Tolérance zéro 2

The Shelton County Sheriff Prescott goes to Dallas seeking help from the FBI against the gang leaded by the criminal Harvey Morris (A.J. Buckley) that is forcing the locals to sell their businesses and lands using violence. Prescott is murdered on the road by Harvey and his men that simulate a car accident and this incident triggers a series of murders in the community. Nick Prescott (Kevin Sorbo) decides to assume the position of his father and together with Deputy Hap Worrell (Dell Johnson), they try to find evidences to incriminate Harvey, supported by FBI agent Kate Jensen (Yvette Nipar). However, when Nick sees that the system is absolutely corrupted, he becomes a vigilante bringing justice with his own hands.

"Walking Tall: The Payback" has a promising beginning in spite of a cliché story of bad guys dominating a peaceful community. However, in a certain moment, the escalation of violence becomes exaggerated with many deaths and even in a corrupted system would have called the attention of the government. Further, the plot is not well resolved since the dirty entrepreneur of construction and his right hand Lou Dowdy end the story in the shadow and without any further reference. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Com as Próprias Mãos 2: O Troco" ("With the Own Hands 2: The Payback")

I really liked the first of the new Walking Tall movies starring The Rock. That meant I had some expectations for this one, even though a guy I had never heard of before, Kevin Sorbo, had taken over the lead. I was very disappointed. I don't think it was Sorbo's fault, really. The problem was a total lack of action. The little action it had, wasn't anywhere near good. The movie was simply BOOOOOOORING, moreso than 95 % of the other action movies out there. I just don't get how they managed to destroy such a promising and entertaining franchise like this. I have absolutely no rush in watching the third movie after this kind of crap.

Actually, this movie wasn't as bad as I had expected it to be. But still, don't go and expect a grandiose masterwork of cinema history. The movie was adequately entertaining, although it was a mediocre result. But for what it was, it didn't fare that badly.

The story is about Nick (played by Kevin Sorbo) who returns to his hometown to find it terrorized by a small group of thugs, and as his father dies in a mysterious accident, Nick decides to become the new Sheriff in town and clean out the criminals.

Yep, fairly generic and simple storyline, as seen in many other similar movies. But it was still entertaining enough to watch. Was it predictable? You bet! Kevin Sorbo actually did a good job in this movie, and he does have some acting talent, just a shame that he will forever be branded as Hercules. A.J. Buckley (who played Harvey Morris - the main bad guy) was also doing a good job with his role, and he had an aura of confidence that really added to the movie.

For an action movie, though, the movie was scarce on action sequences, which did drag the overall enjoyment of the movie down. It was a shame, because a bit more action would have been warmly welcomed.

Sure this isn't the 50 million dollar Rock version but for a low budget DVD this is a solid rental.

I liked that most of the cast were unknowns, it gave the film authenticity. There isn't a ton of action but there are some genuinely tense moments. I haven't seen Kevin Sorbo in much besides Hercules and I was pleasantly surprised how convincing he was in this film. The bad guy, AJ Buckley is nasty and has some great moments. You really hate him and want Sorbo to kick his ass.

Overall I thought it was a good underdog story that's very entertaining. Rent it.

All the mileage that could have been gotten from the Buford Pusser story was already gleaned back in the 70s. The Payback is one of two films Kevin Sorbo did with a Walking Tall light plot.

Kevin's back from the army and a pair of no good brothers A.J.Morris and Bentley Mitchum are running things with some organized crime backing. They're acquiring businesses and property with intimidation and worse.

We never learn just what the end game is for the brothers in this film, a big weakness.

Not anything close to the Walking Tall plots from the 70s.