Acts of Vengeance

2017 has seen the return of Antonio Banderas in full Liam Neeson action hero mode, First punishing the bad guys in the decent B-level action flick "Security", and now another in "Acts Of Vengeance". These kinds of low budget action flicks are pretty bland and run of the mill for the most part, but with a solid yet underrated action director like Isaac Florentine (Ninja II, Undisputed II & III) and a good actor like Antonio Banderas, the movie does stand out as a good direct to VOD action flick. As a guy who grew up on these throwback action films, I liked it. Overall,a fast paced, efficient, action packed movie. Loaded with some well shot and choreographed fights and Banderas delivering justice and kicking ass like its back in the 90's.

7/10

Antonio Bandeiras gets a soft spot in our hearts for all he has done in Cinema. He is like Stallone, Schwarzenegger, Lundgren, one of those actors paid to act much and talk little; when they talk, we recognize as fast as a blink of an eye who the actor is, mainly because they have strong accents. You might find it funny that Antonio narrates most of this movie, which kinda pisses me off: narration, most of the times, is an excuse to tell us rather than show us.

In Acts of Vengeance, Frank Valera works too much, which ends up getting their daughter and wife killed. He descends into almost madness but finds resolution and redemption in a very peculiar book.

This movie is an average revenge story. Nothing too fancy, nothing too smart. In the end, you are just watching events unfold, wondering who is the bad guy.

I found the motive to be obvious. I suggested once I got the first events of the movie and I was spot on. Nonetheless, OK movie to watch.

If you want bland entertainment, go for it.

First thing I noticed at the beginning of the film was that it was very cheesy and poorly executed. The font title was laughable. This was like one of those 90's film where our leather-jacket-wearing hero would flip a broomstick in a kung-fu-ish manner before wedging it between the handles of a kitchen door type of movie.

The script is almost mediocre. And the protagonist, Antonio Banderas also looks too old to play the role to be honest, but kudos to him for actually performing most of the stunts which is always a good thing when it comes to editing because this is what you came to see right? an action film. Not some shaky cam with 5 different cuts just to shoot a single punch that has plagued action films for years. But now, I think is a trend that is fading away.

This one delivers nice and slick action scenes. And realistically short as well. You will know what I mean. You want a pop corn late night action film? You know what to expect. its just a little bit better.

If you are a fan of Antonio Banderas you may feel or watch this under a different ... point of view. You may feel that this is way better than what I have attributed it and what score I gave it. I do like Mr. Banderas a lot, but I also think this is quite predictable. Just from the cast alone you can tell and be aware of certain things.

That aside, the action and stunts are very well shot. So if that is what you are looking for ... and not the suspense itself (the twist is quite the stretch to be honest), you don't have to worry about anything at all.

I've wanted to see the movie since I met Kart Urban in my gym last year, so maybe I am little biased. The premise of the movie is quite good but the story delivery is rather poor - it is like all things are "designed" to happen and not very convincingly. I mean, the animated TV series I watched as a kid (Michel Vaillant for instance) made a whole lot more sense. Acting is alright - Banderas and Urban do the job as much as the script allows them to, the rest is typical B-movie stuff. The main asset of the movie are the fighting sequence which while cheesy are very well choreographed and Banderas is surprisingly good in all of them. All in all, a descent premise and good fight sequences versus poor script and clichéd storyline make it for a good 6 out of 10. It is worth your time as long as you don't take it seriously and consider its low-budget nature.