Francis Costello (French music legend Frank
Hallyday), a chef with a violent past, comes to Macao to avenge his daughter nearly getting killed. Her family
(husband and two kids) have been murdered. Costello doesn't know anyone and he hires three killers to help him get
revenge for his daughter. He does have a slight problem. He has a bullet in his brain which will make him lose
his memories one day. With that ticking bomb in his head, he goes on the hunt for the hit men and the one
who hired them.
VENGEANCE is classic Johnnie To. He blends violence,
action, and Spaghetti Western into one film. The shoot outs are the highlights of the film in addition to small touches
like the shooting of a bicycle and the character touches. This is the fifth Johnnie To film I have watched and
he hasn't disappointed me yet. He is one of the better action drama directors in Asia. Johnny Hallyday oozes
quiet charisma as Costello while you see why the hit men follow him even when they find out who put out the hit on Costello's daughter and
her family. It is a visually stunning film which even fans of Westerns and Asian action films will enjoy.
Also it is a mix of languages from English, French, and Chinese. So if you're subtitle phobic, VENGEANCE isn't
a full subtitles film since some of the characters do speak in English sometime. I hope that small point
will get people to discover Johnnie To and make the step to check out his Chinese language films like PTU and EXILED.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Included on the disc is a ten minute promotional featurette on the making of the film
which has behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with the crew and movie's star. The theatrical trailer is the only
other extra in addition to trailers for other IFC Films releases to DVD.
FINAL
ANALYSIS: VENGEANCE is another fine action drama from Johnnie To.
this DVD review is (c)3-11-2011 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission.
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