Vendetta is the McDonald’s double cheeseburger of the film world. It’s merely famishing while watching but utterly forgettable by the time it’s over and completely forgotten within hours. It’s actually not terrible and Dean Cain isn’t too bad in the lead and Michael Eklund serves as a delightfully squirmy villain but outside of that it’s not worthy of a rental and with some edits is destined to air on Spike.
Vendetta
(2015)
REVIEW NAVIGATION
The Movie | Special Features | Video Quality | Audio Quality | Overall
Genre(s): Thriller
Lionsgate | R – 90 min. – $19.99 | August 18, 2015
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MOVIE INFO: Directed by: Jen & Sylvia Soska Writer(s): Justin Shady (written by) Cast: Dean Cain, Paul “The Big Show” Wight, Michael Eklund, Ben Hollingsworth DISC INFO: Audio: English (DTS-HD MA 5.1) |
** Click Here to Purchase Vendetta on Blu-ray from Amazon.com **
THE MOVIE – 2.75/5
Vendetta, a movie as generic as a McDonald’s double cheeseburger. OK while you eat it but instantly forgettable once done. I actually didn’t think this was an awful movie or at least as bad as I was thinking it would be and for the most part, it’s entertaining enough but that’s about it.
Mason Danvers (DEAN CAIN) is a detective who, when the movie opens, is running down, along with his partner Joel Gainer (BENJAMIN HOLLINGSWORTH), career criminals Victor Abbott (PAUL “THE BIG SHOW” WIGHT) and his brother Griffin (ALEKS PAUNOVIC). After getting his ass handed to him, Danvers does manage to get the upper-hand and make the collar on the Abbott brothers.
Inexplicably, both manage to get out of prison early and Victor’s first priority is to exact revenge on Danvers by breaking into his home and brutally assaulting and murdering Danvers’ wife and unborn child… right in front of him. After Gainer talks Mason down from executing Victor using the old “he’s not worth it” speech, Victor is sent back to prison leaving Danvers in a depression-fueled funk. Unable to move on, for good reason, Mason tracks down Griffin and kills him all in order to be sent to prison to exact his own… vendetta.
However, inside the prison things are more complicated than Mason anticipated. Victor more or less runs the place with the consent of Warden Snyder (MICHAEL EKLUND) and having killed his brother, Victor has it out for Mason. And for his part, Mason gets his ass kicked but he manages to get the better of his attackers and methodically begins to off many of Victor’s men and even butts heads with Snyder.
With a movie like Vendetta, which is a WWE production, you know what you’re going to get and what you’re not going to get. It’s not a complex film and you can more or less see what’s coming by the film’s end. That being said, I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was somewhat entertained and am reminded the charisma Dean Cain possesses when he’s allowed to let loose and here while he portrays what is a one-dimensional character still manages to make one care about him.
As for the other characters, their pretty much filler roles with Paul “The Big Show” Wight (feature debut) making for a menacing villain and Michael Eklund (Nurse 3D, “Bates Motel”) stands out fairly well as a squirmy rat bastard.
The film was helmed by Jen and Sylvia Soska, based off of a screenplay by Justin Shady (debut), who make their name on the segment “T for Torture” in The ABCs of Death 2 before tackling See No Evil 2 for the WWE Productions and for the most part it is a well directed film with decent stunts and hard-hitting violence that at least allows it to stand out over other direct-to-video flicks.
SPECIAL FEATURES – 2.0/5
This release comes with a slip cover and inside a redemption code for the Digital HD copy.
The Making of Vendetta (6:37; HD) – This is a basic featurette with some behind-the-scenes footage and on-location interviews with the cast and crew.
A Haunted Location (6:13; HD) is a featurette on the Riverview prison which was reportedly haunted due to some horrific things that happened in the past.
A Big Transformation (6:20; HD) – Here we get a profile on WWE wrestler The Big Show and his transition to acting.
Previews – The Condemned, See No Evil, See No Evil 2, Leprechaun Origins
VIDEO – 3.75/5
Vendetta arrives on Blu-ray through Lionsgate and is presented with a 1080p high-definition transfer and a 1.78 widescreen aspect ratio. For the most part the film looks fine with decent-to-good detail levels but it looks a tad too clean to the point where certain shots have an almost waxy texture while others had a fair amount of noise and a more natural film appearance. Colors seem to be well balanced going more toward warmer tones while the black levels are stark and don’t show any obvious instances of aliasing or artifacts.
AUDIO – 3.5/5
The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track provided is adequate but nothing I’d call outstanding. The dialogue levels do sound clear enough but the more action-centric scenes are more on the low side and don’t really have much depth or a dynamic feel to it. This could be due to the limited budget but the sound design was more average than anything.
OVERALL – 2.5/5
Overall, Vendetta is the McDonald’s double cheeseburger of the film world. It’s merely famishing while watching but utterly forgettable by the time it’s over and completely forgotten within hours. It’s actually not terrible and Dean Cain isn’t too bad in the lead and Michael Eklund serves as a delightfully squirmy villain but outside of that it’s not worthy of a rental and with some edits is destined to air on Spike.
Brian Oliver aka The Movieman
Published: 08/11/2015
Check out some more screen caps by going to page 2. Please note, these do contain spoilers.