The Eliminator

The Eliminator

Scott Adkins, the British martial artist and actor, has had so much on his plate this past year 2016. He’s acted on various films, be it a low budget direct to video films like Jarhead 3: The Siege and Home Invasion or feature films, The Brothers Grimsby, Criminal, and Dr. Strange. He also appeared in arguably the most popular DTV of the year, Hard Target 2, a sequel of sorts to John Woo’s classic original. After everything he had finished shooting, Adkins could have relaxed and contented himself by calling 2016 a successful year.

While it may not be obvious, ADkins is cunningly cautious and it seems that he has something up his sleeve that they ‘have saved the best for last’. Eliminators which is more of a direct to video release can be flagged as Adkins best action vehicle of the entire year without any second thoughts. ADkin’s last DTV production, hard target 2, may be what most action fans had yearned for, but it is safe to say that ‘eliminators’ is probably one of the best kept secrets of the year, where expectations were shot up only to be let down when there was no promotion about this title.

James Nunn, the director of the film casted Akins in Green Street 3: Never Back Down, which was necessary for that type of grit and roughness. Nunn did however display some flashes of potential even amidst the low budget constraints of the film. Thankfully, this is no longer the case, as pointed out by the film’s story beginning with Eliminators where the current trend is focused on the DTV cinemas most effective title in a long time.

The story is pretty simple, at least for DTV stands. Adkins plays the role of a character named Thomas who has a daughter. After a group of thugs barges into his home threatening him and his child, Thomas had to kill the men in self-defense. After such an incident where Thomas kills men in self-defense and is in the witness protection program, his worst fears come true when his former enemies see him on the television. Thomas is then placed into a race against time where he has to go save his daughter from an assassin Bishop (Stu Bennett) which was sent by the man which killed Thomas’s wife.

A long-awaited project it had been. For those who appreciate the mind of David Nunn, Eliminators has the action sequences one expects from a film that has gone through some resections WWE Studios. crucifixion This latest release is a love letter to die hard fans of the “b” movie genre. With a story incorporated into the action scenes, the film features believable characters and family-oriented drama that is well paced.

You actually feel emotional depth above the abounding violence. Adkin’s life is covered in dramatic splices, displaying paternal instinct and classic revenge motives. The character becomes more relatable and dynamic allowing the audience to really empathize with the protagonist. The lead character is portrayed well and the reason for his middle-east conflict has been clarified. The film is not a stereotypical suspense thriller, but easily stays thrilling because the storytelling itself is unpredictable.

The final showdown, pitting Bennett against several of his men and Adkin’s character visibly excites audiences. Like every other film co-produced by director Nunn, Expect clever misleads, nail-bating intensity and endurance. David Nunn’s Elimiators is compiled with fleers producing tricks, close ups of muscular physiques interspersed with eerie twists.

Everything is perfect, from the body language and facial energy of the actors to the aspect ratios of the shots. It definitely felt like a low budget movie distributed overseas, there the emphasis must have been hours of intricate edits. The gory action scenes also deserve praise as, for once, there are very few cuts between the fight scenes. The cinematographers use a dark look that visually fits the story of action packed revenge violence quite well.

If you’re a fan of action movies, you might see the links between Eliminators and other great classics if you look close enough or, and this is wiser, watch more action films like I do. The very first scene brings back the memories of Adkins’ Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning when he was attacked in front of his family by masked strangers. Luckily, Adkins’ family wasn’t slaughtered in a horrific manner this time and it was finally Adkins instead who was able to fight back and deliver some punishment this time around.

This very same scene also resembles John Wick when a couple of young idiots pick on someone that they shouldn’t have, who has a very dark past of sorts, and this pushes them on a violent quest against their past employees and foes. To begin with, the film itself does have remnants of David Cronenberg’s A History of Violence where one offends a person’s reinvented life by robbing them. All of these easily identifiable themes and plot points turn Eliminators into a nice cocktail of previously successful action films with consistent standout action sequences.

It is always a pleasure to see Adkins working on a movie in his home country, but one thing that seems to mute the moment is that he still has to play his part in an American accent which is awful. I comprehend that this choice is artistic in nature, and without such accents, Adkins’ character would have seemed way too local for where he resides, but why can’t Adkins just be himself.

