Rating: C+
Dir: Akan Satayev
Star: Berik Aytzhanov, Aziz Beyshenaliev, Karlygash Mukhamedzhanova, Vinnie Jones
#2 in a series of “Vinnie Jones makes an unexpected appearance in an Eastern European action film” reviews. Collect the set! Though I suspect, this and The Calculator are probably it. As they say: if I had a nickel for every such movie, I’d have two nickels. Which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it happened twice. Chronologically, this was the first, and they get around that awkward language barrier thing by having him play a character called The Mute. A lot of IMDb reviews are peeved his role here is minor. I won’t deny, Jones’s presence is what initially attracted my attention. But a Kazakhstani action film? Crack open a six-pack of fermented mare’s milk, I’m in.
Events take place after the attempted intimidation of a journalist working in the capital, turns into him being beaten to depth. His brother, Arsen (Aytzhanov) subsequently gets a flash drive, which the deceased writer had made plans to send, in the event of something happening to him. This contains evidence of high-level corruption in the Kazakh government. Arsen is simply concerned with taking revenge on those responsible, wherever the trail may lead. Since he’s a highly trained bodyguard, he has the skills to do so. His anger management issues might help. There’s a cop, Berek (Beyshenaliev), who is sympathetic to the mission, if not the methods, and a pair of shadowy intelligence operatives who are positively gung-ho about Arsen cleaning house.
On the other side, those incriminated by the drive are getting increasingly nervous, the closer Arsen gets. With their local operatives unable to stop him, it’s time to call in outside help. No prizes for figuring out who that might be. It’s all workmanlike, with nothing notable or new in the storyline, and outside of the setting, the execution is competent rather than impressive. Aytzhanov looks like a local version of Russell Crowe, and does seem to know his way around a fight scene. He has a tersely efficient style which works: the takedown of two bodyguards at the opera (top), is a brutal demo of time and motion effectiveness. Though it is obvious his fight scene against Jones is heavily and jerkily edited in comparison.
This grade is based on the subtitled version, which I was pleasantly surprised to find the only one offered on Tubi. Another common complaint on the IMDb was terrible dubbing, so I’m glad I did not have to suffer through that. The other elements are in line with the plot and performances: solid, rather than outstanding. However, it did the job, of keeping me involved for ninety minutes; I did get the feeling some local elements of colour were lost on me. Any political references will have flown well over my head, for example. In some ways, it is a little disappointing when foreign film industries feel the need to make something so Western, rather than locally authentic. But I guess, “You killed my brother, and you must pay,” translates across all languages.
This is part of our World in Action feature, covering action movies around the globe.