Former WWE superstar wrestler Stu Bennett stars as John Gold, an ex-soldier turned mercenary who arrives in the sleepy countryside village of Devotion to investigate the brutal murder of his friend and former colleague. All is not as it seems as the sleepy village seems to have a surprisingly large military presence, so with the help of local girl Sandra (Anna Shaffer) and a scene stealing Sebastian Knapp (drug dealer Keith) Gold must track down the killers and deliver his own special brand of vengeance.
Vengeance is a formulaic by the numbers revenge film (the title kinda gives that away). Sure it has a few clunky scenes, especially an establishing scene featuring Gold rescuing a kidnapped girl and a couple of dodgy CGI muzzle flashes and explosions but what it does have is a well-executed story with some interesting bit characters, Stu Bennett showing why he is one to watch, decent fight choreography and set pieces and Gary Daniels giving the best bat shit crazy performance since Vernon Wells (they even share the same moustache!)
There are further nods to Schwarzenegger’s Commando, from the now stock shots of our hero tooling up for battle, cheesy one liners once a villain has been despatched to Anna Shaffer’s brilliant channelling of Rae Dawn Chong.
With filming underway on the sequel, Vengeance is setting itself up to be an action series that like its leading character is Pure Gold.
Review by Matt Duddy
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