Blood of Redemption - Vendetta

You have some really big names in the B-movie department participating in this. Be it Billy Zane, Vinnie Jones and/or Dolph Lundgren. The movie is very predictable (from the starting "end", to the flashback after that until the conclusion). Lundgren plays a convincing lead, even if you might not believe his relationship to a much younger woman he is having during the course of the movie.

The whole twist of the movie though does rely on some very shaky grounds and it will leave you shaking your head at the end. The action is nicely done. Though nothing to get too excited about. Don't look for a message either, watch if you're a fan of one or more of the actors though

(2013) Blood of Redemption ACTION THRILLER/ MYSTERY

Co-written and directed by Giorgio Serafini and Shawn Sourgose. It opens with Axel (Dolph Lundgren) narrating the terms of events he turns around and gets shot during a shootout in a warehouse before the movie goes back two weeks earlier. As it opens with Axel and a young lady both walking into his apartment. She sits down and Axel begins to showcase viewers and her his chart of who's who. We find out Axel's profession as a bodyguard and chauffeur for a particular crime syndicate family that consists of a father, Sergio Giraldi (Robert Miano) and his two sons; younger son, with aspirations to work for the FBI, Kurt Giraldi (Gianni Capaldi) and his older, Quinn Giraldi (Billy Zane) expected to take over the family business with his living girlfriend, Loryn. (Jelly Howie). At the same time, Sergio wants to retire the family business of illegal gambling, identity theft and producing counterfeit money to pass it along to his partner business partner, Hayden (Robert Davi). And as a result of his retirement, Hayden wants to call and involve his nephew/ son Campbell (Vinnie Jones) into the racket.

What drew me into seeing 'Blood of Redemption' in the first place? The reasonably likeable cast, a potentially intriguing story and that it was part of my low budget completest quest and popped up in my recommended for you section. Was also a bit apprehensive, with a less than favourable rating and generally reviews that were lukewarm at best.

'Blood of Redemption', when checking it out, certainly could have been much worse. There are definitely worse films about, of the genre and overall. Is it a good film let alone a great one? Not even close. Did it use its potential? No. Is it that bad? Not quite. Does it has redeeming qualities? Yes, but not many. To me, while having learnt not to trust ratings and not worry about going against the grain (though am in the minority here who respects critics opinions and tend to be on the same, or slightly above or below, page as them), the rating is about right and do have to agree with the criticisms here.

Dolph Lundgren, Billy Zane and Gianni Capaldi do serviceable jobs and are the reasons as to why 'Blood of Redemption' wasn't any worse, Lundgren being the best thing of the film.

Some of the story intrigued, namely the early stages, and the music while not the most memorable is at least listenable.

Unfortunately, Vinnie Jones and Robert Davi are poorly served and used. Jones overdoes it and shouts his way through a stock character and Davi is saddled with a clearly fake accent and spends the whole time looking uninterested. None of the characters are developed enough and are very difficult to get behind. 'Blood of Redemption' looks cheap, especially the badly organised and sometimes incomprehensible editing and catastrophically awful visual effects, so fake looking and doesn't blend well with the setting at all. The action is both dull and chaotic, there is nothing exciting and it's choreographed with no enthusiasm or finesse.

The script is too talky and has no tautness, the pace is flabby and the story gets far too complicated with the twists not being that much of a surprise. The direction seemed indicative of lack of experience or ease.

Overall, not horrendous but severely lacking in many areas. 3/10 Bethany Cox

I am a fan of Dolph Lundgren. While he may not be a master Thespian, he is a perfectly good action star, and that's why I rented "Blood of Redemption". Sadly, this is a considerably lesser vehicle for him. Lundgren here looks tired and worn. I know he's aging, but he's come off a lot better in other recent movies. Probably his tiredness comes from the fact that his surroundings here were not adequate. This was a very low budget production (only a $2 million budget), and while I will praise the filmmakers for squeezing every last penny out of their limited funds (the lighting and photography *do* look good), much of the movie still looks cheap. I could have lived with that had the rest of the movie been good, but it isn't. The script is way too talky, slow-moving, and boring. While it does offer a twist towards the end, I think many viewers will be able to predict the "surprise" long before it comes. And the limited action sequences are choreographed and directed with absolutely no punch. It certainly doesn't help that the gunshots have been "enhanced" with obvious CGI effects. You have to wonder how Dolph and the rest of the memorable B movie cast were all convinced to appear in this utterly forgettable production.

This is a decent genre movie working through the codex, coupled with some veteran actors who performed with a various level of enthusiasm and talent. A nod to classical kung-fu movies, John Wu, Russian Mob, Italian Mob, Irish Mob, crooked senator, and a few more, for a bit of a hodge-podge that is best enjoyed while doing something on a side, like watering a lawn or solving a sudoku. With more gratuitous nudity, I would even skip my two visits to the fridge and a phone call. Directing and editing were loud and intrusive, like a drunk best man at the wedding, humor was cheesy and the story convoluted, so, all in all, and enjoyable experience, particularly after a third beer.