Day of Reckoning

Ignore the high ratings from the crew members and bots. The acting is good and all the technical things one would expect to be good like the cinematography, audio, editing and so on are there. No, that is not where this film fails. Once again, like pretty much everything else media companies pump out these days, the problem lies in the writing. I found myself constantly being dragged out of the film because I kept asking myself, "Why would they do that?" and saying things like, "That doesn't make any sense."

Now, I'm not going to spoil anything for anyone so don't expect me to give you any examples. I'm sure you're here because you've already seen the movie and if you haven't, I'm sure my opinion isn't going to stop you. And if I'm being honest, I stopped watching in the middle because I'm tired and old and I don't want to waste my time with a movie that can't be bothered to at least try and hire someone who can actually write something with a little thought put into it. So, I'll just end this with my recommendation to not waste your time either.

Scott Adkins is one of my go to actor that i pretty much have to watch anything he is in. Sometimes for the better, but others for the worst. It was obvious from the trailer he was gonna play the bad guy and there didn't seem to be a lot of martial arts, that said i still had to watch it.

Turn out the movie was actually better than i expected. Its obvious this has been shot on a low budget with very few filming locations, but everything look pretty good. Gunshots look great, and looked all done practical. I didn't noticed those cheap CGI blood splatter that often plague low budget action movies.

I was interested in the characters and i really liked Cara Jade Myers who play Emily. Lot of the movie is centered around her and her dynamic with the Sheriff who got dragged into this by Marshal Hayden (Billy Zane) vendetta against Kyle Rusk (Adkins), her husband.

When it comes to Scott Adkins himself, he does not have that much of screen time. He plays the vilain sure, and you do get action from him, but the movie center more around the Sheriff, the Marshals and Emily. Scott does an American accent rather well compare to his british native accent, but beside that he is very "basic" as a vilain. Basically the movie would had been the same without Scott playing the role. But thats not to say he was not good for what he was given.

Overall i am surprise that i actually enjoyed this movie as much as i did. Because on paper it is a very generic run of the mill direct to video action movie (it had a limited theatrical run but you get what i mean).

Yet the characters, the actors portring them, they all enhanced the movie and made it interesting to follow. The gun fights were well done and looked great, so that also help elevate it.

This will be another 7 out of 10, a movie i enjoyed, had a good time with, but thats it. It does nothing original or ground breaking, its not one that i see myself rewatching in the near futur, but it brough me entertainement on a beers movie night.

Not sure why this movie isn't reaching more theaters or audience. It's better than a good amount of movies I've seen so far this year. It's worth seeing if you're on the fence about it! I wouldn't call it a western. That's a bit of a stretch in my opinion. I love seeing the under appreciated sherrif in the town be the good guy, and sticking to his guns. The shoot outs were fun and we'll filmed overall. The plot was good, the actors did really well. This is a hidden gem of a movie and I hope it gets more people watching it. While it didn't blow me away, I'd love to watch it again.

Watched at AMC on 3-31-2025.

Nearly a perfectly movie! Travis J. Opgenorth wrote a finely tuned script with an astute ear for Southern and working class masculine vernacular; and the actors with director Shaun Silva at the helm delivered it with absolute authenticity. By the way to label this a martial arts film because of the very few moves that Scott Adkins brings to a all of two scenes is a massive overstatement. Adkins goes far from usual screen persona and does a great job as villain, a bad guy. However, his character, like everyone's in this beautifully unfolding revelations about each, is more than the cliche that might populate the movie the lazy viewer might have expected. The funny thing is, or sad, the lazy viewer could watch this movie and miss the subtleties, the clues for the viewer to enjoy, the dinstinct tracks the various characters follow as each changes toward cowardice or betrayal or conviction or bravery or resignation. The script and the cinematography don't force feed the viewer anything. Of the the viewer wants to enjoy an intricate and well presented bit of cinema, here it is; pay attention. I found it easy; I couldn't look away. But if a viewer is looking cliche derivative predictable escapist mindless action, he or she will probably be able to superimpose that expectation here, but ultimately end up disappointed. The pacing of the movie is that of a mature narrative; there is a story here; several parallel stories as it happens. The emerge to form the foundation of this film's story, the movie cannot progress without due reference to one or moreover them at due times. So, the movie fails to please as an action film. This is because it is far better than an action film.

I love seeing Scott Adkins in this role. He's fierce and villainous, yeah! But we can see he still has his own code; he's conveys a sympathetic character, as well. It's fantastic and super! To see Billy Zane here! What he does with his character is captivatingly crazy. With the help of cinemetographer Keith J. Leman, Zane owns the screen every time he's on it no matter is there. Kara Jade Myers' character, Emily Rusk is, perhaps, the constant element necessary to the story, and Myers' portrayal is incredible. Emily Rusk is either the dynamite or the glue, but I was left wondering how Myers came up with all that she found to put into this one performance. And finally, it must be said that every performance in the movie was right, was authentic, people responding to other people and to situations; there was no acting visible on the screen, no fake action shots. This a story about a sheriff who tries to avoid violence getting caught up with three US Marshall's doggedly pursuing it; and it takes off from there and becomes much more.

This movie is so poorly written it's almost bizarre. There are certainly a lot of characters in this movie but in order to enjoy a film, especially a thriller/crime drama with supposed good guys and bad guys, most people need someone to root for. So in this film are we suppose to root for the weak, lame-brained, gullible, naïve sheriff, the lady bank robber who is also an admitted killer, her killer bank robber boyfriend or Trace Adkins in a small role. On top of turning the worst or at least most moronic characters into the ones we are suppose to be rooting for, the writers decided that some characters should completely change personalities to advance the plot. The movie is well made, the acting is ok, Billy Zane stands out as excellent, but the plot completely fails every actors best effort to make this an enjoyable movie. It may come as a strange compliment but Zach Roerig plays an almost mentally challenged sheriff really well. His lead character is so unlikeable , almost an anti-hero, that it ruins the entire movie.