Review: ‘VINDICTA’ is more convoluted than clever.

VINDICTA

Between violent protesters and a serial killer on the loose, Sean McNamara‘s VINDICTA is a tale of revenge that leaves a trail of bodies and plenty of deja vu.

Following the death of her mother and in her father’s footsteps, Lou dreams of becoming a firefighter EMT. On her first night on the job, things go haywire when she and her colleagues become the targets of a killer.

Jeremy Piven plays Lou’s super supportive father, Patrick. But his past puts his daughter in direct sight of the killer. Piven is fantastic. He is a master at his craft, no doubt. Elena Kampouris plays Lou with a solid balance of unresolved trauma and tenacity. She does her best within the convoluted premise to keep us emotionally invested. She deserved to show off more of her physical badassery. I could see her owning a post-apocalyptic role with ease. The film’s best scenes are the climatic mano-a-mano battles.

It is not an exaggeration to say I yelled, “Oh Shit,” following the first kill. I must hand it to McNamara here, as each is different and brutal. However, the film has an overreaching Saw (in its superfluous middle sequels) vibe, both in its performances and overly complicated premise. The killer wears a David mask and scrawls Latin phrases on the walls, placing sporadic traps and puzzles, which culminates in a need to, quite literally, explain the motive. VINDICTA is sort of an amalgamation of past films. Watch it for Kampouris, but a sequel should not be entertained.

In Select Theatres and Available to Buy On Digital
October 6, 2023

DIRECTED BY: Sean McNamara

STORY BY: Steven Paul

SCREENPLAY BY: Ian Neligh

STARRING: Elena Kampouris, Sean Astin and Jeremy Piven

EXECUTIVE PRODUCED BY: Scott Karol and Charles Cooper

PRODUCED BY: Steven Paul

DISTRIBUTED BY: Paramount Global Content Distribution

GENRE: Horror, Thriller

RATING: R for violence and gore, language and brief drug material

SYNOPSIS:
When a city is terrorized by a sadistic serial killer, a seasoned detective and a newly recruited paramedic are forced into a deadly game of vengeance, only to discover the key to stopping the bloodshed lies in unlocking the truth of their own haunted pasts. Elena Kampouris (Children of the Corn), Sean Astin (The Lord of the Rings franchise), and Jeremy Piven (Entourage) star in this edge-of-your-seat thriller from the director of On a Wing and a Prayer.

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Michael’s Review: ‘Entourage’

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The Entourage boys are back with their first feature film with series creator Doug Ellin serving as director and it’s just what you would expect from the testosterone driven hit HBO show…women, cars, cameos, and Ari Fricking Gold. Eight seasons just weren’t enough to tell the tale of Vinny Chase and his boys as they conquer Hollywood and all the women in Los Angeles.

The film picks up six months after the show ended where we find Johnny “Drama” Chase (Kevin Dillon), Eric “E” Murphy (Kevin Connolly), and “Turtle” (Jerry Ferrara) riding a motorboat to a yacht party where their newly divorced friend, movie star Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier) is partying it up with the locals in Ibiza. Reunited and it feels so good for this brat pack-esque crew who now look to the next chapter in Vince’s career. Hearing that his former agent, Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven) has returned from retirement and is now a studio exec, Vince reaches out to Ari, who offers Vince a new project, a project that Vince says he will only do if he can direct. And this is where the story begins.

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The project is called Hyde, which is a futuristic take on “Jekyll and Hyde”. Starring and directing in the film, Vince recruits E to be his producer and Drama to be his co-star, but things go south when the blooming budget and rumors of a disastrous rough cut of the film reach Ari, who is desperate for this film to be a success. Vince reaches out to Ari to convince him to fund the project with more money so he can fully complete his vision. Reluctant, Ari reaches out to Larsen McCredle (Billy Bob Thornton), an oil tycoon and studio financier who refuses to give any more money unless his son, Travis (Haley Joel Osment) accompanies Ari back to Hollywood and sees a version off the film. Determined to see this project to completion, Ari and Vince try to convince Travis to fund the extra money, but complication arise when Travis and Vince can’t meet eye to eye on the film. With time running out and a studio hungry for a hit, can Ari, Vince and the boys find their way to the finish line?

ENTOURAGE

Director Doug Ellin elects for the “if it’s not broke, don’t fix it approach” with his characters and creates a film that feels more like an over bloated, cameo filled episode of the television show. This approach isn’t detrimental to the film’s success, but limits the characters evolution past what we already know of them. As for the actors, they get to slip into a familiar shoe and do exactly what they did for eight years. Adrian Grenier, Kevin Dillon, Jerry Ferrara and Kevin Connolly all provide exactly what the audience wants and they do it fairly well, but there’s an empty feeling seeing these great characters not find anything new to do except drive around and talk about sex. Jeremy Piven is epic as always as the fast talking Ari Gold. Piven steals every scene he’s in and is the real star of this film as he was of the tv show.

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Overall, Entourage is for fans of the show and very few others. It is a fun trip down memory lane for many of us who invested close to a decade in these characters, but in the end, the film did little to expand the characters any further and left me wanting more from the plot.  Is the movie as enjoyable as the show? Sure, but not as creative. Let’s hope if the boys get another go around that they give us a little more substance than this.

Stars:

2 1/2 out of 5

After Credit Scene?

Scene during the credits

Trailer:

Full Length Trailer for the ‘Entourage’ Movie Has Arrived

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Vincent Chase and the gang are back in the new trailer for Warner Bros. Pictures  upcoming Entourage movie! We have it here so you can view it in the player below.

The film reunites stars Kevin Connolly, Adrian Grenier, Kevin Dillon, Jerry Ferrara and Jeremy Piven as well as many of the shows supporting cast including Perrey Reeves as Ari Gold’’s and Rex Lee as Lloyd. The movie is written and directed by series creator Doug Ellin and produced by Mark Wahlberg, Stephen Levinson and Ellin with Wayne Carmona serving as executive producer

The film picks up where the series left off, chronicling the continuing career of movie star Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier) and his entourage of friends. Ari (Jeremy Piven) bankrolls Vince’s directorial debut with a $100 million budget which goes $15 million over. He does this by securing financing from a Texas billionaire Larsen McCredle (Billy Bob Thornton) and his son Travis (Haley Joel Osment). Vince continues his carefree lifestyle saying if the film fails they can just move back to Queens. Now with his own studio Ari deals with the problems of being a start up movie producer in his own ill tempered way.

Entourage will open in theaters nationwide on June 5, 2015.

 

Are You Ready for Entourage the Movie?! Trailer Debut

hyde-posterWarner Bros. Pictures has officially released the trailer for Entourage which you can check it out below! Also released is a teaser poster for the in trailer movie Hyde starring the one and only Vincent Chase! Read More →

Michael’s Review: ‘Sin City: A Dame to Kill For’- But is it A Film to Die For?

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It’s been nine years since Robert Rodriguez helped bring Frank Miller’s graphic novel Sin City to the big screen. A stylish, visually groundbreaking film that thrilled audiences and turned a little known comic into a household name while grossing over $150 million globally.  After announcing the sequel in 2006, each year brought questions as to when we would see the elusive film. Rodriguez and Miller had one hell of a time getting this sequel into theaters. Nine years is a long time to keep an audience waiting for a sequel. Was Sin City: A Dame to Kill For worth the wait? Read More →