Redemption

Don "Jocky" Wilson is back! This time, he's brought some arse-kicking nineties actions stars with him…to not do much at all. These include Cynthia Rothrock (from Godfrey Ho's mental Undefeatable and Godfrey Ho's hilarious Honour and Glory), Richard Norton (from Sword of Boshido and he's somewhere in Mad Max Fury Road) and Sam Jones (from Jungle Heat and One Man Force…not much of an action star there). You'd think with an ensemble like that we'd have a huge limb flinging crunch fest like Ring of Fire 2, right? Wrong. This one is more like Ring of Fire 1, what with the drama and inner turmoil and stuff.

It's not too bad though. Don "Harold" Wilson is a cop in charge of a raid but is making rash decisions that fellow cop Richard Norton doesn't approve of. Once some drug dealers find out one of their own is a cop with a police issue ghetto blaster stuffed up his jumper, the cop gets chibbed and Don orders the raid too late. Vowing revenge and with the help of hooker Lara (or Tara maybe), Don tracks the dealers down and ends up getting some else killed. Thrown off the force, can Don find redemption by working for gangsters Chris Penn in order to get a mortgage? And win back his ex-wife and child? And help Tara stay on the straight and narrow? And win back the respect of his fellow cops? And help Chris Penn leave the business and stay on the straight and narrow? No wonder he's hardly got any time to kick anyone's teeth out.

Even though the film is full of missed opportunities (Cynthia only gets one fight, Norton doesn't do much of anything, Tara never gets her boobs out) I couldn't help but like it anyway, because it's full of likable actors and does have some action, just not much by way of kickboxing. Here's to Don "Wilson Not" Wilson and his cohorts.

I'll say it right at the top: 'Redemption' feels like a movie that somehow got made while every person on hand - cast, crew, writer, director - was doing the bare minimum. "Half-hearted" is too charged a descriptor for the bland pablum this represents.

There are several noteworthy names in the cast. Writer Jack Capece doesn't have many credits to his name, but that's no guarantor of quality one way or the other; director Art Camacho has longer list of work under his belt, but that can go either way, too. For whatever 'Redemption' may have going for it, it doesn't take long to raise a skeptical eyebrow. From one scene to the next, regardless of the content or mood, the movie struggles to attain a basic level of authenticity. Action sequences are filmed with wildly flailing, unsteady camerawork and overzealous editing that is supposed to impart a synthetic variation of the excitement and thrills that should manifest organically in a good film. Frankly, it looks like the work of an amateur. The most noteworthy woman in the cast, Cynthia Rothrock, is reduced to a supporting part - for only part of the runtime - whose dialogue paints the character as a stereotype. For whatever minor wit the dialogue and scene writing may possess at large, it pales in comparison to what feels like a weak attempt to cut and paste lines and ideas from a checklist of underwhelming action/crime-thriller conventions.

I didn't have high expectations when I started watching, but still I'm left aghast at what I'd committed to. The concept isn't especially remarkable, but that doesn't mean it can't have possibilities. Yet writing and direction alike feel entirely blase, almost disinterested in their own production. Nothing about the screenplay makes much of an impression, and at many points it's altogether questionable; the narrative simply doesn't hold water. When action scenes aren't disorderly and unconvincing, they instead feel either staged and ungenuine, or possibly even stiff and wooden - nothing like the invigorating bombast one would hope for. However soft or loud the voices get, scenes of less active drama play out with a level of care, sincerity, and realism - or rather, lack thereof - that all but completely draws us out of the viewing experience. To one extent or another I've seen enough of the cast to understand their capabilities, but their acting here is helplessly flimsy, further splintering our engagement as we're unable to care about their characters any more than they do (and they don't).

With all this said, the plot is also light and thin in fundamental terms of content; some story threads are brought up, but never resolved. Yet 'Redemption' maintains a brisk pace. Before you know it the movie is half over, then only has a few minutes left, and it feels like almost nothing has happened all along. The climax arrives with astounding abruptness - and thankfully is over just as quickly, because it's one of the most poorly written and executed climaxes I can recall seeing in any movie.

