Category: 6/10

Sometimes there’s just a piece of trash you like. Dunno why, but to me, Day of Reckoning seems to stand out as kind of a gem. And the term “gem” is used loosely, to include the fake polished plastic ones that teenagers wear which come out of factories somewhere you’ve never heard of and melt in disappointingly low summer temperatures.

Following a terrible home invasion, John (Scott Adkins) awakes from his crowbar-induced coma and launches upon a path of bloodshed to avenge the loss of his wife and child. It’s not that simple however, as he slowly unravels a black network of fear, corruption, and murder, ultimately revealing a hateful design of madness, retribution, and worst of all: revolution.

There’s some pounding action scenes here – nobody’s cranium is safe. The tradesman (Andrei Arlovski) does a fantastic job as a lethal human punchbag. When the fights begin, they’re satisfying as shit, with various interesting ideas (as well as actors) thrown about everywhere. There’s actually a functional script which plods along as well, at least with the grating rhythm of a pulp novel.

Moreover is the sleek and smooth direction. Unlike most fight flicks, composition and balance are treated with surprising grace and fairness. Care is made to explore the passage of time, slowing and fast forwarding as required to reach a maximum impact. And it’s also told as a personal crisis as well as a vision of political terror and upheaval, balancing the two out not so badly.

My nitpicks are that Adkins is so out of place. As a fighter, he’s more than capable, yet his lacking acting performance (and unbelievable British accent) feels somewhat miscasted. Van Damme hardly gets the airtime he deserves, and the suspense generated between each scene is unnecessarily long-winded and tiresome, with the gently brooding soundtrack failing to solve the film’s questionable stretch across thriller, crime and martial arts.

Even if you’re a horror buff or whatnot, this is worth a view nonetheless. The oppressive atmosphere, refreshingly linear plotline and furious wholesale destruction deserve a single watch. It might not exactly be the greatest detective mystery in the world, but you don’t have to be if half of the story is punching someone in the face.

6/10

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1659343/

Demolisher is a surprisingly impressive deviation from the crowd, which dares to stand out by seeking to employ the shock of horror and murder with a gentle grasp of gentle emotion and crushed intimacy, all the while playfully toying with a sense of dark obscenity. It’s slow, sharp, twisted, and immersive – not to mention damn entertaining.

After his wife suffers a terrible and debilitating injury from a gang of criminals, handyman Barrett undertakes to be a cruel vigilante with the intent to settle the score of pain and suffering. But this is only a portion of the story, as his rapidly failing control of sanity plummets him into a fearsome world of violence and destruction.

Barrett struggles with his vengeful role as a killer as with his new reality. His partner can no longer take care of themselves. Lost and distraught within tragedy, and understanding everything he knew is gone forever, he resolves to throw away his humanity and become a heartless murderer to the murderers of his once normal life. Also Hotline Miami and Trevor Something influence.

It’s incredibly refreshing for a drama to be so strangely speechless. Usually, dramas are draped in irritating theatrics and pointless gossip; here, actions that are allowed to speak from themselves. The obsession with symbolism expresses a desire to be clinically precise, yet artistically free. And the flick understands people as humans, not simply disposable things but our flawed natures, as well as exploring the realism of impairment: its doom, difficulty, and humiliation.

Normally when you come across a bombastic title “Demolisher” with a shitty IMDB rating, the expectation is nothing further than a dry, stale, tedious pile of adolescent style crap with homemade props and not so homemade tropes. You know the drill: stupid teens, embarrassing parents, bad hairdos, ridiculous antagonists and maybe a somewhat decent plotline if you’re even half lucky.

This got trashed by the critics. What’s wrong with everyone? It’s actually alright, and certainly worth a good uninterrupted watch. Perhaps in places it could have been structured more wisely, certain areas may have had better design, and if you’re gonna be a complete neckbeard, there is a little of that fallen-superhero twist. For those that don’t fall into these categories though and have the intention to try something intelligent and experimental for once, give this a whirl – you might like it.

6/10

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3402594/