I have spoken about how much I enjoyed Statham speaking with his real British accent in many British movies including The Bank Job and Redemption. This, therefore, begs the question, why has it taken so long for Adkins to be allowed to do so, in the first place in a movie that is based in London.

In the face of Adkins’ characters, there is no reason why Thomas shouldn’t be a respectable character, quite in the tradition of Hard Target 2’s Wes Baylor or Ninja’s Casey Bowman. He is quiet and strong, very honorable and motivated, a man whom any viewer would admire, but still a long distance away from Undisputed’s Yuri Boyka and his numerous shades of intricacy.

Actors of Adkins’ star status generally have two kinds of roles- either a shade of their personality or completely different and unlike themselves. Undoubtedly, the more complex ones become memorable, but there is nothing wrong with a stereotypical action picture in which the hero plays close to himself as Adkins does here.

The rest of the supporting performers are quite good, especially on the villain front. The wrestler known as Wade Barrett, Bennett, with his quiet, thick voice, easily trends northeast style within the umbrella term assassination of the vaunted assassin who makes Thomas sweat. Bennett, who was previously unknown and unseen by me, is a surprisingly dependably entertaining on screen performer owing to his deep voice and bulk.

Bennett emerges as the primary physical threat, but the film’s main focus on the psychological conflict can be best characterized if we mention Cooper, portrayed by James Cosmo, who has appeared in such film epics as Braveheart and Troy. He is a very interesting character; a gangster who ‘adores’ his granddaughter, but wants Thomas, who is her father, dead.

Cosmo’s performance in the last couple of scenes in the film is very touching and helps to push what would have otherwise been a genre-driven thriller, a few steps up the dramatic scale. His home is also quite stylish; it is predominantly illuminated with bright colors the ones that make one feel it came out of Suspiria or one of Nicolas Winding Refn’s films, which is an interesting creative choice.

Eliminators could have aimed for good and unoriginal action which would have been acceptable at best or regrettable as a genre film. However, what makes its action scenes so affective is the sheer number of them and the fact that they are pretty long. I like variety and Eliminators has lots of variation in terms of different styles of action shots in different places like a one on one brawl or a multi actor shootout.

Among these highlights is the fight featuring Adkins who clobbers two local blokes while riding a gondola in London. It provides a variety of moments for Adkins in between his duels with Bennett and succeeds in producing this ‘how did they do that’ kind of sequence.

Adkins and Bennett have been fighting two fights, which is precisely what action type movies will best be written and talked about. The former is undoubtedly the better, as it is preceded by a reasonable amount of buildup, while the latter is rather spontaneous. There is also a respectable body count on both sides of the coin here, what with Adkins making a nice killing spree on several assailants and Bennett taking out good number of poor innocents here and there.

To continue with the theme of brutality, certain death of innocent people in this particular movie really placed a dampener on my enthusiasm. I understand that in many action movies the theme of death for innocent bystanders is a common occurrence, but there was a constant recurrence of it in this case, juxtaposed against small supporting characters who are not depicted as antagonists and who are hardly deserving of such a fate. All in all, Eliminators is about as action packed as any ninja movie out to be, packed with numerous fighting scenes, some more awe inspiring and creative than others, but still all of them are solid.

You would have assumed and rightly so that things were going too well for adkins. DTV eliminated eliminators but the title quickly dominated the premises. Nunn’s name vanished from memory but now has become quite influential in the action genre. It’s known that he understands the basics and fundamentals of action and story and takes initiative to improve on them with each film. Self-explanatory even though it is yet undecided, Nunn has information about a great deal of potential action film and tells me it’s going to be something worthwhile in the end.

Eliminators puts Adkins on a different platform. He gives character-building the same dramatic weight that the Undisputed movies did. The action is complex with multiple layers which is untypical of most of DTV films. There is no structure, plot beats or moving parts in telling the story, it’s purely action that engrosses the audience. It’s advertised as a one-off film that will not have a sequel, which is a good choice because Eliminators is the highest point of Adkins’ year and the toughest competition for the best DTV action film in 2016.

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