Savage Salvation (2022)

Since we discovered Cole S. McKay had over 50 films on the site back in March when we did Victim of Desire--which he was stunt coordinator on--I've been meaning to give him a proper 50 Club induction post, and I thought this would be a good one since I'd been meaning to cover it for some time as well, and he's the stunt coordinator. Let's see if it was worthy of McKay's 50 Club post.

Savage Salvation is a Randall Scandal starring Jack Huston as a guy who, with his girlfriend, Willa Fitzgerald, is addicted to heroin, but when he proposes to her, she proposes they kick, and they make a go at it. But this is a Randall Scandal, and there's always a Randall mainstay waiting in the wings to cause an issue. This time it's a be-corn-rowed Swen Temmel--Michael Sirow must've been busy--who gets Fitzgerald back on the stuff, causing her to overdose and die. Now Huston is out for blood, and he won't stop until vengeance is served. Hot on his trail is local sheriff Bob De Niro, toting an understated Southern accent and an understated mustache. He wants to get to him before the authorities do. But will he get there before Huston has killed everyone dealing heroin in the area?

This is a bit of a tough one to render a verdict on. Not a lot happens in the first 45 minutes, and while it would've been great character development in an indie film about addiction starring Huston and Fitzgerald, this ain't no Sundance entry, so that means that the 45 minutes isn't really anything that couldn't be done in 15 to get us to the action sooner, especially with an actor as good as Huston selling us on his killing spree. Also, we get a taste of the spree at the very beginning, so since we know it's coming, the 45 minutes is just prolonging the inevitable. And the spree itself isn't horrible, but it is a little over the top (Stallone style). Like when Huston starts the spree by killing Temmel, he shoots him in the eye with a nail gun, so Temmel is just sitting there with a nail in his eye. And Huston is giving him the tough "tell me where your supplier is," and instead of Temmel just screaming in pain like anyone else who just had a fucking nail shot into his eye, Temmel is whimpering and begging Huston not to kill him--with a fucking nail sticking out of his eye! What do I do with that? And what am I supposed to tell you to do with it? We had other things, like Quavo as the main baddie, who's great, but he's in one or two scenes, so totally wasted; yet this is also a Randall Scandal, we expect someone like Quavo to have limited screentime--he was probably playing poker with Scandal down in Puerto Rico where this was shot, and lost a hand and the bet required him to be in this movie. Some of the other stuff that made no sense, like when Temmel lies to Fitzgerald, telling her Huston had been using behind her back, which is what gets her to use again. Just by me living in Philly and seeing people on heroin all the time, I'd know if someone around me was using, forget a former addict like herself! Yet she just believes him. Then when she dies, instead of calling 911 like a normal person, Huston dresses her in her wedding dress and takes her to be baptized, where John Malkovich looks on, trying his best to sell the bonkers-ness. Speaking of De Niro and Malkovich, they're probably the reason Huston is in this, and I don't know whether to be amazed or disappointed by how well they're selling the bonkers-ness of the whole thing to me. Ultimately the fact that this is long is what kills it, instead of 100 minutes we needed like 80, and I think that would've better allowed us to revel in the bonkers-ness.

We're actually at 58 movies for Cole S. McKay when we're finally getting him in the 50 Club, which puts him third all-time behind Dolph and Gary Daniels, and three ahead of Art Camacho, who's now in fourth place. While this isn't one of the PM classics where McKay made a name for himself on this site, it's fun to see him plying his trade in a Randall Scandal like this in 2022 with Jack Huston, Robert De Niro, and John Malkovich. When the movie turns from an indie drama about addiction to a revenge actioner around the 45-minute mark, you can almost feel McKay take over. It's not a full-on PM-fest though, and I wonder if there weren't moments where McKay looked at the cars on-set and asked Randall Scandal "you sure you don't need me to flip one of these?" Looking over his CV on IMDb, there are dozens of other films of his that are ripe for our site, a couple of which I've already watched and am just waiting to review, so it's possible he could be in the 60 Club by the time we get him into the Hall of Fame this October, which would tie him with Gary Daniels, and down the road he could pass Dolph for the most credits all-time. And the other thing is, we just started tagging him back in March, I easily could've missed some movies we've reviewed that he worked on, so he could possibly already be in the 60 Club. It just speaks to how prolific he was, especially in the 80s-90s window that we look at as the Golden Age of DTV films, but even now he's still getting after it, working to make even a Randall Scandal like this more palatable. Here's to you Mr. McKay, you're truly one of the greatest to do it.

