Acts of Vengeance Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		2.0

Acts of Vengeance Blu-ray Movie Review

Death Wish on mute.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 29, 2017

There are a couple of surprises along the way in Acts of Vengeance, a film which is otherwise largely a rote and predictable affair. While the basic premise of the film harkens back to any number of films like Death Wish and/or John Wick, the film’s title turns out not to be solely about its focal character, a wheeler dealer attorney named Frank Valera (Antonio Banderas) whose seemingly perfect home life is shattered when his wife and daughter are murdered. That little turn of events which brings another vengeance seeking character into the fray (which will be at least hinted at in the main body of the review, below, so spoiler- phobes are forewarned) at least injects a little “universality” into its tale of an obsessed guy out to wreak havoc on those who have hurt his loved ones. The other at least passingly interesting thing about Acts of Vengeance is that Frank, in mourning but curiously under the sway of the august Meditations of one Marcus Aurelius, buffs himself up and (just for good measure) takes a vow of silence until his family’s murderer is brought to justice. That element leads to a number of frankly odd sequences where characters attempt to engage Frank in dialogue, only to be met with a glare that can only be described as beyond icy. Aside from these at least somewhat unusual elements, Acts of Vengeance plays out pretty much as most will be expecting, with Frank marauding through a series of set pieces while he attempts to track down the culprit who has sent Frank’s life into such an emotional tailspin.

The fact that Acts of Vengeance begins with a text card announcing “Chapter IV”, along with a quote from Marcus Aurelius, might be the first indication that the film is beginning in medias res, something that makes Frank’s laconic tendencies in a dilapidated diner a little confusing. Once he breaks into the kitchen and assaults the cook, some helpful voiceover (evidently Frank has not taken a vow prohibiting narration) comes along and the film literally “rewinds” to the beginning of the tale.

That rewind gets the story back to a place where Frank’s favorite two words — not guilty — are achieved by sometimes duplicitous means, something that puts his career path at odds with his seemingly picture perfect home life. Of course, in a putative thriller like this, everything in the screenplay is usually there for a reason, and Frank’s machinations as a scheming defense attorney, whom it sounds like (in a quick aside) is willing to pay for the appropriate verdicts, turn out to be relevant with regard to the ultimate deaths of his own family.

The main vengeance track of Acts of Vengeance plods along in resolutely time honored fashion, but the film at least has some unusual additions to "canon", with Frank first engaging in cage matches (evidently to assuage his guilty conscience for not being a better father and husband, something that getting beaten to a pulp supposedly helps), and then kind of going full throttle "MMA" in his personal training regimen. Getting up to speed with Marcus Aurelius also adds a whole "philosophical" underpinning to this oft told tale, though how "intellectual" an enterprise Act of Vengeance ultimately ends up being is highly debatable.

As indicated above, films like this rarely have plot elements that aren’t germane to the central conceit, and so there are really precious few supporting characters woven into this tale who aren’t going to be suspects (at least for armchair “twist” guessers) for having had something to do with the deaths of Frank’s wife and daughter. That leaves a kind of curious set of turns by such performers as Robert Forster, Johnathan Schaech and Karl Urban offering at least a bit of subtext that the actual writing doesn’t. Even the film’s rote quasi-love interest, Paz Vega, doesn’t have a lot to do with her underwritten role. Maybe scenarist Matt Venne should have considered a vow of silence.

Acts of Vengeance Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Acts of Vengeance is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.84:1. This is a competent and at times actually fairly striking looking presentation, though one that has a bit more of a "HD video" look than some digitally captured offerings. That's especially apparent in some of the garishly lit scenes, which have a flat and glossy aspect, though which routinely offer some excellent detail and fine detail levels. Occasional scenes have been graded toward blue or slate gray (what else is new for thrillers?), but quite a bit of the film is refreshingly free of having been tweaked, and while the palette never pops in any significant way, it's natural looking, generally speaking. There are some nighttime scenes where shadow detail becomes slightly murky, and there are some passing issues with minor crush, especially once Frank decides to get all "leatherbound" (so to speak).

Acts of Vengeance Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Acts of Vengeance features a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track that has occasional bursts of raucousness, as in some of the smackdowns Frank gets himself into, which are frequently in crowded situations with noisy audience members. These scenes bristle with an energy which is frankly missing from some other, longer, swaths of the film that tend to feature expository info dumps where a lot of the placement is front and center. There is some good attention paid to surround activity when the film ventures outside. Despite that aforementioned vow of silence, Frank's ubiquitous narration also tends to put a damper on surround activity.

Acts of Vengeance Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Speaking Out on Acts of Vengeance (1080p; 12:30) is generic EPK fare, though with some decent behind the scenes footage.

Acts of Vengeance Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Acts of Vengeance simply can't overcome the fact that a lot of audience members will have seen this story before, albeit not with a couple of these arguably overly self conscious additions. The film's resolute silliness is probably best typified by the fact that Frank narrates a film where the character has taken a vow of silence. Banderas fans may get a kick out of seeing him kick despite the film's other shortcomings, and technical merits are generally very good for those considering a purchase.