Vendetta

I haven't watched pro/fake wrestling since I was a child, so this movie was blah at best. It was completely unbelievable in almost every aspect.

I must say that Dean Cain actually did a good job acting though. Too bad there was nothing else worthy. This review requires no spoiler alert because you already know everything that is going to happen :]

If you like to make a drinking game out of scrutinizing movies for their errors, make sure you have plenty to drink! But watch out because there are actually some very gory scenes for a B action movie.

I did give it a 5 because it was kind of entertaining - I didn't feel the need to stop watching. To sum it up... If you really like WWE you will really like this. You'll probably like it if your IQ is below 100 as well.

The story was formulaic and we have seen it all before. But Dean Cain and Big Show give outstanding performances both. The violence is graphic and at one point Dean was showing that he had the chops to play Batman in another life!

This film does not shy away from the blood and violence. There is very little bad language in it though, if any.

One has to suspend belief a lot though. How Big Show's character can do what he does and how the number of murders goes unnoticed, got stupid. When people are being killed who are not even inmates, the rest of the police should have been investigating. Why a cop was put in general population is another mystery.

My score of 7 is probably higher than the story deserves, but Dean Cain's performance earns it an extra two points and made this a very enjoyable watch.

The film was perfectly summarized by The Hollywood Reporter which said "the sort of B-movie violent actioner that makes you feel your testosterone level rising as you watch it". The film had a minimal plot which was used as a glue connecting all the fight scenes. For the most part, it was one action scene after another, and they were good. I felt like they were well-made and tense enough to be on the entertaining side.

I was surprised though to see The Soska Sisters making a film outside of horror. I generally think they succeeded at their first attempt. I recommend the film for those seeking a mindless and violent action film, and less for those seeking any meaningful story.

"This is my house, the only thing that badge will get you in here is a slit throat." Mason (Cain) is a cop at the top of his game. After finally tracking down and arresting Victor Abbott (Wight) he moves on to the next criminal. When there turns out to not be enough evidence to hold him Victor is released and wants revenge. The next time Mason finds him Victor is standing over his dead wife. Now it is Mason's turn for revenge and after deliberately getting arrested he has Victor right where he wants him. This is a movie that is pretty much exactly what you would expect. The movie is really a B-rate action movie that plays off every cliché in the book. All that said the movie is pretty entertaining and is watchable. There are not really any twists or anything that isn't unexpected but again, when you go to watch a movie like this you pretty much know what your are getting into. Overall, nothing terrible but if you've seen one of these movies you have seen them all. I give this a C+.

Every shot in this film looks like a panel from a comic, and once I got into that vibe I was able to enjoy it; however, I had to get past the first act for that vibe to kick in-I cringed for nearly a full 40 minutes. The first act is jam-packed with clichés, boring plot, & bad acting, (I assume the film was shot in order because the acting gets better in some ways.) If you're looking for "passed-on CW pilot turned motion-comic feature film" energy, this is the film for you.

I know WWE whatever is the studio behind this film, and that's fine (I liked some of their films, Oculus (2013) in particular,) but if I wanted to watch pro-wrestling-style fight scenes I would just watch pro-wrestling.

Paul Wight, who plays the antagonist, Victor Abbott, is under-utilized. Everytime I saw that man I thought, "Yes, give me some of that Vincent D'Onofrio-Kingpin!," and everytime I was let down. The way Wight fights in this film evoked the weak-sauce, muted violence of the in-ring pro-wrestling matches so much that it was hard to not picture him in an André The Giant leotard while he snarls into the camera. It really took me out of the film to watch such a powerhouse merely push his victims to the side-I couldn't take it seriously, the stakes were nonexistent.

I will give the Soska Sisters credit for not forcing us to endure the violence against one of the few women characters in this film, however, the smash cut from such an obviously missed opportunity to homage The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) to the such a gruesome finale to that confrontation was jarring and left me a bit confused. I was also a bit disappointed that she had to be fridged.

I do not like The Punisher, as a character, I never have. Dean Cain, who plays Mason Danvers, was able to keep my interest in the film by never going full-Punisher. (I don't know why but I got more of a Cyclops vibe and I like that for him, l've always been more of an X-Men gal anyway.) Something snapped inside the mind of Frank Castle, and that makes The Punisher who he is; however, Mason Danvers comes off as calculated and intentional, something other characters in the film seem to pick up on. Dean Cain did a really good job.

Michael Eklund, who plays a stereotypical, string-pulling prison warden, is in a totally different and much better film.

Even though the soundtrack was not my cup of tea, I did appreciate the use of music in the film.

Most of the dialogue was cliched nonsense and exposition. I wish I could have seen what motivated these characters, instead I was told. Even then those motivations were often ambiguous concepts rather than specific, character-defining motives.

Despite the resolution of the film being at the end of an all-out, chaotic prison-yard-brawl, it was anticlimactic enough that I out-loud ask, "that's it?!"