Based on a graphic novel, directed by Sam Hargrave, written by Joe Russo and starring Chris Hemsworth.
The plot, sorry if this is too long.
The son of a Bangladesh crime boss is kidnapped by a rival. Mercenary Tyler Rake (Hemsworth) is hired to get the kid back. Although when Tyler is double-crossed he's forced to fight his way through the city with the boy in tow to get him home safely.
Phew! I hope you could keep track, I know I was reaching for the remote a lot while I watched this, so I could rewind and watch the complicated plot again when I got confused. This NETFLIX movie is being touted as a hi-octane action flick and features several of those, almost ubiquitous 'one-take' action sequences, that Atomic Blonde and John Wick have made so popular. It's safe to say it is very action packed, very hi-octane and very, very violent. Luckily we're now well past the hateful stage of jerky, handheld action sequences of past films and although this is a VERY frenetic and frenzied film you can at least work out what's going on.
This film works because of Hemsworth who has a staggering amount of charisma, his Tyler Rake (terrible name) is the driven man of action, an Action Man if you will, who gets injured a lot, shot, stabbed, punched, kicked. At one point he suffers a paper cut that will have you wincing, you know when you get cut between the skin of two fingers, and another time he bangs his funny bone, although why it's called a funny bone is beyond me, because it's not at all funny when you bang that bad boy.
ANYWAY, Tyler fights his way through the entire police force of Dhaka, who luckily ALL happen to be super corrupt and don't have any families at all, no wives or kids, indeed they're all orphans and in no way, just police men trying to do their jobs, so their brutal, savage deaths are all okay. Rest assured kind reader, that none of these characters had any real lives for you to worry about, just like in Fast and Furious 7 when that tank ran over all those empty cars on the motorway.
Along the way, Tyler is able to tick several tropes off his 'action man bingo card', including 'Betrayed by old friend', 'walking away from explosions', 'bonding with his youthful charge' and surviving several others I won't reveal for fear of spoiling the movie.
The Bangladesh setting was very unique and gave the film a fresh look although i gotta say I found the body count surprisingly unsettling.
Overall, this was an okay action flick if you like your action, relentless, brutal, unstopping, savage, excessive and down right nasty. 7/10
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