Review: Avengement

Scott Adkins stars as Cain Burgess, a silver-toothed, foul-mouthed hard man on a revenge mission looking for the people responsible for his recent stint in London's Bellmarsh Prison, AKA ‘The Meat Grinder’. He was convicted of manslaughter, an unintended and fatal side effect of what was meant to be a simple retrieval of a package. After several years of prison hardship and bloody brawls, Cain is let out on furlough to visit his dying mum. Unfortunately, Cain arrives at the hospital about 20 minutes too late to see her. Enraged and grief-stricken, the ne’er do well Cain escapes police guard with a singular mission in mind. He heads down to a local pub where those responsible for his incarceration are about to learn the brutal trade that the former boxer has honed while in prison: Dispensing brutal violence. Craig Fairbrass is Cain’s imposing, mid-level loan shark elder brother who is his chief target of grievance, Melbourne-born Louis Mandylor is an oddly Australian-accented London cop (?!), and Nick Moran is a shifty acquaintance of Cain and his brother.

 

A ferocious Scott Adkins is pretty much the whole show in this brutal 2019 film from director Jesse V. Johnson and his co-writer Stu Small, all three men having worked together on the fun comic book adaptation “Accident Man” as well (Johnson also directed Adkins in “The Debt Collector” and “Triple Threat”). Genre-wise it’s probably not my kind of thing, as I’m not remotely a Guy Ritchie kind of guy for a start, and that’s the vibe a fair whack of the film has. However, so far as brutal prison movie meets profane cockney crime flick hybrids go it’s a good example.

 

Giving one of his best and most assured performances to date, this is basically Scott Adkins getting screwed over, learning to be a bad arse while in prison, and then unleashing his newly-built bad arse self on those responsible for his predicament. It’s simple but savagely effective. Adkins, baring ugly metal teeth, brings swagger, but unlike the “Undisputed” sequels and “Accident Man”, this time the bad arse swagger is coupled with an unrefined, animalistic ferocity that makes him rather unpredictable. Whilst he might not boast the greatest acting range, Adkins is convincing here in an extremely violent but not one-dimensional characterisation. I actually think the character is a bit more interesting than the film surrounding him. Prison movies and cockney crime flicks are two genres I find limited appeal in. However, put this character in the middle of it, and I’m a bit more alert and engaged. A word of warning though: Take note of those metal teeth, because we see the reason for their existence at one point and it’s…not nice. This film is brutal and has an uncompromisingly ugly, thuggish worldview. I can’t deny that the blunt, brutal violence does have a certain Neanderthal appeal, and Adkins even gives us a spin-kick or two. In support, Craig Fairbrass and a slimy Nick Moran are both pretty good, though Adkins thoroughly dominates proceedings.

 

It's not a great film, nor a type of film I’m especially enamoured with. I don’t even like it as much as some seem to. However, a well-made film is a well-made film, and there’s definitely something here in this brutal but effective film. Scott Adkins’ ferocious, unsubtle performance is a big part of that something. Be warned: This one’s quite extreme in its violence and language.

 

Rating: B-