A
SOLDIER’S REVENGE (Blu-ray Review)
Starring
Neal Bledsoe, Rob Mayes, Annalynne McCord, Jake Busey, Savannah Judy,
Luke Judy, Val Kilmer. Directed by Michael Feifer. (2020/140 min)
FROM
WELL GO USA
Review
by Tiger the Terrible😼
Maybe
it’s my upbringing, but I feel like any western that runs
nearly two-and-a-half hours should be epic and sweeping in scope.
Despite its claustrophobic setting, even The Hateful Eight managed
to feel...well, big. But I guess that’s why Tarantino movies
are events and writer/director Michael Feifer cranks-out bushels of
TV potboilers every year.
Not
that I’m suggesting he’s a bad director. A Soldier’s
Revenge, which he also wrote, is competently assembled. The film
is shot with workmanlike skill and the performances are uniformly
decent. The story adequately moves from point A to point B without
ever veering off the road. But it does make a hell of a lot of
stops along the way.
The
biggest problem with the film is its deadly running time, taking
forever to tell a story that’s only marginally interesting to begin
with. Neal Bledsoe plays Frank, a soldier-turned-bounty hunter
suffering a bit of PTSD. Then two kids ask him to help find their
mother, who’s been kidnapped by her own abusive husband, Briggs
(Rob Mayes). He’s initially not interested, then learns their mom is
his former lover, Heather (AnnaLynne McCord). Coincidentally, Frank
and Briggs also have a dark past, suggesting the frontier might be
even smaller than a certain galaxy far, far away.
 |
| "Cool story, bro." |
In
fact, small could be used to describe the entire movie. From the
locations and production design to the characters and story itself,
the whole thing is kind-of underwhelming. There isn’t a single
memorable scene, stand-out performance or narrative surprise. Still,
I won’t begrudge that because I’ve endured plenty of forgettable
westerns that were at-least watchable. But A Solder’s Revenge
is unnecessarily long by nearly an hour, stretching an already-thin
story well past the breaking point.
Only
Sergio Leone could get away with being so long-winded. As westerns
go, A Soldier’s Revenge is proficiently pieced together, but
there are times when the journey is not more fun than
the destination. Sometimes you just want to get there, and this
film has no business dragging it out for as long as it does.
KITTY CONSENSUS:
MEH...LIKE SHARING THE BED WITH THE DOG.
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