‘Avengement’ DVD Review

Stars: Scott Adkins, Craig Fairbrass, Thomas Turgoose, Nick Moran, Kierston Wareing, Leo Gregory, Beau Fowler, Louis Mandylor, Terence Maynard, Ross O’Hennessy, Daniel Adegboyega, Mark Strange, Greg Burridge | Written by Jesse V. Johnson, Stu Small | Directed by Jesse V. Johnson

Well sh*t… Scott Adkins just had to go and step it up a notch with this very Brutal, very British, hugely funny and fairly orginal Brit crime drama. Boasting a superb leading man performance from Adkins and a delightful supporting cast of top Brit talent.

So I saw the trailer, then I read the synopsis, I looked into the cast list and instanly thought ‘Well I know how this is going to go’. However I do love a lot of the cast involved in the flick and I am known to enjoy a good Brit crime thriller. Add to this Adkins has never failed to deliver when it comes to punch-y, kicky-y stuff, and director Jesse V. Johnson is a proven stunt performer and although this looked to have a few of those scenes it also looked to have something different in terms of character for our leading man. So screw it, watch Avengement I did…

Scott Adkins plays Cain, the fairly mild mannered, but very good with his hands, younger brother of big time gangster Lincoln (Craig Fairbrass). After failing to throw a fight and costing the family a bunch of cash Cain is sent on a job to make things right. However things go sideways and Cain finds himself on the wrong side of a 7 year prison stretch. Once inside Cain finds that everyone and anyone is out to kill him following a bounty that was put up by his own brother. Our leading man begins to condition himself for survival, molding himself into granite losing all sense of himself in an effort to get through stabbings, acid attacks, kerb stompings and all manner of beat downs. This is until he is afforded the oppourtunity to escape and seek out his brother and his crew so he can exact sweet bloody revenge. This is where we find ourselves, spending the night in the Horse and Jockey pub with a cast of colourful characters, very frothy pints and one very sassy bar maid.

Now I am fully aware that on paper Avengement doesn’t seem all that original but trust me you have not seen this story played out this way before. We spend the flick in a pub frequented by our core cast of Brit actors you know and love; whilst being told Cain’s story via his own account of the last 7-8 years – all while they wait for his brother to show up. Adkins is absolutey on point in Avengement, now we all know he can be an absolute beast in the fight chreography but we get to see some real acting chops from the dude here too, helped along by a meaty dialogue-heavy script.

Avengement also features an impressive supporting cast of faces I am always happy to see on screen and who never fail to entertain. Lincoln’s crew is made up of Thomas Turgoose (This is England) and Leo Gregory (Green Street) bringing the bulk of the humour. Nick Moran (Lock Stock) as Hyde, the sort of under boss; and then Beau Fowler (Express Delivery, I Am Vengance) and Mark Strange (Red Con-1) are the muscle of the group. All these guys are great in the film everyone gets some meaty dialogue and they are all on point. Strange and Adkins in particular have some stand out fight chreography that is just the bollocks. Then we have Lincoln himself, Craig Fairbrass (Rise of the Footsoldier franchise), playing a charismatic, lovable, devious sh*tbag arsehole to perfection. I have always been a fan of Fairbrass but here he takes the biscuit, you are waiting for this monster to turn up and when he does you cant help but almost be on his side, thats the calibre of perfromance we are dealing with here… Bravo.

Oh, and a huge shout out to Kierston Wareing (I Love My Mum) this woman can do no wrong for me right now and in a movie full of hard nuts she more than holds the screen, even stealing some scenes with her perfect timing.

All honesty I don’t know if I was just in the mood for Avengement when I sat down to watch it but it felt super fresh and it was a cast I know and love putting in stellar performances. The script is really tight and the way in which the movie flowed with flashbacks revealing Cain’s time inside was effortless. The fight cherography was as impressive as you might expect from seasoned pros like director Jesse V. Johnson (a long serving stunt performer) and Adkins. They never fell into the trap of the big hard hits being over the top, everything was just on the money. It’s all good having a brutal graphic fight scene but if it doesnt serve the plot or the characters your wasting your time.

I highly recommend Avengement, seek it out and give it your time its got a bit of everything and even pulls at the old heart strings a little. Hopefully the film will find its audience on DVD and VOD and become a Brit gem.

Avengement is out now on DVD and VOD.