Marko Zaror is a force to be reckoned with in this excellent DTV actioner. In fact, the pre-title sequence kicks more ass in the first five minutes than most DTV flicks do in their entire running time. Much to my complete delight, it only got better from there.
Zaror plays a man with a mysterious past who likes to hang out in churches and answer the prayers of the poor and the desperate. Lucky for the audience, the parishioners are usually praying for revenge and/or hoping their mortal enemies will be beaten to a pulp. Zaror is only more than happy to act on their behalf as an avenging angel. Eventually, he runs afoul of some nasty drug dealers and naturally, Zaror has got to beat the bejabbers out of some baddies.
Zaror was also the fight choreographer, which is a fancy way of saying he just told the director, “Start the camera. I’m about to kick some serious ass.” There’s a plethora of great fight sequences here, most of which feature Zaror handing somebody’s ass to them. Notable weapons include a fishhook and an outboard motor.
Zaror is a great leading man and all, but Noah Segan (who also produced) just about steals the movie as the villain. He tosses off dozens of hilarious throwaway lines (probably ab-libbed) and has a unique energy that sets him apart from the typical bad guys found in these films. His presence makes even the most seemingly cliché scenes feel refreshing. My favorite bit comes when he sits on a couch surrounded by henchmen and wonders why all these badasses have cool nicknames. He then tries to think of a cool nickname for himself instead of focusing on the matter at hand, which leads to hilarity.
The whole movie is like that though. It’s always a lot better than you expect. Even though it’s essentially the same revenge plot we’ve seen before, it’s done in a much more energetic and fresh way that makes it a true gem of the genre.
Many action beats take cues from the John Wick films as they are full of long takes, violent confrontations, crisp camerawork, and concise editing. It also contains one of the best henchman fights I have seen in some time (and I’m not even referring to the big brawl with the main henchman that occurs later in the film). Sure, it may have a few too many obvious CGI blood squibs, but that in no way detracts from the mayhem.
For action movie fans, Redeemer is a must see.
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