Netflix And Chill: The Rip (2026)

While I knew that I would make a viewing of The Rip a priority because of it co-starring Matt Damon and Ben Affleck in lead roles, I was pleased to find out that it was directed and written by Joe Carnahan. Carnahan may not be working at the level that he once was, but the guy still delivers some decent entertainment.

Everything here begins with the death of Captain Jackie Velez (Lina Esco). This leads to her team being questioned, with nobody above suspicion. Things then get even trickier for the team when they're tipped off about a stash house, and soon discover that they're going to have to count and keep safe an amount of money that exceeds $20M. If ever there was a temptation for someone who wasn't hestitant to kill a police Captain, this should expose any traitors in the midst of the group.

Inspired by a true story, which was worked on by Carnahan and Michael McGrale, there's nothing here in the by-the-numbers plotting that should displease those who know what they're in for. The twists and turns are predictable, but also satisfying. The main cast members all look very capable while waving their guns around through the clouds of testosterone. Okay, there aren't really any memorable action set-pieces, but the rest of the film plays out as expected, and the story ultimately proves better for the focus on intelligence and mistrust ahead of fights and gunplay.

Damon and Affleck are a proven combo, they're the mac & cheese of millenial blockbuster stars (which I mean as a compliment, although I am sure others will use the same analogy as an insult), and they work as well as ever here. Damon is the one in charge, and the more level-headed one of the two, perhaps due to having a different view of the unfolding situation, but he's also under as much, if not more, suspicion than anyone else in the team. Steven Yeun gets a decent amount to do, Teyana Taylor continues to impress now that she seems to have been finding better roles for her talent, and Catalina Sandino Moreno is, well, there. She's fine, but not really given anything to do. Sasha Calle is very good as the young woman who has her home raided while hoping to skip and dance through some grey legal areas to avoid arrest, Kyle Chandler is a DEA agent who might return in time to help or hinder our leads in the third act, and Scott Adkins has a good time with his role, playing Affleck's brother.

The screenplay may not be stuffed with memorable dialogue, but it works for what the film wants to do. What doesn't work is the visual style (or lack of) throughout. I'm sorry to say, but cinematographer Juanmi Azpiroz presents everything in a horribly murky mix of muted blues and something akin greyscale. I assume this wasn't necessarily his choice, nor the result of his work alone, but I'm naming him as the main culprit because it's the worst aspect of the film and he should have looked through his viewfinder and convinced everyone else to do a lot better.

There are other good things about this, but they tend to be tied to the production and profit-sharing model put in place by Damon and Affleck. What's actually in the movie itself is decidedly average, all things considered. It could have been elevated by another one or two passes on the script and a few more meetings about getting the visuals improved, while keeping everything in line with the aesthetic that Carnahan wanted.

6/10

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Prime Time: The Killer's Game (2024)

The second feature film directed by J. J. Perry (after the enjoyable Night Shift), I have to start this review by saying that there was a lot here that seemed to be appealing directly to me. I like both Dave Bautista and Sofia Boutella, who have main roles here. I like a lot of movies about hitmen, of which this is one. And I like a lot of people in the supporting cast, from Scott Adkins to Terry Crews, and from Alex Kingston to Pom Klementieff . . . and I suppose that Ben Kingsley does okay in the right role. So it's a shame that this was so awful. 

Bautista plays Joe Flood, one of the best hitmen in the business. He meets a beautiful dancer named Maize Arnaud (Boutella), and that makes him start to consider retirement. Retirement isn't always a luxury afforded to hitmen though, especially when they have been as busy and successful as Joe. But when he is given bad news by a doctor, Joe decides the best thing to do is to put a contract on himself. Unfortunately, he soon discovers that he has a big reason to renegotiate, but Antoinette (Klementieff) isn't interested. She's sent out the call and a number of flamboyant killers have answered.

Apparently based on a book by Jay R. Bonansinga, The Killer's Game has a screenplay, written by Rand Ravich and James Coyne, that is one of the most derivative and tired I have encountered in the past year or two. The hitman ordering a hit on himself is standard stuff now, as is the change of circumstances coming along too late to stop the onslaught of greedy mercenary murderers, and everyone involved having their own quirky style makes it feel like something that would have been much more fun about twenty years ago, before that choice was used in far too many other movies.

