Netflix And Chill: Legacy Of Lies (2020)

When I choose to watch a Scott Adkins movie, I am choosing violence. Adkins is one of the more consistently entertaining modern action stars, doing his thing in the kind of films we used to see go straight to video some time ago. Legacy Of Lies isn’t a film that lacks violence, but it isn’t full of the kind of inspired fight sequences that you can find in other Adkins movies.

The star plays Martin Baxter, a retired special agent who seems to make a living now from various fighting tournaments. He takes on opponents while his daughter (Honor Kneafsey) places the bets. It isn’t exactly an ideal life for a single dad, but things are what they are. They are safe, they aren’t likely to be dragged into any espionage, and they are aiming to be happy. Unfortunately, they are put in danger when dragged into a serious bit of espionage. It involves poison, official secrets, and an important figure from Max’s past.

Written and directed by Adrian Bol, Legacy Of Lies is an action thriller that could have easily been marketed a few years ago as “ripped from today’s headlines”. The heart of the plot revolves around a deadly poison, and the shifting loyalties and seeming sensitivity of the whole thing makes it clear that those involved are, or are connected to, very powerful people. It’s just a shame that this takes precedence over what we really want to see in a Scott Adkins movie, which is Scott Adkins fighting his way through hordes of disposable villains who aren’t afraid to try their luck against his deadly fists and feet.

Adkins does well enough in his role, and his scenes alongside Kneafsey hint that a much better movie could be made around two characters living the way they do in the early scenes here. Get that script written and I will be there to support it. Martin McDougall and Leon Sua aren’t too bad in main supporting roles, but the same cannot be said for the likes of Anna Butkevich, Yullia Sobol, and others who seem to have been hired for their accents, looks, availability, or combination of all three.

There is the seed of something good here, hidden underneath the muddled tone and the restrictive low budget, but I suspect that it would take someone better than Bol to make that film. Adkins fans may find, as I did, that there is just enough here to keep them moderately entertained, but there are so many better vehicles for his talents that you could choose. This is one to keep bumping down the list of viewing choices, at least until you have seen most of the Adkins movies directed by Jesse V. Johnson (someone who knows how to use the star well).

5/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews

Netflix And Chill: A Classic Horror Story (2021)

If the title doesn't clue you in immediately, the opening act, with a number of references to other movies and a number of very familiar tropes playing out (the group travelling through some quiet countryside, a vehicular mishap, ominous signs of dangerous entities in the area, etc), should let you know that you're about to be taken through territory that has been used in hundreds, if not thousands, of horror movies throughout the past few decades.

The core group is made up of Elisa (Matilda Anna Ingrid Lutz), Fabrizio (Francesco Russo), Riccardo (Peppino Mazzotta), Mark (Will Merrick), and Sofia (Yuliia Sobol). These people aren't close friends. They are just making use of a rideshare app, although they bond quickly enough when an accident leaves them stranded in the middle of some woods, and leaves Mark with a broken leg. Before you can say "Wrong Turn", things start to look very odd. And dangerous.

Directed by Robert De Feo and Paolo Strippoli, who both also worked on the screenplay with Lucio Besana, this is a strange, and at times quite brave, approach to horror movies. It's a commentary on our relationship with the visceral thrills of the horror genre, a spiky warning about the need for more and more content, and it does all this with horror movie tropes that aren't exactly subverted, but are simply used in a way that will have viewers wondering just how stupid the central characters might be until the third act starts to turn things over to show everything in a slightly different light. De Feo and Besana worked together on The Nest (which I have yet to see), but the heart of this work may come from Strippoli (considering his previous short was apparently shot entirely through Instagram stories). The finale of A Classic Horror Story may not feel like a good enough reward to horror fans who may tire of the excessive amount of genre trappings throughout the first hour, but it is at least able to deliver some gory goods alongside the kind of damning reflection that was inherent in darker films like Man Bites Dog and Funny Games.

The cast all do well. Lutz and Russo seem to get the most screentime, and the former gets to play a character introduced having a difficult enough time of things already, but everyone goes along with what is asked of them, even if that means they only stand out when involved in a gory death scene. There's also a good performance from Alida Baldari Calabria, playing the typical frightened child that, much like everything here, we've seen many times before, the innocent victim discovered by our leads, who may or may not be exactly as she appears.

I ended up enjoying this, but I must admit that the first half was testing my patience slightly. It was only the knowledge that the film-makers may be making viewers comfortable before pulling the rug out that kept me from completely checking out. Not that anything here was bad. The score is decent, the practical effects are impressive, and sometimes impressively nasty, and the last minute or so, although completely unnecessary, underlines everything being said with humour and sledgehammer-subtlety.

6/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews