(Just one note, I don’t want to give the impression that Johnson
only works exclusively with Adkins. He’s
made many other movies with a range of actors which I’m sure kick ass and hope
to check out soon.)
Savage Dog (2017)
Savage Dog is a bit different than the other films on
this list because it’s a period piece that takes place in 1959 Indochina (I
think it’s supposed to be Vietnam specifically). Adkins plays a former IRA member who’s held
prisoner by a rogue group of war criminal misfits led by an ex-Nazi (Vladimir
Kulich (The 13th Warrior)).
They force the prisoners to fight each other while gambling on the
outcome. The loser naturally gets
executed.
The corrupt outfit feels that Adkins has paid his debt after
three and a half years and let him go with the catch that they’ll call on him
to fight again in the future. Adkins
gets taken in by amiable bar owner Keith David (Ken Burns Jazz) to
become his bouncer and friend. Through a
series of events Adkins must return to underground fighting but also avenge the
murder attempt on he and his girlfriend.
This one’s a little rough around the edges. There are some awkward scene transitions and
editing, the special effects are very cheap looking at times and a few story
decisions are strange. For instance
Adkins fights off a thousand enemies in the finale but the last bad guy
escapes. Adkins trails and then fights
him in some town presumably a couple of days later. There was no reason to delay this fight by a
few minutes of runtime. It doesn’t add
anything to the story.
There’s a gruesome stretch where Adkins goes after people
with a machete hacking off body parts and ramming that sucker into shoulders
and chests. It’s extremely nasty to
witness. Also, at one point Adkins digs
a huge knife into the abdomen of a foe, digs out their liver and takes a bite
of it in front of the still conscious dying man. The machete attacks are vicious enough but
the liver scene is probably the most grotesque thing in all the films discussed
here.
So this one’s ok. The
story’s a tad confusing and several of the technical aspects need some work but
the action is solid. It’s also weird
that it seems Johnson was going for something slightly lofty with the late 50’s
setting, the text on screen at the beginning setting up the situation, the
completely unnecessary narration describing Adkins’ situation and feelings and
the quote about valor and honor at the end.
Accident Man (2018)
Adkins is part of a group that specializes in making hits
look like accidents so no one suspects foul play. But the tables have turned and now someone has
put a contract out on him. He goes on
the run while investigating who wants him dead and why.
This one’s based on a comic book series of the same name and
includes different members of the accident club who have their own specific way
of staging a murder. One guy only uses
poison, another wields an ax, a duo are special forces dudes (Ray Park (Darth
Maul in The Phantom Menace) and Michael Jai White (Black Dynamite)),
a lady samurai (stunt woman extraordinaire Amy Johnston (Lady Bloodfight,
stunts: Terminator: Dark Fate, Deadpools, Suicide Squad, Spider-Man: Far
From Home)) and a guy who uses unconventional methods like a microwave
bomb.
Interestingly as of this post this film is Adkins’ only
writing credit (who he co-wrote with Stu Small (The Debt Collector,
Avengement (we’ll get to both of those)). I wonder if he penned the copious amount of
narration because there’s a helluva lot.
The tone is a touch lighter than the others on the list. There’s a rock music soundtrack and it’s also
more jokey but adorably so. For example Adkins
has to get the PMT (post murder tension) out of his system by beating the shit
out of rape-y assholes at a bar while commenting on their lack of fighting
technique and lighting a fella’s cigarette only to punch the poor bastard out
immediately afterward. This guy’s kind
of an all around grouchy dick seemingly in a constant bad mood but like I said,
Adkins makes it fun by pumping the breaks on the contempt just enough to make
the character enjoyable.
The fights are an enormous step up from Savage Dog. They flow marvelously and the hits feel extra
hard with the beefed up effects sounds. Adkins
faces off against all his colleagues and since each has a unique specialty the
battles yield a variety of flavors. All
involved are in top form and they keep the intensity high throughout.
Accident Man is a damn good time. While it’s not my absolute favorite here it’s
a good starting point if you’re interested in Johnson’s work (and I assume you
would be otherwise why would you be reading this?).
The Debt Collector (2018)
Down on his luck dojo owner Scott Adkins resorts to debt
collecting for a gangster so he can make enough money to keep his business
open. He’s teamed up with veteran Sue
(Louis Mandylor (The Quest)) to go around LA and either issue warnings
or rough up folks who owe large.
Out of these five this is my favorite. The chemistry between Adkins and Mandylor is key
to the whole thing. They don’t like each
other that much at first because Adkins is new to all this and doesn’t really
want to hurt anyone while Sue has been in the game a long time. He isn’t afraid to get tough from the start
plus he knows that if they don’t produce results it’s their asses. Going up against dickwad thugs of various
statures forms a bond between them. They
need to watch each other’s back if they want to stay in one piece by the end of
the day. The two grow to respect each
other and man is that great to see.
Mandylor gives such an amazing performance with a haunted
past that’s been eating at him for decades.
He has a hollow relationship with a porn star/stripper who only hangs
around him to syphon off cash and he drinks himself to sleep every night. You can tell he has a good heart underneath
but can’t improve his situation nor is he really looking to. He’s punishing himself for shit that happened
long ago.
