how it fared against John Wick. Unfortunately, that department was inconsistent as well. Ben Robson’s fight sequence in the early part of the first episode was great and it makes you optimistic that the action would get better from here on, but it never does. Most of the action blocks here involve explosions and guns rather than the hand-to-hand combat John Wick franchise is known for. Some of the action was awesome and some of it sadly wasn’t.

The Continental: From the World of John Wick brings a lot of glamour as it tries to expand its world but fails to engage with its paper-thin plot. The characters are mostly dull with a formulaic villain and misses the presence of a magnetic protagonist like Wick. A prequel about Wick’s backstory would’ve been much more interesting than this inconsistent prequel event saved by its style and some great action. It has almost enough to be its own thing but doesn’t quite have enough to match its parent movies.

The Continental: From the World of John Wick premieres on Peacock in the US and Prime Video in the UK and Australia on 22 September, with new episodes weekly.