Redemption
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Chris Penn, Cynthia Rothrock, Don 'The Dragon' Wilson, James Russo, Richard NortonDVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); Spanish (Original Language); Spanish (Dubbed)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Full Screen, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 86 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-06-22
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Razor Digital Entertainment
Movie Reviews of Redemption
Movie Review: "You're having that 'life is fair dream' again"
Summary: 2 Stars
What can I say, Don? You let Art Camacho direct your movies, and you end up with junk like this.
The story: when a drug bust led by policeman John Sato (Wilson, Bloodfist series) goes wrong and costs the life of a fellow officer (Cynthia Rothrock, Above the Law), he's driven from the force. Desperate, he accepts work from a small-time gangster (Chris Penn, Reservoir Dogs) and develops a bond with him. As a new underground deal goes down, he must decide where his priorities lie and whether he is a cop or a crook.
You could argue that in casting his performers as actors rather than fighters, director Camacho was showing respect to his ensemble by playing them beyond their stereotype...but that doesn't make the film's decisive lack of butt-kicking any less disappointing. In addition to the aforementioned names, the kicking cast includes Richard Norton (City Hunter), Peter Cunningham (No Retreat, No Surrender), Steven Vincent Leigh (Ring of Fire), Eric Lee (Weapons of Death), and even small-time action hero Sam Jones (Flash Gordon) and pro wrestler David DeFalco, and yet, in the course of 86 minutes, there are only three fight scenes (it pains me to refer to them as such), the same amount of shootouts, and one lousy car chase. Half of the aforementioned cast doesn't so much as throw a punch. The stale gunfights showcase the single laziest application of the "shaky camera" filming technique: instead of swinging and jerking the camera around randomly to at least simulate excitement and suspense, the cameraman merely rocks the camera from side to side as though mixing marbles. Yes oh yes, the action scenes are definitely a shot in the bucket.
Okay, so maybe the movie was supposed to be more of a cops & robbers morality outing than an action flick. Some effort has obviously been made on the story, and for what it's worth, the production values are passable and Chris Penn has at least one very strong dramatic scene wherein he's ambushed by his underworld competition. The rest of the cast, however, is not as talented: Don and Cynthia have a limited chemistry between themselves but don't bring out anything beyond the mundane in eachother; police captain James Russo (Public Enemies) uses this movie as an opportunity to see what overacting feels like; and Carrie Stevens (The Backlot Murders) as a prostitute trying to go straight deserves punishment for the most passively bad performance I've seen in a while. There's also a rather embarrassing scene wherein the movie tries to show how conflicted John is about working for a gangster via a montage showing him chatting with Chris Penn, hiding his money under two pillows on his couch, and walking down the street looking grim; obviously, this sounded better on paper than it looks in the movie.
For reasons best known to the spirits, I actually had high hopes for this movie. I stand by my conviction that, had he been handled properly, Don Wilson could've been the next Van Damme, but it's under-delivering flicks like this that keep him a lesser action hero in my mind. Wilson or Camacho devotees can do whatever the heck they want to with this one, but fans of any of the aforesaid names and casual viewers in general ought to steer clear: there's absolutely no fun or excitement to be had from this one.
Summary of Redemption
John Sato (Don "The Dragon" Wilson), L.A.'s toughest cop is fired from his elite SWAT team after the accidental death of a fellow officer (Cynthia Rothrock). Blamed by his captain (James Russo) for her death, Sato becomes more and more desperate and descends to the depths of society where he becomes involved in a high stakes crime caper with the city's top mob boss (Chris Penn). Soon he must choose between a pth of greed and evil or ... REDEMPTION.Similar DVD Movies
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