Crews is a lot of fun in his role, and Scott Adkins has fun putting on a Scottish accent to work alongside Drew McIntyre, but they are the only ones who liven things up. Okay, Dylan Moran is an unexpected delight in his small role, playing a priest who receives quite the confession, and Kingston has a couple of amusing moments, but nobody else seems to stay awake in front of the cameras. Bautista seems very stilted and slow, and he has no chemistry with Boutella, who is hampered by being the love interest kept in the dark for most of the runtime. Klementieff fails to make her potential villain truly menacing or memorable, Kingsley is so low-key that he seems to have wandered in from a much calmer movie, and that covers the people who actually made any impression on me. 

Perry can showcase some action that feels visceral and impactful, but he even undermines that aspect of the film by trying to make everything more fun and funky with each main fight sequence choreographed to some pop song that, at best, ensures the film has zero tension and, at worst, reminds you of whenever tht song was used in some other, much better, movie.

The pacing isn't bad, some of the scenes look nice enough, and I am easily entertained by groups of people descending upon one another to engage in a mass brawl, but this is generally not worth your time. It's a huge disappointment, and every single main cast member has a handful of better films that you could enjoy checking out instead of this.

3/10

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Debt Collectors AKA The Debt Collector 2 (2020)

If I want to watch a film in which people are kicked in the face then I have some favourite people I like to see in the lead roles. There are obviously big names with big back catalogues (Chan, Yen, Li, etc), but I am less aware of people still putting out the kind of fare that used to make for a perfect weekend movie rental. Michael Jai White does a few, and does them well, but the current top dog is, in my view, Scott Adkins.

I remember quite enjoying The Debt Collector, a film that threw together Adkins and Louis Mandylor, but I didn’t love it. So I didn’t rush to watch this sequel when it first came out, and I was slightly bemused at how things would continue after the ending of the first film anyway. Thankfully, this was another solid Adkins vehicle, and I would say it is slightly better than the film preceding it.

French (Adkins) is now working as a bouncer, but he is getting in trouble for causing too much damage to the fixtures while dealing with violent drunks. One such encounter occurs on the same day that Sue (Mandylor) walks back into his life. Considering how their last “adventure” ended, French is understandably reticent to help Sue with some debts that he needs to collect within the next few days, but there’s the reward of a big payday at the end of it. 

Another film directed by Jesse V. Johnson, once again writing alongside Stu Small, this is an Adkins vehicle that feels as perfectly tailored to the star as any other film he’s been in. I can’t believe there was a time when I didn’t rate Johnson as someone worth your time, but he’s been slowly and surely delivering some of the best “back to basics” action movies over the past five years. His career stretches back way beyond that, but his earlier films seem to be missing that magic Adkins ingredient.

The leads work together even better than they did in the first movie, with Adkins now happy to bash heads together and get the job done as quickly as possible while Mandylor tries to now keep his own violence in the past. Our central pairing should be all you need, considering that most people they encounter end up on the wrong end of a beating, but there are also a couple of good cameo appearances from Martina Sirtis and Vernon Wells. Everyone else, good or bad (mainly bad), plays their part convincingly enough, but the film-makers know to stay close to Adkins and Mandylor, having them be friendly and antagonistic to one another in equal measure.

The fights may not be the absolute best from this director-actor combo, but they’re well done, the pacing is good, and the 97-minute runtime is pretty perfect. All in all, this is another winner for those involved. I won’t be so tardy if they make a third one.

7/10

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Netflix And Chill: Avengement (2019)

There are many films you could choose if you want to watch action star Scott Adkins kick people in the face. It's basically what he does best. I'd struggle to think of a film that is both as entertaining and brutal as Avengement though, which now holds the record for making me wince the most times in a 90-minute period.

Adkins is Cain Burgess, a man who has escaped from prison to settle a score against his brother (Craig Fairbrass) and the thugs who work for him. Cain is quite the sight to behold, his face covered in scars and his mouth full of metal dentures. He's been in prison for quite some time, and almost every day has seen him fighting for his life. Just what he did to end up there, and why he has had a big target on his back, is part of the backstory that we get when Cain locks himself in a pub with a group of men who work for his brother.

Directed by Jesse V. Johnson, who also helped to co-write the screenplay with Stu Small (a working relationship that has delivered a a good handful of other worthwhile Adkins movies), there's no better word to describe Avengement than savage. It's also bloody well put together, giving the main character a decent enough framework for a number of impressive set-pieces. Although it's often very grim, there's enough humour laced throughout to keep reminding viewers that it IS a piece of action entertainment.

Always ready to do whatever it takes in order to survive, Adkins is often animalistic in the lead role. The heavy scarring and change to his usual physical appearance, accompanied by a mood of absolutely no fucks given, have him making people nervous before he even throws a punch or a kick, and Adkins has fun in the role, revelling in playing someone so antagonistic and spoiling for the inevitable fights coming his way. Fairbrass is good in his role, playing someone who casts a long shadow over the film even when he's not onscreen. It's not really out of his comfort zone, but it's a good bit of casting. You also get Nick Moran, still ready to give attitude and plenty of chatter, even when it probably won't be good for his health, and there's a fun, nervy, turn from Thomas Turgoose, as well as Kierston Wareing's brassy barmaid who wouldn't look out of place working behind the bar of The Queen Vic. Mark Strange and Leo Gregory are also caught up in the violence, as are a number of actors who excel at portraying characters who could easily be named something like "tough nut #2".

In case you hadn't realised already, this is not for the faint-hearted. While the fights are largely a collection of the usual moves, there are some bursts of violence here that rank as some of the gnarliest I have ever seen, including an eye-watering, and graphic, riff on the horrendous curb sandwich. 

I'll finish with this warning, although it may be too late for many of you. If you like the sound of Avengement then try to see it before seeing the trailer, which reveals far too much. Okay, you don't choose a Scott Adkins vehicle for complex plotting and emotional nuance, but this certainly does a better job than most in creating just the right motivation for the main character, and delivering one of the scariest potential antiheroes in a long time.

8/10

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Netflix And Chill: Triple Threat (2019)

Sometimes you want to settle down to the sit and brilliance of the Coen brothers. Sometimes you want to dive back into a comforting horror favourite. Sometimes you have some laughs with Buster Keaton. Cinema is there for you, whatever you want to do. Even if you want to spend over half of your waking day with someone like Lav Diaz or Béla Tarr. And sometimes you just want to watch skilled people kick each other in the face. If you're in the mood for the latter, Triple Threat is an option for you.

Directed by Jesse V. Johnson (who has helmed a number of enjoyable action flicks, one of the best being Accident Man), this is the tale of some people with big guns raiding a prisoner encampment in Thailand to free prisoners. The mission is a cover, however, and the people actually want to free their criminal leader, Collins (Scott Adkins). Once free, his group are then out to kill Tian Xiao Xian (Celina Jade), a wealthy woman who wants to use her wealth to battle corruption and crime. One thing leads to another, enemies become allies, people are used as bait, and the film eventually becomes a battle between one team (Adkins, Michael Jai White, Michael Bisping, and Jeeja Yanin) and another (Xiao Xian, Tony Jaa, Iko Uwais, and Tiger Chen).

Based on an idea by Chen, developing a movie that didn't come to fruition, this was then written by Joey O'Bryan, with Fangjin Song, Jian Huang, Sheldon Pang, and Lei Yan all credited as co-writers, as well as some additional work from Paul Staheli, it's amazing to think a) that so many people worked on the script for this, and b) this was the best they could come up with. Because this is a mess in places, with the first half moving between flashbacks and different moments that have no feeling of just how much time has passed. What could have been a decent framework, with the opening salvo, betrayals, and seemingly fluid loyalties, is instead turned into something that feels burdensome to a film that should have stripped everything else back in favour of making the most of the action stars in the cast.

Thankfully, the action/fight scenes are worth your time. Jaa, Chen, and Uwais may be relative superstars to those who want full-on fights that look as if they were put together with blood, sweat, and tears, but Adkins and White are no layabouts, and both of them are easy favourites of mine when it comes to modern action movies of this ilk (both having great presence AND the appearance of being able to handle themselves against crowds of unwitting henchmen). Bisping and Yanin are the lesser-known names, but both do well, and Jade is perfectly okay as the woman who finds herself in the middle of an absolute maelstrom of gunfire and hand to hand combat.

