Director: Jesse V Johnson
Writer: Jesse V Johnson, Stu Small (Screenplay)
Starring: Scott Adkins, Craig Fairbrass, Thomas Turgoose, Nick Moran, Kierston Wareing, Leo Gregory, Beau Fowler
Plot: After years of assaults on him in prison, Cain escapes for avengement on those responsible.
Tagline – He’s Out On Bad Behavior.
Runtime: 1 Hour 30 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Bloody, Brutal and Bad Ass
Story: Avengement starts when harden criminal Cain Burgess (Adkins) escapes from prison heading directly to his brother’s pub, holding the group including Hyde (Moran), Tune (Turgoose) and bar tender Bez (Wareing) as he waits for his brother Lincoln (Fairbrass) to arrive to settle a score.
While waiting for Lincoln, Cain has a story of how he was abandoned in prison to fight for himself becoming a deadly weapon that can beat any man in a solo fight and when it comes to numbers, they still don’t have an advantage against him.
Thoughts on Avengement
Characters – Cain Burgess was a small time criminal before he got caught and thrown in prison, here he became a fighter, finding a target on his back, becoming a man with scars on his face and revenge in his blood. He heads straight for his brother and the members of the gang that caused in prison sentence, he is tough fighter that literally won’t stay down. Lincoln is the brother of Cain that has been running a loan shark business for years, his reputation has seen countless people suffer and pay for failing to repay him. Tune is the member of the gang that will talk the biggest game, while being just another idiot member of the group. Hyde is the man under Lincoln in the organisation, he knows how to work people, being able to remain calm even with a shotgun in his face.
Performances – Scott Adkins gives the best performance of his career to date here, he has always been brilliant at the combat scenes, but when it comes to the pure emotion behind the character, he has struggled before, he shines on both fronts. Craig Fairbrass does bring the villainous character to life, though we don’t see enough of him at times. The rest of the cast do bring their aggressive gangster figure to life.
Story – The story here follows a brother that escapes from prison to go on a revenge mission against his brother the leader of a loan shark ring that has seen countless people suffer after he gets abandoned to fight for himself in prison. This does keep the story simple it is a revenge story, we do start with near the end as we do flashback through the incidents which explain all the scars and disfigurements that Cain has suffered. We also get to look at different motivations for what Cain is up to. The warning going into this story must come from the aggressive British gangster language, which is used to put extra point on the swearing.
Action – The action in the film is brutal and hard hitting with fights in all locations becoming longer and bloodier through the film.
Settings – The film uses the settings to help with a large part of the film being in the bar waiting for the big blow off scene, while each other location explains how we ended up here.
Scene of the Movie – Bar fight.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – The rest of the gang seem almost pointless at times.
Final Thoughts – This is a truly brutal action film that doesn’t hold back on any of the fight scenes and gives Scott Adkins the best performance of his career.
Overall: Brutal Action.