I don't know what more to say without repeating myself and exhausting a thesaurus in the process. This is abhorrent. This is what happens when an assembly of people working in the film industry are pulled into a feature by one means or another, but none of them apparently have any meaningful investment beyond when they get their paycheck. And, hey - respect; everybody has to eat. But nobody has to watch 'Redemption.' Even if you're a diehard fan of someone in the cast, this is a mesmerizing, awful waste of 85 minutes.

Just don't.

Here's a little story about me. I love my B-movies. I like to watch and laugh. Don Wilson amuses me it has to be said. He has starred in some great movies, Cyber Tracker, Lion Strike, Out For Blood, Bloodfist, Fist Of Blood, Bloody Death, Black Blood, Dragon Blood and Blood. Not to mention 10 sequels to each film. Okay so I made some up. Now the newest Don fist fest I had seen before this was, Batman Forever but his voice was computer enhanced and he was in it five seconds. Other than that the most modern Don film was Lion Strike from 1994. This is basically because Don films are hard to come by in England, on DVD at least and I'm not one for raiding the states or Ebay for these sorts of movies. I wanted to see this movie for one reason or another but figured I'd need to wait ten years for it to come out here. I was wrong. While perusing a local store that is selling B-movie DVD's for 1.49pounds. Then I saw it! Boy did I see it! It took me by surprise and I was giddy with excitement.

Now the film. It is the best Wilson film I have seen. That means little in all honestly because it's not exactly great stuff but it is not hilariously bad. It is not totally inept and Wilson has improved a lot in ten years with his acting. He looks tougher too. I know he's king of all kickboxers but he never looked menacing to me. With his increasing years he looks tougher and more weathered. As well as Wilson the film star other B-movie stalwards like Cynthia (kill me now please!) Rothrock and Rihard Norton as well as Sam Jones, that's Flash Gordon that is! FLASH GORDON!!!!!!!!!

Anyway this is all directed by another B-legend, Art Carmacho. The story has all the clichés you expect from a B-movie and it has Don as a cop so inevitably his partner gets killed and he gets fired. What does alter is that he gets involved with a druglord, albeit a nice druglord by Chris Penn (damn I didn't mention Chris!). Wilson actually stretches a little and even though he's not very good he doesn't embarrass himself like I have seen for example Gary Daniels do when stretching. There are needless fights, however no gratuitous nudity which is a let down.

As for the aciton. Well it's pretty generic. Wilson gives some of his best fights but for me still doesn't fight convincingly on screen. This is dues to him pulling his punches and the very basic choreography. Rothrock doesn't get much action however she does unleash her trademark scorpion kick.

All in all this was surprisingly better than expected. It's not great but is at least watchable. **

Tom (Richard Norton) and John (Don 'The Dragon' Wilson) can't decide who is the better leader, when a police squad is fighting drug dealers. The decisive moment is when Murphy (Cynthia Rothrock) is killed - John was responsible for putting her in danger, so he has to leave. He makes a new girlfriend, a high class hooker, and being out of work, the rather desperate John joins the bad guys for a 'job'. Ultimately he wants to redeem himself - as the title says, 'Redemption' is what it's all about. But that's a long way to go...

Great cast including Sam 'Flash Gordon' Jones, Chris Penn and James Russo and basically a good genre movie with not much action, but more attention to the characters. They are not simply good guys and bad guys, everyone has their shades of gray. Tom and John put their personal rivalry over the safety of the team sometimes. However, 'Redemption' doesn't manage to avoid the majority of clichés, you know: failed cop who drinks too much, hooker with a heart of gold etc, so I voted an undecided 5 of 10.

If you need a good laugh, you will find the opening scene very amusing.

The scene opens with a guy who is very sweaty and nervous sitting in on a drug deal in a crack house. If you do not find humor here. You probably don't have much of a sense of humor.