Review: AVENGEMENT – Scott Adkins and Jesse V. Johnson return with their darkest… and best film to date.
Writer/director Jesse V. Johnson and actor Scott Adkins have developed a very interesting creative relationship over the past two years. Working in the largely ignored realm of "straight to video” film releases, the duo has put together a string of meagerly budgeted action films that have impressed critics and fans of action cinema in equal measure with their quality.
If their films like SAVAGE DOG, ACCIDENT MAN, and THE DEBT COLLECTOR had been released in the 1990s it would have not seemed out of place to see them on a marquee beside films like UNDER SEIGE or SUDDEN DEATH and they likely would have been financially successful crowd pleasures as well. The films made by the duo are a throwback to a simpler style of action filmmaking where the most important special effect was the physical prowess of the performers and the quality of the action choreography.
They have brought this throwback style to their latest collaboration, AVENGEMENT. The unusual title of the film is an actual word that means "the act of taking vengeance". In this film, the man looking for vengeance is Cain Burgess (Adkins). Recently escaped from a British prison, Cain has made his way to a private club owned by his gangster brother, Lincoln (Craig Fairbrass), in an effort to strike back at the people he feels are responsible for his hellish stint in lock up.
AVENGEMENT is a gritty, dark film and this bleakness is perfectly personified in Adkins' lead performance. Cain Burgess is a scarred-up ball of barely contained rage through most of the film, snarling his lines through a set of intimidating gun-metal teeth. What is truly great about Adkins' work here though is the transformation he goes through as the character of Cain. The film has a fractured narrative that shows us what led him to this point and Adkins is just as believable as the naive, young athlete who stumbles into this nightmare scenario as he is as the ruthless hardened killer that comes roaring out of it looking for revenge. Adkins is sympathetic and frightening in equal measure. It is a truly great performance.
The subject of Cain's vengeance is a motley crew of British lowlifes and thugs that feel like they would be more suited for a Guy Ritchie film than a martial arts picture. These include a strong performance from Craig Fairbrass as Cain's brother. Fairbrass exudes a genuine menace as Lincoln that allows him to share the screen with Adkins and not feel completely outmatched. One of the other memorable performances in AVENGEMENT comes from Kierston Wareing who plays the unimpressed bartender at the club where the majority of the film takes place. The different tone the actors bring to the proceedings helps ground the film in a gritty naturalism and lend the blistering fight choreography a sense of brutal realism when the action does occur.
Speaking of the fight scenes, they were orchestrated by Dan Styles, who previously worked with Adkins and Johnson on 2018's assassin action/comedy ACCIDENT MAN and he does excellent work. The fights on display here show a great deal of variety; from brawls inside of the prison involving makeshift weapons and found objects, to a neon-soaked one on one standoff in a dance hall, up to the final confrontation where Adkins squares off against multiple assailants in a wild free for all. The fight scenes seamlessly blend the flash of Hong Kong-style martial arts moves with the brutality you would expect see in a Nicolas Winding Refn film like ONLY GOD FORGIVES. This gives the top-notch action in AVENGEMENT a unique feel when compared to the other films by Adkins and Johnson, which is a must since they collaborate so frequently.
Adding to the unique feel of AVENGEMENT is the electronic score by composer Sean Murray. Murray is another frequent collaborator with Jesse V. Johnson. The score he has put together for this film has a somber, minimalist quality that calls to mind the work of Cliff Martinez and John Carpenter. It suits the harsh imagery and violent tone of AVENGEMENT so well that it is hard to imagine the film with any other type of music laid over it. They perfectly complement each other.
Films are often judged by audiences using unfair comparison to other films. Small films get dismissed because they don't have the sheer spectacle of large Hollywood releases. This sort of thinking is what has relegated films like AVENGEMENT to a strict home viewing experience and that is a real shame. What Jesse V. Johnson and Scott Adkins have accomplished here is not only another well crafted, entertaining action film but also the best film of their collaborations (so far). If I was going to try to sell someone on the merits of either individual, AVENGEMENT would be one of the first titles I would reach for.
Fans of Scott Adkins, or just action film lovers in general, owe it to themselves to give AVENGEMENT a watch as soon as possible.
4.5/5
