michaeldmccarthy-73481

Worth a watch, but don't look for much dialogue from the leading role, as he gets about 12 sentences during the whole movie. Lots of action at the start, and the usual mayhem at the end, but it cools off a bit in the middle. Nevertheless, there are some well-choreograped fight scenes throughout. My main reservation with this film is that the supposedly human anti-hero comes a cross as superhuman in his ability to not only soak up masses of physical damage to his body, but also to appear unaffected by it and to continue to dole out highly acrobatic, energetic punishment to his foes. His miraculousl almost instant recovery from his supposed 12 year coma also took some swallowing. Nevertheless, worth a watch , if only for the martial arts mayhem.

Good actors wasted on a muddled, inconclusive, confusing storyline, which focusses more on gratuitous viloence than on any character or plot development. I almost gave up watching it at around the half way point, and in retrospect, wish I hjad done so. Far too much time spent in gathering together the unlikely and unconvincing group of "vigilantes", and some of the ploys employed by the Sean Bean character to give the team some clout were frankly laughable. There are so many of these revenge type movies out there, most of which far more successfully tap into the "man (or woman) on a mission" motif than this one does. Don't waste your time on it.

Provided you can suspend disbelief and accept the credibility of a series of multi-body massacres throughout this bloody, violent tale, just sit back and hang on for the ride. Characterisation is good, as is the acting, and the storyline is complex, with a convoluted plot of loyalties and betrayals which keep you guessing all the way through. Whichever of the gangs you are dealing with, these are a bunch of cold-blooded, amoral and in some case downright psychotic criminals who will literally stop at nothing to get what they want. The only missing element in all this carnage is the minimal visual involvement of any agency of the law, which does take some swallowing, given the massive, gratuitously violent criminality involved. Other than that, top notch entertainment, but definitely not for the squeamish.