The cast list alone will be enough to attract anyone hankering for some enjoyable action that goes a step or two beyond what you would see in most glossy blockbusters, and there's enough here to justify choosing this for a weekend watch. It's just a shame that the non-fight scenes are so bad. That's something you can say about many action movies, and it's something that action movie fans are happy to put up with while they are at least getting GREAT fights, but I still think that this particular assembled cast could have been better served by a script that figured out how to pack in even more stuntwork within a much flimsier connective storyline.

Good stuff, but feel free to ask anyone (including myself) for better films that feature any of these stars doing what they do best. I guarantee you that asking the right people will get you at least 20 recommendations of films much better than this. At least.

6/10

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Netflix And Chill: Boyka: Undisputed (2016)

Despite the departure of Isaac Florentine from the director's chair, Boyka: Undisputed, the fourth film in the impressive Undisputed series, surpasses all expectations to be the very best in the series. If this is where it all ends, it is definitely going out on a high.

Set some months after the events of the previous film, Yuri Boyka (Scott Adkins) is a free man, making a good deal of money from underground fighting competitions. Things take a turn for the worse when he accidentally kills someone he is fighting, which leads him to seek out the family of the deceased, attempting to make amends. Alma (Teodora Duhovnikova), the widow of the man killed by Boyka, is indebted to a crime boss, Zourab (Aloni Moni Aboutboul). Refusing any help from Boyka, the fighter takes it upon himself to offer his talents to Zourab in order to gain Alma's freedom. He has to survive a number of fights, but Zourab can always try to change the rules to ensure that he doesn't lose out.

Considering how well he handles the action on display here, I am now very keen to see the other films directed by Todor Chapkanov. Because this feels on a par with some of the work from Florentine, and I was surprised to be reminded that he didn't direct this instalment. Writer David N. White seems to have less on his plate this time around, with the plot even slimmer than any of the previous movies, leaving time and space for even more fights. They're nicely spaced out, leading up to a third act that delivers some absolutely top-tier bloodshed and pain. If you want something to satiate an urge for some hand-to-hand combat in a style akin to the "halcyon days" of the Van Damme years (which also gave us treats from Mark Dacascos, Don "The Dragon" Wilson, and many others) then this is just about the best movie I could think of.

Despite it being shown briefly in a flashback montage, the continuity of the damage that Boyka has endured seems a bit off by now, which is a minor complaint. He's gone on a journey from villain to hero in need of rehabilitation, and now is the absolutely bulletproof fighter needed to allow the fights to get as wild and entertaining as possible. And Adkins is still brilliant in the role, dubious accent and all. I've seen a few of his movies now, and I am struggling to think of one in which he is in more astoundingly perfect physical condition than he is here. His muscles have muscles, and the moves he pulls off show every way in which he can punch, kick, and spin around opponents. Duhovnikova has to look in need of rescuing, in a vulnerable and pretty way that will draw our hero more quickly into his journey, and she does. Then you have Aboutboul, being fine, if not that intimidating, as the crime boss used to getting his own way.

The plotting is ridiculous, there's no attempt to ground things in reality, the mix of accents is wild, and you know how this is going to end from the very beginning. And none of that matters when the action is happening onscreen, which elevates this to absolutely perfect popcorn entertainment for those after a macho movie night.

9/10

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Undisputed 3: Redemption (2010)

A number of main players return for this action movie sequel that, as the title indicates, allows for a bit of redemption. Moving even further away from the more grounded style of the first film, this establishes a world of more cinematic potential in which prisons all have major fighting tournaments, and the biggest one allows you to earn your freedom, but can also result in death for the losers.

Scott Adkins is back in the role of Boyka, who we last saw getting, pardon my wording here, pretty fucked up. He has been biding his time, rebuilding his strength, and trying to rebuild his body. And he eventually takes a chance in front of Warden Kuss (Hristo Shopov) and the powerful Gaga (Mark Ivanir). He knows it may be his only way to gain his freedom, but the opponents are a tough bunch, of course. And everyone also has to survive the brutality of the general prison life.

Writer David N. White returns, but is working solo this time around, and he's allowed to just throw away anything that doesn't relate to the prison brutality, the set up of the fights, and the new focus on Boyka moving from villain to (sort of) hero. It's all one cliché after another, which is absolutely not a problem when director Isaac Florentine continues to deliver the goods in terms of the action.

