Starring
Brian Ho, Don Lew, Linna Huynh, Tony Towe, Vicky Huang, Osric Chau,
Eddy Ko, Peter Chao. Directed by Bruce Fontaine. (2015, 89 min).
Beyond
Redemption is...well, beyond redemption.
Billy
Tong (Brian Ho) is an undercover cop who may be in too deep. Involved
with a violent gang led by Yuan (Don Lew), he's forced to take part
in kidnapping the daughter (Linda Huynh) of a prominent Vancouver
businessman Xi Long (Tony Towe), who also happens to be a rival
underworld kingpin. Tong is soon torn between maintaining his cover
and rescuing the girl before she is killed.
Despite an abundance of martial arts action and a few recognizable Asian
actors, Beyond Redemption is actually an English language
Canadian production and the cast consists primarily of guys who've
made a living as stuntmen. It shows, too, because most of the
performances are as stiff as plywood. That probably should come as no
surprise since Bruce Fontaine, directing his first feature here, is
also a stunt performer by trade.
 |
| "My nipples are hard!!!!" |
But
that's not necessarily a deal breaker for this genre. One would
naturally assume the action would be exciting enough to make up for
the wooden acting. Unfortunately, that isn't the case. While there
are fight scenes and gunfights o' plenty, they are unimaginatively
choreographed and sometimes appear hampered by the film's limited
budget. Even the gunshot wounds favor sloppy CGI over good
old-fashioned squibs.
From
its standard plot to its lackluster action, Beyond Redemption
offers nothing that hasn't been done bigger and better before. It
might make a passable time killer on a dull evening, but only for undiscriminating action fans.
EXTRA
KIBBLES:
FEATURETTES:
"Yuan vs. Billy"; "Mauler Fight" (making-of
features)
TRAILER
KITTY CONSENSUS:
MEH...
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