My name is Vendetta

This is a decent foreign thriller about a defected Mafia hitman who resurfaces due to a happenstance of his attempt to lead an anonymous new life. When the Mob discovers he is alive they come after him, and his family, seeking to kill them. Of course it is not that simple. He is not an easy man to kill. Accompanied by his surviving daughter he seeks to finish what he started years earlier. There is a slight similarity in this film, to The Professional, with Jean Renault and Natalie Portman; however, this one is not as good. There is decent action. The cast is decent enough and the cinematography is good. Decent enough, but not the best.

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.

I expected a little more from this revenge flick. But the word Vendetta tricked me. Don't get me wrong. It isn't a bad flick. In fact, it does what it says in the title but the important issue is the father/daughter relation.

Luckily the plot has a twist which made it up for me to find it a good flick. Don't expect a Oscar worthy script. But what it does offer is a really good maffia revenge flick. It never goes over the top.

Compared to so much flicks about father/daughter revenge flicks, Taken is the most spoken about. I shall not do that. But I understand what they mean.

For some it can be on the edge of gore and in fact some killings are indeed in your face on-camera. Smashing heads is never an easy watch...

Gore 2/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 3/5 Story 2,5/5 Comedy 0/5.

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.

This movie borders on the edge of fantasy. The story is based around settling of vendettas using surveillance techniques that are so far-fetched. The characters are not that interesting, and the daughter borders on being the most annoying movie character ever devised. Everything she is told not to do, she does, and it doesn't help that she is dressed to look like some character from a bygone era. She faces no consequences for her dumb actions, and puts the blame for the action that is the basis of the story, on her father, never mind that she is the person who puts his picture on the internet after she is warned not to do so. The story is weak and borders on fantasy. In short, it's just a silly movie!