Adkins is once again solid in the role of Boyka, a role that actually works really well for him. As wobbly as his accent can be, it allows for him to speak in a way that  covers up the usual soft-spoken manner he has (something that can undermines his physical work). And his performance works well alongside the script, allowing his journey to seem believable, in this context, and worth rooting for. The other main fighter of note, at times an adversary and at times an ally, is Turbo, played by Mykel Shannon Jenkins. Jenkins does well as the typical talented fighter with the attitude of someone who thinks they are unbeatable while others start to realise the very real danger to their lives. And Marko Zaror is Raul 'Dolor' Quinones, the favoured fighter who may well take care of everyone else stepping into the ring. Valentin Ganev returns as Warden Markov, for a few scenes, and Ivanir has a bit more of a presence this time around, but the other big baddie is Warden Kuss, played by Hristo Shopov. It's another by-the-numbers character for this type of thing, but another case of it all working because of everything being kept so simple and familiar.

Depending on what you want from your movie entertainment, three movies in shows the Undisputed series as one that goes from strength to strength. The fun factor keeps being ramped up, with realism being pared away as viewers are taken further and further into a world that sets things up for plenty of gritty violence between plenty of characters who look like they can take way more punishment than I ever could (let's just say if I was in this world then I'd be in the montage of people concussed/killed with one powerful blow).

My high rating was something I debated in my mind for some time, but it is, as ever, based on comparison to other movies of this kind, and this is a perfect example of this kind of film, which makes the relatively high rating much deserved.

8/10

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Undisputed 2 (2006)

Walter Hill may have gone, and there's no Wesley Snipes or Ving Rhames returning, but Undisputed 2 (AKA Undisputed 2: Last Man Standing) replaces them with Scott Adkins and Michael Jai White in front of the camera, and the very talented Isaac Florentine in the director's chair. And it's the start of an upturn in a series that delivers some fantastic and brutal fight scenes.

White is George Chambers, the character played by Rhames in the previous movie. He's once again being sent to prison, but this time we know from the very beginning that he's an innocent man. Drugs have been planted in his home to get him sent to a Russian jail. That's where he can be forced to face the mighty Yuri Boyka (Scott Adkins) in the ring.

Taking things up a notch from the first movie, while also streamlining the ideas (there's no moral ambiguity here, you have a goodie and a baddie), Undisputed 2 is perfect entertainment for those who want to see some muscular men knock the crap out of one another. The only problem it really has is in still trying to keep things fairly grounded, which allows for a bit less action than some might want.

The script, by James Townsend and David N. White, is about as predictable as you could get, and they revel in the familiarity of the character beats as our hero gets jailed, encounters the main villain, is pressured into fighting, etc, etc, all the way to the expected final fight. It could be better, easily, but sometimes the simplest approach works well enough, as is the case here.

Florentine knows what he's doing with the action, and it's obvious why he has made a name for himself with the kind of movies that used to go straight to video. He has faith in his leads to show off their moves, he keeps the camera working well, without relying on too much headache-inducing editing, and he knows how to move things along well enough in between the punchy-kicky highlights.

There may not be many people worth mentioning in the supporting cast (aside from Mark Ivanir, who would also appear in the next movie), but that's fine. This is a film for White and Adkins. The former has long been a charismatic presence in every movie he's been a part of, and should have been getting even juicier roles for the last decade or so, and he's convincing as the boxer who ends up having to change up his fighting style. Adkins sports a different look, and a wobbly accent, but is as physically impressive as usual in the fights, and Boyka is a fun character to boo and hiss at on the way to fight night.

The fights are better than the fights in the first film, the rest of the cast brings things down slightly, which makes this deserving of an equal rating. Even if it's also just a bit more fun.

7/10

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Netflix And Chill: The Debt Collector (2018)

It's a shame that the unrelenting march of technology also comes with a few downsides. There are the obvious issues, to do with identity, security, predators, and trolls. But there are some other things that it is easy to forget about. And one of those things is the relative dearth of the kind of movies that would appear "straight to video" and provide perfect, uncomplicated, entertainment for those in the right frame of mind. You have ninety minutes, you have food and/or snacks, and you want a bit of action. Most blockbusters nowadays tend towards the two-hour mark, even if you're getting your fix of fights from someone like Jason Statham or Dwayne Johnson, and there aren't many that aren't part of some ongoing franchise (be it the bigger titles you always see cropping up or the lesser titles that have more sequels than you knew about, such as The Scorpion King movies and The Marine series).

