My Name Is Vendetta

Although this is not a great film, it's nonetheless, watchable. It's fast-paced with a few heartfelt dramatic moments. The truth is, the plot is straightforward so the viewer should not expect any surprises except perhaps the ending.

There have been revenge films made before. But what could set this apart is that it's a father-and-teenaged daughter affair. It starts in a idyllic setting somewhere in Bolzano (mention is made of Merano which is near the German border). The viewer should find the scenes here quite picturesque. Then, it shifts to an urban setting.

The fight scenes are realistic if not gory; nothing is exaggerated. Santo/Domenico is a mean killing machine who believes that the law is kill or be killed. The action sequences are well-executed.

Alessandro Gassman and Ginebra Francesconi are a good pair. They portray convincingly their roles as doting father and loving daughter, whose teenaged life is abbreviated by ugly circumstances. Gassman fits the role of a punisher. In fact, the vibes of the film is reminiscent of Jon Bernthal's "The Punisher."

If you have time to spare, watch this one.

The creators of this film took every cliche' of the "revenge" genre, mixed everything in a blender and pieced them together at random.

The daughter was made to look and act like Natalie Portman in "Leon", minus the acting skills.

Completely unoriginal and uninspiring dialogs, one dimensional characters, ultra predictable storyline.

It's a pity, because Alessandro Gassmann is a great actor with a lifelong acting experience, but in this film he could have been replaced by any mediocre actor and the result would have been the same.

The only positive I could find, was the stunning shooting location in the mountains of SouthTyrol, the German speaking province in the north of Italy.

Violent, brutal, bloody, not for the squeamish this Italian crime film where a former Ndrangheta goon is searched by his family for whom blood lines are more important than anything else. A revenge topic, already seen ten millions times before but that will please action movies goers. Not for intellectuals either, not a complicated story, with pretty good moments, and a very good directing, camera work, overall atmosphere. Clichés galore, if you seek surprises, watch something else. But it's better that this kind of topic is told by Italian than by Americans, the end would not have been the same at all from Hollywood. Good stuff.

To enjoy this, fully suspend disbelief and be a fan of the John Wick series. Without spoiling the plot, let's just say that the script is highly inconsistent in terms of basic plot points.

For example, are you high tech (face recognition) or low tech (phone tracing)? Are you heavily guarded, or not a guard in sight?

What's good though are the action scenes and acting, given the weak material and dialogue. Ended up being invested to the end, thanks in part to the short runtime.

Overall, a decent entry into the mindless revenge category, with a more plausible motivation than "you killed my dog".

As "My Name Is Vendetta" (2022 release from Italy; 90 min) opens, we are introduced.to the Romeo family, with almost 18 yo Sofia being a little brad who, contrary to her dad's wishes, takes his picture during an camping outing. And next thing we know, that picture is hacked by a Mafia family who has been looking for him... At this point we are 10 min into the movie.

Couple of comments: I can't say that I was familiar with either the director or any of the cast. Turns out this is a straight-forward Italian "Death Wish" reminding crime drama where the bottom line is" 'kill or be killed (literally). In case you didn't pick it up from the movie's title, the dad turns out to be, oh the SHOCK, a one-man killing army, helped by his almost 18 yo daughter. This movie is about as sophisticated as a bull in a china shop, if you know what I mean. All that said, the movie wastes little time and this hour and a half just flew by.

"My Name Is Vendetta" was suggested to me by Netflix and based on that I gave it a shot. This isn't a bad movie, just straight-forward without any surprises whatsoever. If you are in the mood for an Italian revenge crime drama, I'd readily suggest you check it out, and draw your own conclusion.