Released: January 2016(Canada)
Director: Bruce Fontaine
Unrated
Run Time: 89 Minutes
Distributor: Well Go USA
Genre: Action/Martial Arts
Cast:
Brian Ho: Billy
Don Lew: Yuan
Lina Huynh: Tiffany Long
Vicky Huang: Lucinda Long
Eddy Ko: Uncle Bao
Anthony Towe: Xi Long
You know, there are days when I like to think that I’m pretty good at picking out the good action films from the crap. Then reality hits when I end up picking up garbage like Suicide Squad and In The Name of the King. All of a sudden, I realize that I’m not so good at that. Seriously, though, a lot of the action movies that I pick up generally aren’t awful. Are they great? Not particularly, but they tend to be fun. That’s what an action movie should be: Fun. Well Go USA has generally been reliable when it comes to kung fu and East-Asian action films. Movies like Ip Man, Kung Fu Jungle, and Call of Heroes come to mind. These are actually pretty good. But every once in a while, Well Go USA releases a movie that just flat out stinks to high heaven. It pains me to tell you about Beyond Redemption. Oh……dear.
The story in this film is basically the same as in nearly every kidnapping thriller. A group of guys decide to kidnap the offspring of a high-profile target and hold them for ransom. In this case, it’s the daughter of one of the heads of the Chinese Triads. Even though my knowledge of the Triads is limited, I do know that you don’t screw around with these people. The Chinese mafia is every bit as ruthless, if not more so, than the Italians, the Japanese, or even the Russians. These guys tend to have eyes and ears EVERYWHERE. So basically, we have Billy, who just so happens to be an undercover cop, infiltrate this gang and try to help bring them down. It goes just about as well as you’d expect. They eventually find out that Billy’s a cop and he tries to save the girl. Along the way he ends up beating up some people. I absolutely have no problems with this kind of story line provided that it maintains a level of suspense and excitement. Beyond Redemption provides neither one. The story is completely predictable, so there are no surprises that the good guys win. Congratulations, Mr. Bruce Fontaine, you’ve just made a completely by-the-numbers action movie.
Beyond Redemption is the one thing that an action movie should not be: Boring. I’m not kidding. I found myself looking at the clock wondering how much longer I’ve got. Considering that the run time is about an hour and a half, it feels like two and a half hours. You would think that the director, Bruce Fontaine, who has a background in martial arts and stunt-work, would be able to craft a decently exciting action film. Given the talent that’s involved here, specifically the stunt-men and the actors who actually have martial arts talent, the action is surprisingly mundane and amateurish. There’s a couple of okay fight scenes here and there, but there’s nothing here that stands out against movies like Kung Fu Jungle. The last thing that Mr. Fontaine directed was a short on YouTube called 500 to 1. It also involved many of the stunt men and actors that were in THIS film. 500 to 1 wasn’t that good, either. The fight choreography in Beyond Redemption is incredibly weak. In fact, everything about this movie is incredibly weak.
Let’s talk about the “acting.” Oh, god. The acting. It looks like everybody is sleepwalking through this thing. The only one that actually manages to have any kind of energy is Don Lew as the villain, and even then I’m not entirely convinced that he’s alive. I don’t know what’s going on here, but it looks like nobody wants to be there. The characters are so poorly written, that I just wanted them all to just shut up and die. Oh, I’m not even done yet. This whole movie feels like it was made by someone who dropped out of film school after one year. The camera-work and lighting is sloppy, the effects are completely laughable and the sound design is just embarrassing. The guns sound like pop-guns that kids used to play with way back in the day. The set designs are just…..bleh.
There is some genuine talent here, but it’s completely overshadowed by terrible film-making, horrendous acting, and action that just feels like it’s been choreographed by kids in a playground. Scratch that, kids fighting in a playground would be more entertaining. I don’t like dressing down movies like this, but this one is just fucking terrible. I tend to get laughed at some times because of the movies I watch, and I understand that. I wonder why I watch this stuff myself, sometimes. I love movies, but sometimes I end up with some that are complete bombs. Beyond Redemption is just that: Beyond redemption. Avoid this one at all costs.
Final Score: 2/10