Review of the film "Retribution" (2002) by Sergei Volkolak

05.10.2020Sergey Volkolak

If you told me that there was a movie that starred a whole bunch of B-action stars in Don Wilson, Cynthia Rothrock, Richard Norton, Stephen Vincent Lee, remembered for his role as the main antagonist in a good fighting game "Deadly Bet" with Jeff Wincott, and even before they were fully released, I probably would have salivated in anticipation of the spectacle and rushed to look for the film. Could be such a fighter "Retribution"where he participated Chris Pennwho was once on the team of the best of the best, as well as the ubiquitous “bad Asian” Gerald Okamura. Slightly overshadowed by the fact that the director is listed Art Camacho, who, if you believe the rumors (I myself am not very familiar with his work), is not very good at his craft.

Be that as it may, having learned from a little experience, I was in no hurry to rejoice, just as I was in no hurry to be upset. I won’t lie, I wanted to see a dashing hand-to-hand fight between the actors listed above. But what the creators did, I would like to call it a crime. In fact, there is only one main role here. Don "Dragon", everyone else is pushed so far into the background and even into the background that you can’t immediately believe it when you see the names on the poster. Why, one might ask, recruit such skilled movie fighters, and not just reduce their roles to a minimum, but not even give them a single full-fledged action scene in order to show the best that they were capable of. Cynthia is luckier in this regard: she has the role of not only a member of a special group under the command of Wilson, but also his lover. That is, at least she has more screen time. However, drinking it was a very unexpected event for me. What can you do, because the drama had to be crammed in, and a powerful motivation for the main character too.

The protagonist, by the way, if we ignore emotions, was deservedly dismissed from service. The death of his subordinate is on his conscience. It was also lucky that the newcomer to the undercover team was not stabbed to death at a meeting of bandits. Here it would be possible to get under the article. In part, the victims themselves are to blame for their fate: the first one at the meeting was so harsh with his appearance that it immediately became clear that the entire special operation would be a disaster, and the second one disobeyed the order of the boss. But people of this profession know better than anyone that orders must be carried out unquestioningly - exactly and on time. Although all this does not at all mitigate the commander’s guilt. Whose fault is it that your subordinates do not listen to you, and you send unsuitable people to important tasks? Here are the consequences. In addition to being fired, relationships with colleagues are also damaged. With such a stain on his personal file, it is difficult to get another job, and money is needed like air, so the main character decides to work for the mafia. And I must say, it copes quite successfully. But in the end, at the most necessary moment, he makes the right choice and acts according to his conscience.

If we talk about hand-to-hand action, then there is very little of it, if you keep in mind the amount of time for an hour and a half, which is why you feel like you are watching a drama interspersed with action scenes. Here even Wilson, playing the main role, uses his fists very rarely, let alone the others. The technical part is also nothing outstanding. If you have seen any parts of the series "Bloody Fist", then the production is approximately at the same level. There are a couple of fairly large-scale shootouts within the film and they seem to be not so bad for a B category, but the camera twitching from side to side interfered with normal perception. Dynamics can be created without this kind of technique.

It was 2002, the era of action films and our favorite movie fighters had been gradually declining for some time and "Retribution" - this is one of the last old-school “basheks”, of which there were fewer and fewer. The actors aged, times changed. The film was passable, and leaving the already experienced film fighters on the margins was a big mistake. Since there was a chance for all of them to appear in one picture, it was necessary to use them to the fullest. So much so that all action movie fans will admire their favorites in all their glory once again.

Sergey Volkolak

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Tags: Redemption, Art Camacho, Gerald Okamura, Don Wilson, Chris Penn, Richard Norton, Cynthia Rothrock, Stephen Vincent Lee

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