So take a moment to appreciate the ass-kicking skills of Scott Adkins, here teaming up once again with director Jesse V. Johnson to deliver the kind of solid action fare that perfectly scratches that itch you didn't realise you wanted help with.

Adkins is French, a martial artist struggling to make his business a financial success. To make himself some extra money, he gets a job as a debt collector. Paired up with a veteran of the job, Sue (Louis Mandylor), it's not long until French is being tested against a number of muscular guys who are employed to protect their bosses from any harm. Things get even worse when French and Sue are given a job that involves someone who has double-crossed a gangster boss named Barbosa (Tony Todd).

I'm not going to try and make this sound like any kind of masterpiece. It's a film developed to showcase some fight scenes for Adkins, nothing more and nothing less, and the fight scenes are very well shot, always being both entertaining and believably painful. The script, co-written by Johnson and Stu Small (who previously worked with both director and star on their previous outing, the even more enjoyable Accident Man), has enough amusing banter between Adkins and Mandylor, makes it clear that our hero has a slightly better calibrated moral compass, and sets everything up to be unleashed in a super-violent finale. Basically, it does everything you need it to do.

I'm not sure what exactly has held Adkins back slightly over the years, whether it's his delivery of dialogue or his past choices, but this could be his best role yet. It allows him to show a more well-rounded character than some of his other roles, and there are some good running gags with people lightly mocking him as they underestimate his combat skills. Mandylor works reasonably well alongside him, although the film does him a disservice by adding some backstory details that weren't really required, and Todd is very well-suited to his character, one who exudes an air of menace even from his first moments onscreen. Vladimir Kulich is fine, playing the boss of Adkins and Mandylor, and there's an all-too-small role for Michael Paré.

There are better action movies out there, there are better Adkins movies out there, but there isn't the range of these kinds of movies that we used to be able to find, so I recommend this one for those who want to encourage those involved to make more. You know what you're letting yourself in for, and you get exactly that.

6/10

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June-Claude Van Damme: Universal Soldier: Day Of Reckoning (2012)

The fourth (and, at this point, final) instalment in the Universal Soldier series, this stars Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren in supporting roles, playing incarnations of the same characters that they played in all of the previous instalments, but gives the spotlight to Scott Adkins as the new action lead.

Adkins plays a man named John who wakes from a coma after a home invasion that left his family dead. He knows who did it, apparently, and viewers may be surprised to know that it's Luc Deveraux (Van Damme). But is John remembering the truth or has his perception of events somehow been warped? He hopes to find out as he sets off on a one-man warpath.

Director John Hyams also returns to the series, having done such a good job with the previous instalment, and this time both directs and also helps with the script, co-written by himself, Doug Magnuson, and Jon Greenlagh. Although things get a bit twisted and overly complicated as the plot starts to develop, everything seems to make just enough sense and it keeps this instalment more interesting than just another retread of the material that we've all seen before.

Action movie viewers should already be well aware of Adkins, a guy who does just well enough in the actual acting stakes to make him a viable star when it comes to vehicles bult around his physical skills. He does great work here, thanks to some superb fights that really try to convey the strength of the fighters and the impact of the hits. Andrei Arlovski also returns, and is once again impressively badass in his role, chasing down Adkins like a Terminator and forcing him to fight for his life. Van Damme and Lundgren are used sparingly throughout, which may disappoint some, but come to the fore during the third act, with the scripted idea of a torch being passed on working for both the events of the film and also outwith the screen, with the older stars able to leave things in the hands of Adkins.

Some people will tell you that this is the best of the series. It's a tough one to argue against, especially after having just watched some of the incredible fight scenes, but I put them on a par with one another. As mentioned in my review of the previous film, the original manages to feel like a more complete entertainment package, but this one is arguably more satisfying for those looking for movie action with a bit of . . . oomph (to use the technical term).

8/10

This is still a great way to get them.
Americans can buy the blu here.

Accident Man (2018)

If you look back through the filmography of director Jesse V. Johnson it doesn't really have anything that marks him out as someone you can rely on to deliver solid film fun. I might be being very unfair there, having not yet actually seen any of his other movies, but that's just how it is. But having now seen Accident Man, and enjoyed it, I may have to give some of his earlier movies a shot.

