- Actors: Brian Ho, Osric Chau, Linna Huynh
- Director: Bruce Fontaine
- Film Format: Dolby, NTSC, THX, Widescreen
- Language: English
- Subtitles: English
- Number of discs: 1
- Rated: Not Rated
- Studio: Well Go USA
- Release Date: February 7, 2017
- Run Time: 89 minutes
Beyond Redemption is the feature film
directorial debut from longtime stuntman, Bruce Fontaine, which makes sense
considering the only time the film is slightly bearable is during the sequences
of action. The rest of the filmmaking is wholly incompetent, from the
derivative undercover cop narrative to the poor production values. This could
have been a moderately amusing low budget action film, but instead resigns to
being a humorless melodrama with a few fights scenes sprinkled throughout.
The story for Beyond Redemption is so unoriginal that
I nearly feel like a plagiarist just recounting a plot description. Undercover
copy Billy Tong (Brian Ho) infiltrates a gang in the violent underworld of
Vancouver, all in an effort to get close to the Triad. While trying to keep his
cover with the leader of his gang, Yuan (Don Lew), Billy becomes involved in a
plot to kidnap the daughter of a Triad boss.
Melinda (Josette Jorge) is unaware
that her father is a major gang leader, making her an innocent pawn in the
kidnapping scheme. Billy recognizes that she doesn’t belong in harm’s way and
endangers his own undercover operation in order to keep her safe. This
storyline is dragged out through many senseless scenes of bad acting and overly
serious dialogue, complicating a simple story with too many characters and
unnecessary scenes. The only time any of it is even moderately bearable is
during the carefully choreographed scenes of martial arts action.
Despite plenty of guns in the narrative,
most of the action is carried out with martial arts. This shows the true reason
for much of the casting, which is a relief considering how ineffective the
acting is. Carefully constructed fight scenes are the smallest sliver of hope
in this production, surrounded by countless examples of filmmaking
incompetence. Occasionally the fighting switches to gunplay, which is plagued
by poor CGI muzzle flashes and bullet wounds.
I would not recommend this film to
even the greatest of action fans. Even viewers who have watched all of the
straight-to-video action films starring Steven Seagal would be better off
skipping this one. The Blu-ray only enhances the filmmaking flaws, and a
handful of special features do nothing to improve appreciation of this minor
entry into the undercover cop narrative.
Entertainment Value:
2/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 1.5/10
Historical
Significance: 0/10
Special Features: 2/10
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