The very simple plot is not only easy to follow but it
allows for diverse situations to unfold.
As the collectors go from one deadbeat to the next they encounter a
fresh set of douchebags they must battle in order to nab the money or get the
warning across. Sometimes they’re
gargantuan shit-your-pants type motherfuckers and sometimes they’re young punks
that pull a gun. They (and you) never quite
know what they’re walking into which adds a lot of excitement.
I can’t wait for the sequel that’s coming out soon. I’m definitely ready to collect some more
debts.
Triple Threat (2019)
Check out this insane cast: Tony Jaa (Ong-Baks), Iko
Uwais (The Raid: Redemption), Michael Jai White (Undisputed 2: Last Man Standing), Tiger Hu Chen (who I’m not so familiar with but he was in Man
of Tai Chi and John Wick 3 so he’s certainly ok in my book) and of
course Scott Adkins (well, you know).
Whoever orchestrated the logistics of getting these all star badasses
together deserves a medal because I’m sure it wasn’t easy.
The story involves White, Jaa and Chen raiding a Thai prison
camp. Jaa and Chen think they’re there
to rescue the (innocent?) people being held captive but surprise! it’s a ploy
to break out notorious terrorist Adkins (who wears the worst goddamn wig of all
fucking time, but thankfully only for this one scene). Jaa and Chen are left for dead with a bomb
when they refuse to comply so of course they plot revenge when they survive. Uwais’ wife is killed during the attack on
the camp and he vows revenge as well. Meanwhile
a Chinese heiress (Celina Jade (The Man with the Iron Fists)) wants to
donate her fortune to fight crime which upsets a lot of folks so a contract is
put out on her headed up by the newly freed Adkins and White. Fortunately she runs into Jaa and Chen and
they protect her while fighting off the villains. Uwais is in the mix too somewhere.
So the triple threat here is Jaa, Chen and Uwais. And it’s a nice change of pace for White and
Adkins to play the bad guys (although not unprecedented, Adkins went bad in The
Expendables 2 and Undisputed 2 (but then turned good in Undisputed 3!), White turned bad in Universal Soldier: The Return (I think) and
played a gangster in The Dark Knight).
The big problem the movie suffers from is the needlessly
complicated plot. The heiress really
didn’t need to be in there as Jaa and Chen have more than enough motivation to
go after White and Adkins. We never even
find out who’s behind the hit contract or their potential ulterior motive for
wanting this lady dead (unless I missed that which is totally possible).
And Uwais gets treated pretty shittily. He tries to play both sides but the way it’s
handled is confusing and they turn him into a not very good fighter. Jaa and Chen are supposed to be the real
powerhouses on the good guy side and I guess Johnson and co figured three would
be too much of the same. I just have a
hard time accepting this because Uwais was like THE best fighter in The
Raids so it’s extremely weird to see him lose fairly easily to multiple
opponents.
Most of the fight scenes are cool though. The two on one brawl between Adkins, Jaa and
Chen is well done and there’s one stretch where Adkins and co are chasing Jaa
and co with a few stops for some skirmishes but it keeps going and going with
several location changes. I like the
nonstop determination of this part. It’s
like in a Terminator film where they don’t give you much breathing room.
Jaa looks like he’s having a blast too both in the fighting
and dialogue scenes. He and Chen are
charming motherfuckers in this.
Avengement (2019)
Adkins plays Cain Burgess, a young scrapper who wants to
borrow money from his gangster brother Lincoln (Craig Fairbrass (Cliffhanger)). Lincoln has a rule about never lending money
to family but will make an exception if Cain will do a job for him. Cain accepts, gets busted, spends years in
prison, busts out and seeks avengement.
The plot is wonderfully straightforward but they get a lot
of mileage by telling the story out of order and revealing the few twists and
turns at crucial points. You see Cain
holds his brother’s crew hostage at their hangout bar and tells them what happened
to him over the past several years while being careful to dole out the right info
at the right moment. This method works
really well to economically escalate the tension and suspense. Kudos to the filmmakers for taking something
that normally would’ve been way more ordinary and spicing it up.
And if you like fighting then this is the picture for
you. It feels like they packed in more
punches and kicks per square inch than the others on this list. And the violence is probably the most brutal overall
which includes a curb stomp on a set of stairs, a grisly head shot at point
blank range and many stabbings.
Cain’s arc is one of the highlights. He starts out as a naïve kid who’s never been
in trouble before but when he winds up in the hoosegow he has to get tough fast
or he won’t survive long. His boxing
background is a strong foundation but he trains hard to be able to dish out and
take huge amounts of pain. So by the
time he makes his escape he’s a different person. He’s a smashing machine. And I love that they go through the events of
how he received each and every one of his hideous scars. Usually a badass character has these marks
purely for visual flair but to actually put in the effort and give background
on them is such nice detail that almost no one ever bothers with.
Avengement is great.
The devil is in the details here.
Putting focus on some key areas like the narrative structure and Cain’s
transformation from puppy dog to ferocious bulldog makes all the
difference. It’s this creative thinking
and dedication to putting out an awesome exciting movie that makes Johnson an
outstanding filmmaker.
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