I decided to give this a go because of Scott Adkins in the main role. Adkins is a decent action star and I hadn't seen him in anything for a while. And it was a Saturday night with nothing planned.

Mike Fallon (Adkins) is a contract killer who specialises in making the deaths look like accidents, or sometimes suicides. He works for a firm that also employs other killers, all with their particular styles (one uses poison, one generally just goes mental with an axe, etc), and all is going well enough until Fallon's ex-girlfriend is murdered. It was obviously a professional job, although made to look like a random burglary gone wrong, and Fallon can't contain his anger, which leads to him questioning the people who work alongside him. And when I say questioning them I actually mean fighting them until he finds out information that leads him to fight someone else.

Based on a comic book, with a screenplay co-written by Adkins and Stu Small, this is an unpretentious little film that should keep action movie fans delighted from start to finish. The humour of the material doesn't always work, which is the fault of both the script and the delivery of the dialogue, and you have to kiss goodbye to any idea of believability, but none of that matters when the fights are happening.

As well as our leading man, you also get Michael Jai White, Ray Park, Ross O'Hennessy, Amy Johnston, and Ray Stevenson all impressing with their physicality onscreen. The most impressive moments involve Adkins, White, and Park, but everyone has at least one decent moment, and Johnston stands out as the lone female who is more than a match for the men around her. There are also roles for David Paymer and Ashley Greene, as well as a cameo for Nick Moran, and they're all decent, if a lot less involved in the punching and kicking sequences.

Johnson doesn't really do much to take this up another notch, although I'm not sure how much more he could do when you consider the limitations of the leading man (Adkins has got the moves but he sometimes falters with other aspects of acting like . . . well . . . acting), but it's also worth noting that he doesn't do anything to ruin the whole experience. Sometimes that is more than enough.

Accident Man has quite a few faults, undeniably, but they're easy to overlook if you're looking specifically for the kind of violent entertainment that this absolutely delivers.

7/10

There's a DVD here.
Americans can get a Blu here.

American Assassin (2017)

Based on the novel by Vince Flynn, with a script worked on by four people (including Edward Zwick), and starring quite a lot of people you couldn't exactly class as leading names in the movie business, American Assassin is a bit of a hard sell. I didn't even know if it was going to be a thriller or more of an action movie when I started watching it. It turns out to be an enjoyable blend of the two, and actually throws up one or two good surprises along the way.

Dylan O'Brien plays Mitch Rapp, a young man who has survived a traumatic incident and is now motivated to spend his time trying to infiltrate and destroy terrorist cells. Just when he thinks he is about to succeed, about to get his revenge, he is beaten to the punch by a U.S. Special Forces team. But every cloud has a silver lining. Mitch is delivered into the hands of Stan Hurley (Michael Keaton), a man who will train him to become part of an elite team, ready to continue the war on terror with a new, interesting bag of tricks. And Mitch, as well as his fellow soldiers, will need to remember everything they have been taught as they are tasked with finding a bunch of nuclear material that may already have been assembled into a powerful weapon.

After a wild opening sequence, American Assassin immediately settles into something a bit more low-key and interesting than you might be expecting. It's a film that both delivers the action beats and also keeps prodding at the psyches of the main characters, heroes and villains (with it sometimes being hard to differentiate between the two).

Director Michael Cuesta does a decent job of things. Some of the action is a bit choppy in places, and there are moments that feel far too heavy-handed and obvious, but it's all done with good intentions and attempts to convey information without ever feeling too patronising. The script feels smart and sharp, even while working through scenes in snippets of movie-grade reality (if you know what I mean).

O'Brien is fine in the lead, and it's good to see another movie like this without a muscular ass-kicker in the main role, and decent support comes from Sanaa Lathan, Shiva Negar, Taylor Kitsch, and even Scott Adkins, but the main draw here is Keaton, who lends his weight to something that would otherwise never be seen outside the confines of a bargain bin selection.

I can see why some will watch this and be disappointed. It doesn't always go for the easy option, and some of the action beats will feel too brief and messy, while Cuesta and the writers (Stephen Schiff, Michael Finch, Marshall Herskovitz, and Zwick) do their best to show that fights can be won by brains as well as brawn, but the way it at least tries to do something a bit different is why I ended up enjoying it so much. I hope others end up in agreement with me.

7/10

Out this week in the UK, people can pick up the Bluray here.
USA people can pick it up here.