SONS OF VENGEANCE

Directed and Written by Victor Medina
Edited by Lloyd H. Garner III
Director's of Photography - Heber Gandara and Victor Medina

Cameron - Daniel LuJan
Oleg - Eric Montes
Vincent - Ryan Williams
Marie - Becky Rivas
Cassandra - Stephanie May
Spider - Hector Fregoza

I'd be lying if I said that I knew what was going on during the first half-hour of Victor Medina's SONS OF VENGEANCE. The movie moves so briskly that it eschews elements of character and coherent story structure. Within that half-hour it felt like Medina had crammed a feature length story into his Latino-oriented crime thriller and I was watching the highlights.

Fortunately, as the movie progressed, backstories are illuminated and relationships solidified, but I still didn't like the movie. SOV has other elements working in its favor as well, which I'll touch upon later, but there was something that I just can't put my finger on that prevented me from fully enjoying this supernatural tinged action picture. Perhaps the first half-hour tainted my view of the remaining hour. Perhaps I'll figure it out as I type.

The movie opens with a pasty vampire type, who we find out later is named Cameron, dressed to the nines in typical vampire goth clothing, pulling a desert hit on two kids bound and gagged in the truck of a car. Without a cloud in the blistering blue sky, the promising scene reflects a stark stylization that isn't found in the rest of the movie with looks and feels bleak and empty.

Contrasting the demonic presence of Cameron is Vincent, a seminary student come would-be mob executioner. Vincent's brother owes the local crime lord and unless Vincent wants to see his brother's head ventilated then Vincent must kill Oleg, the competition. The only gringo cast in a primary role, actor Ryan Williams possesses a boyish face and an awkward presence that makes Vincent standout all the more as the proverbial fish out of water. Vincent even comments at one point regarding his surroundings and how it makes him feel with the voice-over narration "Mexico is like the twilight zone."

Oleg is a thug, plain and simple. He's the kind of guy who visits grandma with both barrels blazing. A smalltime hood working his way up the corporate ladder - only he's doing too fast for some people, which is why the local crime lord wants Oleg snuffed out.

While told from Vincent's point of view, the movie is really Oleg's story as he deals with Cameron, an avenger from Oleg's past. The setup with Vincent's fraternal dilemma is little more than a John Wooian way of pairing Vincent and Oleg, a yin and yang set of polar opposites who have a liking for one another even when trying to put bullets into each other's heads.

The supernatural elements in SON OF VENGEANCE are of little importance, which has me wondering why they were ever included in the first place. Everything about the movie, from the empty bleakness of the gritty verite photography to the comfortably natural performances (especially Daniel Lujan and Eric Montes), screams realism. The horror elements undermine the emotional weight in what could have made for another EL MARIACHI - a no-budget action hit that resonates with viewers thanks to a solid emotional core.

Despite the otherwise taunt dialog and character motivations, there are moments of, and I hate to use such a negative phrase, pure stupidity. Why someone with the street savvy of the local crime lord would stand round fidgeting, asking to be shot, after killing someone is beyond me. The first rule in breaking formulas is that you never leave the good girl alone in the car. More importantly, when you shoot someone, put one in the skull for good measure. Each one of these scenes telegraphed the next and had me missing the anarchy of that first half-hour. As a viewer, I'd rather be caught up in a kinetic whirlwind and left clueless rather than bored.

Looking back over the review it's easy to see why I didn't like SONS OF VENGEANCE despite all the positive elements. When I started typing I hadn't a clue as to what I would say, mainly due to my ambivalence towards the movie. SOV is a near miss of a great microbudget action picture that gets bogged down by story choices that are contrary to the realism of the rest of the movie. Perhaps seeing what the movie could have been, rather than what it is, is what's fueling my dislike.

The self-distributed dvd screener contained no features to review.

Corporations Unlimited