Revenger (2019)

February 3, 2019 6:46 PM

A former police investigator decides to go to a prison island to revenge the brutal killings of his family.

Headstuff - Revenger – Less a Movie Than a Stunt Show

Film School Rejects - Has Netflix once again delivered the year's best action movie? (spoilers, no definitely not).

Kung Fu Kingdom - “Revenger” is carried on the very capable shoulders of stunt veteran Bruce Khan, who barely utters a word for the entire film

posted by smoke (2 comments total)

So, I like to watch crappy action movies when I'm doing my long runs on the treadmill (it's been so hot this summer, seriously). Some of them are better than others, and this was one of the better ones.

Pros:

- Bruce Khan, is just astonishingly shredded and fast for a dude who's 52. It's seriously cray. He kicks a lot of arse. Really this movie is a vehicle for about 4 actions scenes, and they are good.

- This is shot exactly how I like my actions scenes shot. Not many jump cuts, and almost no close ups. Khan's grace and speed is easy to observe and the camera lingers, letting the duels play out.

- this could be considered a con, I suppose, but the movie invests almost nothing in its perfunctory plot - this actually works for me in movies like this a lot more where they try to pretend the material is better. The whole point of this movie is action, and the plot, the characters the acting is just enough to get you there, and not one bit more.

Cons:

- it's a little long.
- Khan cannot act, at all, he's basically a moving statue. I love that but YMMV.
- The plot, the side plot, most of the acting and everything bar the action is pretty bad. If you care about this things in this kind of movie skip it.

Here's a clip to give you a taste - if you like the look of that, you may like this movie.
posted by smoke at 6:57 PM on February 3, 2019 [3 favorites]

Just watched it, thoroughly enjoyed it. I don't recall ever learning why the Big Bad killed Khan's wife and daughter but that did not detract from the otherwise amazing plot (jk there was no plot and I did not mind at all). Great fight choreography and camera work, and I love the whole "moseyin' down the hallway racking up the body count a la The Punisher" kind of fighting done here. I didn't know there would be subtitles but that wasn't a problem. Also did not expect the comic relief, I laughed several times.
posted by the webmistress at 6:36 PM on February 4, 2019