Director Jesse V Johnson and Scott Adkins have become an awesome team when delivering martial arts action including Savage Dog, Accident Man and most recently the insanely good Triple Threat to name a few. Now they are teaming once again for the gritty action flick Avengement co-starring Craig Fairbrass, Nick Moran, Thomas Turgoose, Kierston Wareing, and Louis Mandylor. Could this be yet another badass flick from this dynamic duo or will it fail to get its revenge?

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Avengement follows a lowly criminal who evades his guards and returns to his old haunts to take revenge on the people that made him a cold-hearted killer while released on furlough from prison. It’s an epic, bloody battle to search for the soul he lost years ago on the streets of an unforgiving city. I have loved both Jesse V Johnson and Scott Adkins films, but every time these guys team up it is old school martial arts action gold and this film is no different. I always enjoy seeing actors take familiar characters in different directions and here Adkins is like you have never seen him before. This is not the hero you cheer for, but instead a bad ass violent man on a mission and you cannot wait to see him wreak more havoc where ever he goes.

 

The story is pretty simple and moves at a fat pace never letting up in the best way possible. They tell some of the story via flashbacks allowing the viewer to see the growth or fall depending on how you look at it, of Adkins character. Smartly they did so both emotionally and physically taking him from the clean cut looking hero we are used to into the battle scarred violent person he is by the end. There are plenty of fights here as expected, but they are way more brutal and hardcore than the usual fighting fans expect from an Adkins flick. He brings a fury to the action that not only resonated with the character but leaves a bloody trail of bodies letting you know he is not messing around.

 

I love this movie for the sheer brutality and old school action it brings to the table, but there is more than that here. There is a character looking for himself and his place and not so much redemption for himself, but those that did him wrong. I hope Johnson and Adkins keep working together because they are without a doubt one of the best teams in the martial arts / action world and I cannot wait to see what’s next.

 

Check out Avengement when it hits Theaters, On Demand and digital on May 24th from Samuel Goldwynn Films.