Duchess
review by Bobby Blakey
Director Neill Marshall delivered what I consider to be one of the best werewolf movies ever with Dog Soldiers. He followed it up with a variety of projects including The Descent and the underrated Hellboy reboot. Now he is back with his latest film Duchess starring Charlotte Kirk, Philip Winchester, Colm Meane, Hoji Fortuna, Colin Egglesfield, Stephanie Beachum and Sean Pertwee. Could this action thriller manage to bring the vengeance, or will it fail to find its target?
Duchess follows a small-time crook who tries to enter the treacherous underworld of diamond trafficking and ends up left for dead when a deal goes wrong. Determined to seek retribution, she launches into an unwavering pursuit for vengeance.
I love a good revenge flick and with Marshell involved I was excited to see how this vengeance was going to be carried out. The story is simple, and the film delivers, but not the way you might think and not everything hits the mark. It has its ups and downs in a lot of areas, but Kirk does a good job balancing the terrified victim and badass boss when it need be. The story plays up initially more like a love story before it takes a violent turn in the second half of the film, and this is where some of it struggles to find its footing.
The film kicks off with some action to get you in the right mind set before shifting back to where it all started and into the romance story of this unlikely couple. It brings everything it needs set it all up for the perfect yet unexpected revenge flick. Where it misses the mark for me is that is seemingly sets this all up and instead, she goes right the powerful crime boss mode too quickly with very little conflict. Sure, there are some moments where she establishes her dominance, but it feels like the wrong direction to what was all set up for the viewer.
It almost doesn’t make any sense to how she gets her skills and power in the business other than their love affair. I kept waiting for more of a training or learning element but seemed like we were just meant to accept it and run with it. Once we are in this new direction of the story you hope it can be saved with the action and a great villain for her to enact her vengeance one, but sadly even that was lacking in some areas.
The villain here is forgettable, feeling more like a secondary character with no real threat. Maybe its because it is part of a twist you will see a mile away, but it just doesn’t bring much fear or menace to the story much less even remember them. The action is decent enough, but nothing we haven’t seen or that stands out. This could have been a saving grace to the film, but never really pushes the boundaries to create anything more than average.
Believe it or not, I didn’t hate this movie. It was fine for what it was but plays up more like something you might see as a TV series instead of a feature. There is a great movie here but gets lost in its own lack of depth. The gritty vibe to it and promised direction delivers, but the lack of making it to the finish line makes it one that probably won’t work for most.
Decide for yourself and check out Duchess available now in UK cinemas and digital from Vertigo Releasing.