Vendetta

Well maybe for some, but I reckon most will not consider the movie itself a big show ... now obviously I'm having some fun with ... wordplay. Paul Wight also known to many as the Big Show in the WWE is one of the main characters at hand here.

The movie itself is nothing you won't expect from an action thriller of its kind. I can only imagine that the Soskas (twin directing sisters) did this for the money, not because they had the idea to do a movie like that. Having said that, I reckon it can be fun to direct something like this. Not having to wonder too much what to do or where to go. The movie practically writes itself.

Not trying to put it down, some will have more fun with this than others of course. And putting TV Clark Kent in here might help too. I've seen him act in other independent productions, so when it is needed he is up to the task. Do not judge him from this one effort here. He can only do so much with the material he is given (as I noted with the directors too - and can be generally applied to this)

Every shot in this film looks like a panel from a comic, and once I got into that vibe I was able to enjoy it; however, I had to get past the first act for that vibe to kick in-I cringed for nearly a full 40 minutes. The first act is jam-packed with clichés, boring plot, & bad acting, (I assume the film was shot in order because the acting gets better in some ways.) If you're looking for "passed-on CW pilot turned motion-comic feature film" energy, this is the film for you.

I know WWE whatever is the studio behind this film, and that's fine (I liked some of their films, Oculus (2013) in particular,) but if I wanted to watch pro-wrestling-style fight scenes I would just watch pro-wrestling.

Paul Wight, who plays the antagonist, Victor Abbott, is under-utilized. Everytime I saw that man I thought, "Yes, give me some of that Vincent D'Onofrio-Kingpin!," and everytime I was let down. The way Wight fights in this film evoked the weak-sauce, muted violence of the in-ring pro-wrestling matches so much that it was hard to not picture him in an André The Giant leotard while he snarls into the camera. It really took me out of the film to watch such a powerhouse merely push his victims to the side-I couldn't take it seriously, the stakes were nonexistent.

I will give the Soska Sisters credit for not forcing us to endure the violence against one of the few women characters in this film, however, the smash cut from such an obviously missed opportunity to homage The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) to the such a gruesome finale to that confrontation was jarring and left me a bit confused. I was also a bit disappointed that she had to be fridged.

I do not like The Punisher, as a character, I never have. Dean Cain, who plays Mason Danvers, was able to keep my interest in the film by never going full-Punisher. (I don't know why but I got more of a Cyclops vibe and I like that for him, l've always been more of an X-Men gal anyway.) Something snapped inside the mind of Frank Castle, and that makes The Punisher who he is; however, Mason Danvers comes off as calculated and intentional, something other characters in the film seem to pick up on. Dean Cain did a really good job.

Michael Eklund, who plays a stereotypical, string-pulling prison warden, is in a totally different and much better film.

Even though the soundtrack was not my cup of tea, I did appreciate the use of music in the film.

Most of the dialogue was cliched nonsense and exposition. I wish I could have seen what motivated these characters, instead I was told. Even then those motivations were often ambiguous concepts rather than specific, character-defining motives.

Despite the resolution of the film being at the end of an all-out, chaotic prison-yard-brawl, it was anticlimactic enough that I out-loud ask, "that's it?!"

Nothing special here, a pretty pedestrian film really. Dean Cain and The Big Show (I'd never heard of him before this film) are fairly entertaining though.

The Big Show is enormous, I find it hard to believe that anyone could grow to such a size. I am really amazed.

"Vendetta" never feels real. It opens with a car "chase" that looks more like a product placement. The police procedures don't seem authentic. The detective's home looks like something he could never afford and the back yard doesn't seem to belong to the rest of the property. A criminal who supposedly is involved in all manner of nefarious activities is set free when one key witness disappears. The prison looks like an abandoned prison with brand new weights in the exercise yard. There is a bright new humidor that sometimes holds cigars and sometimes holds something else. Even the fight scenes, which are usually strong points in WWE films, aren't convincing.

It has a few bright spots, including interesting performances by Michael Eklund as the warden and Matthew MacCaull as a guard. The cinematography is pretty good with decent lighting and steady shots that look like the camera had actually been locked down on a tripod or other support mechanism. There are a couple of nicely executed time-lapse shots. Make-up effects were convincing.

Dean Cain has 139 credits on IMDb, but I've only seen a few of his films. He held his own in dramatic scenes playing opposite Denzel Washington in "Out of Time." But he was in much better shape then and had a convincing role. With a more capable director at the helm, a better screenplay and better action choreography, I might believe that the 2003 Cain could hold his own in a fight against Paul Wight.

We've seen movies about characters who break into prison one way or another to confront an adversary, including "A Law Abiding Citizen," "Face/Off" and "Escape Plan." For such plots to work, the protagonist must have some expectation of eventually escaping or using his incarceration as an alibi. Here, the plot makes the protagonist unsympathetic and fatalistic.

The biggest problem with this film lies in the motivation of the characters. For the story to work, there needs to be a lot of history between the detective and the villain. The villain needs a strong motive to target the detective's family and the attack needs to be particularly loathsome. The plot also needs to make sense. Danvers is a detective. Abbott is locked up with murderers and other violent criminals. Danvers could more easily destroy evidence or persuade a key witness to recant testimony to induce one of the inmates to murder Abbott. Danvers doesn't seem driven by extraordinary circumstances.

None of the motivations, big or small, make much sense. When Danvers learns there is an intruder in his home, he races there and calls his partner instead of sending uniformed officers. Joel pulls a dramatic U-turn and races to the prison to attend to something that could wait until morning. Police need a warrant to arrest somebody, unless they actually witness them commit a crime. Nobody can simply tell a SWAT team to arrest somebody for some crime committed months or years previously.

It's difficult to make revenge plots sympathetic. The protagonist has to have a strong sense of commitment to justice and feel justice has been thwarted, but the movie fails to do this. The protagonist is unsympathetic and uncommunicative. His plan isn't clever. He takes a blunt force approach, but doesn't have unique skills. Along the way, he engages in confrontations with others who had nothing to do with his original motive. We don't see character development. The movie lacks any sort of moral.

Very little seemed convincing. Nothing seemed original, exciting, suspenseful or cathartic.

I haven't watched pro/fake wrestling since I was a child, so this movie was blah at best. It was completely unbelievable in almost every aspect.

I must say that Dean Cain actually did a good job acting though. Too bad there was nothing else worthy. This review requires no spoiler alert because you already know everything that is going to happen :]

If you like to make a drinking game out of scrutinizing movies for their errors, make sure you have plenty to drink! But watch out because there are actually some very gory scenes for a B action movie.

I did give it a 5 because it was kind of entertaining - I didn't feel the need to stop watching. To sum it up... If you really like WWE you will really like this. You'll probably like it if your IQ is below 100 as well.