Director: Chuck Russell
Writers: Yvan Gauthier (story), Paul Sloan
Stars: John Travolta, Christopher Meloni, Amanda Schull
Plot: A man is out for justice after a group of corrupt police officers are unable to catch his wife’s killer.
Running Time: 1 hour 32 minutes
IMDB Score: 5.3
Why I watched it: I was a little nervous, but I read some good reviews from genre sites and it’s a good cast and a good director.
What I liked: First off I thought this was a very good Nic Cage movie without Nic Cage then I read he was offered it and it makes sense and he might have made it better. This is a pure B-Movie with some good actors and a decent plot. Travolta is fine here but for me it’s Chris Meloni who steals the movie, he’s a lot of fun and knows what kind of movie he’s in and he goes for it.
I like the back and forth with him and Travolta it gives the film some energy. Meloni also has a really cool fist fight that for me was the hi-light of the action. The cast was good for a film like this Sam Trammell plays a sleazy cop pretty well. I was surprised to see Rebecca De Mornay as I didn’t recognize her at first. She plays the wife and sadly she doesn’t last long. I like the couple of twists in the film, who Travolta is and was is good cause it starts like it’s going to be a Death Wish clone but it goes in a different direction.
What I didn’t like: They had a tone problem cause at times it plays like a buddy cop movie with banter between Travolta and Meloni and the action takes a back seat but then at times it goes heavy with Travolta battling his demons and of course going to a church to talk to a Priest, don’t think we needed that here. It is slight and of course full of action cliches. Also didn’t care for the finale has it pulls out the oldest cliched of going after the hero’s family. The ending does go over the top and it would have been better if it went meaner and gritty.
Final thoughts: I liked the film, it was a fun time waster I’d like to see Meloni in his own film like this and I do wish Travolta went over the top Cage style it would have made it more fun.
Rating: 6/10
Movie Burner Entertainment 