I've been going on a Scott Adkins/Jesse V. Johnson binge lately, which all got started with the excellent comedy/action film ACCIDENT MAN, its sequel, and then moved on to TRIPLE THREAT, and the two DEBT COLLECTOR movies. What made those films work so well were terrific fight sequences and a breezy light tone. AVENGEMENT suffered from trying to play it too seriously and not pulling it off. There are still terrific fight scenes, but the film doesn't earn the dramatic impact it's aspiring to. The story has Adkins busting out of prison to get revenge on the person who put a hit out on him while in stir. The film is primarily told in flashbacks to the events building up to Adkins's escape, but this SCUM or BRONSON wannabe is a far cry from being the British gangster film it aspires to. The fight scenes in the film, and there are plenty of them, are still jaw-droopingly brilliant, but the plot, characters, and drama all seem half-baked. Still, the final pub brawl is a real showstopper and absolutely worth watching! Overall, the only reason to watch AVENGEMENT is for the great fight scenes but stick with S. Craig Zahler's far superior BRAWL IN CELL BLOCK 99 if you want a tough, lean, mean prison brawler flick.
Review of Avengement
