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Redeemer Blu-ray Review

     Actors: Marko Zaror, Noah Segan
  • Director: Ernesto Díaz Espinoza
  • Format: Blu-ray, Widescreen
  • Language: English, Spanish
  • Region: Region A/1
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Rated: Unrated
  • Studio: Dark Sky Films
  • Release Date: September 1, 2015
  • Run Time: 90 minutes



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            I can see all of the influences that inspired Redeemer, but even the imitation of well-made action movies isn’t enough to create something worthwhile and original. Fans of brutal and bloody action choreography may enjoy moments of the spectacle, but the amount of time spent on the filmmaking process isn’t equally distributed beyond these sequences of violence. Nearly every other aspect of storytelling is sacrificed in favor of creativity in the deaths and the showcasing of lead actor Marko Zaror’s martial arts abilities.

     

            Zoror is easily able to display his fighting skills in the role of ex-hitman turned vigilante, Pardo, especially since he doesn’t do much talking. After accidentally killing an innocent person during one of his jobs, Pardo begins using his skill as an assassin for good. In an effort to make up for his past mistakes, Pardo kills bad guys that are terrorizing innocent citizens, earning him a nickname as the ‘Redeemer.’ We see this in an opening sequence where our vigilante protagonist is somehow able to obtain all of the information he needs by eavesdropping on a desperate man’s prayer before offering up his style of bone-crushing justice.  

     

            In one of the film’s only twists of originality, there are two separate villains that Pardo must face. The first is the latest criminal that Redeemer takes it upon himself to destroy. This villain is a wisecracking wealthy American named Bradock (Noah Segan), who has intentions of becoming Chile’s newest drug lord. He provides an underworld organization of hired criminals for Pardo to face in a series of standoffs, while offering little more than forced comedic relief in his own drawn out scenes of pointless banter. The film’s other villain is the opposite, completely lacking in humor but deadly enough that he doesn’t need a posse to fight his battles.

     

            In a film filled with cheesy nicknames, the deadly bad guy hunting down Redeemer is a killer known as Scorpion (Jose Luis Mosca). Scorpion is seeking endless revenge for the mistaken death that turned Pardo into the Redeemer, even hunting down the innocent people that he has helped to leave a path of destruction in the wake of all the good deeds. Neither one of these characters ever feel completely fleshed out, but that doesn’t seem to matter to filmmaker Ernesto Díaz Espinoza nearly as much as the choreography for their final fight. This ends up being the biggest problem for the film; while there is some inventiveness in the gruesome fight choreography, the characters and story are never developed enough to allow any resonance in the violence.

     

            The Blu-ray release includes a making-of featurette, along with deleted scenes and a trailer. As stylish as the film itself attempts to be, the filmmaking is not polished enough to be improved by the high definition presentation. This is clearly low budget filmmaking, although whatever budget there was seems to have been spent on some of the more gruesome images.

     

    Entertainment Value: 8/10

    Quality of Filmmaking: 6/10

    Historical Significance:  4/10

    Special Features: 4.5/10



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