Part of the reason I wanted to do this is it's another Bob De Niro Randall Scandall, of which we've done two others, The Killing Season and Freelancers, and I'd say this is my favorite performance of those three. He feels a little less somnambulistic here, which on the one hand helps, but on the other watching him go through the motions to get a paycheck is part of the fun of seeing him in these. Maybe having Jack Huston and John Malkovich helped. Speaking of which, Malkovich was more engaged than we'd seen him in these before too. Could Huston's presence have rubbed off? "We want to turn in a performance worthy of the kid's grandfather" maybe? Or maybe the fact that Huston was probably excited to work with them was what rubbed off on them. Either way, I guess I did appreciate it more that De Niro and Malkovich weren't mentally picturing the new kitchen island they were getting installed with the money from this film as they were reciting their lines. As an aside, with "Huston" pronounced "HEW-ston" the way the city in Texas is pronounced, as opposed to the street in NYC, which is "HOW-ston," would Huston's name have been pronounced "HUSS-ton" if he'd been born in Manhattan?

In 2023 we reviewed the documentary The Randall Scandal: Love, Loathing, and Vanderpump, which birthed the term "Randall Scandal" that we give to all his movies now, and also call him, which may or may not be confusing. It gave us insight into how some of these Randall Scandals are made, and the abuse of people working under him that was part of the process. For example in this one, I saw that it was shot in Puerto Rico, and one of accounts from one of his assistants told how Randall demanded the assistant bring him his poker table from LA. The poor assistant had to fly it down there himself, on his own dime, and of course was never reimbursed. Knowing this kind of abuse was happening behind the scenes, there's also a question of whether I'm feeding into it by giving films like this a spotlight on my site. That's definitely something, now that we know how the sausage is made, we probably should be eating more plant-based stuff, but there's also something to be said for us using the reach we have to let people know about these movies too. I imagine a lot of people see this on Hulu and think it looks like a pretty good deal, but if they go to IMDb first, and see us among the currently 20 critic reviews, they may see us discussing how the sausage is made, and opt for a plant-based alternative themselves.

Speaking of making more humane food choices, the baddies were based at a dairy farm, where from what I could tell, the cows were pasture raised. Granted, they were just all hanging out outside the barn, it's possible when they were milked they were stuck in a concrete enclosure, and while I want to give Quavo as our baddie the benefit of the doubt, I wouldn't put it past him to be taking calves from their mothers at a young age so he can get more milk out of them too. Still, if our baddies were running a humane dairy farm, does that mitigate some of the hard feelings we have about them dealing drugs? I mean, what happened to all those cows after Huston killed everyone? Did De Niro get them adopted at a sanctuary farm? Or did they get shipped to a factory farm, forced to live their lives confined to a small space on a concrete floor? I imagine any vegans are reading this saying "there's no such thing as humane dairy, Matt, unless it's plant-based." So in that sense, maybe I shouldn't be giving our baddies the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps if the baddies were holed up at an almond farm, and Huston used those for cover the way he used the cows for cover when he attacked them. It could've been Randall Scandal's nod to A Midsummer Night's Dream, right?

And with that, let's wrap this up. You can currently get this on Hulu here in the States, plus I've seen it on DVD at Target, which is a rarity for a movie we're covering here. It's a bit long, and suffers from a bit of an identity crisis, but the bonkers-ness of a Randall Scandal combined with some of the names may get you over the hump. And congratulations to Cole S. McKay and his entry into the 50 Club! It was a long time coming, but good to finally give him that recognition for all his great work.

For more info: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13055982/

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One Ranger (2023)

Back in January on episode 143 of the podcast, Ty from Comeuppance and I looked at this as part of our "Malki on the Skids" John Malkovich double-feature. The fact that it also had Thomas Jane and was directed by Jesse V. Johnson, it was a no-brainer. In addition to us, Bulletproof has covered this as well.

One Ranger has Thomas Jane affecting a Billy Bob Thornton in Sling Blade accent while rocking a mustache and cowboy hat as a Texas Ranger. When he runs afoul of Irish criminal mastermind Dean Jagger, he's called in by a British secret service to hop across the pond to help take him down. Now he's working with Agent Smith (Dominique Tipper), with Malkovich as his boss, in this foreign territory, hoping to make it work and take this baddie down. Even though the title is "One Ranger," in fact he'll need some help if he wants to get this done and go back to Texas alive.

And that's the thing, the film is called "One Ranger" based off the idea that there was a riot in Texas, and only one Ranger was sent to quell it. When the Ranger was asked if more were coming, he said "one riot, one Ranger." That would have you believe that Jane and his fellow Rangers are badass Spartan warriors that get shit done on their own. It doesn't work out that way though. First, Jane and a fellow Ranger are transporting baddie Dean Jagger, when they're ambushed, and the fellow Ranger is killed and Jane seriously wounded. You'd think if it's "one riot, one Ranger," two Rangers would be even more unstoppable--except they aren't? And then in the UK, on a couple occasions Jane gets saved by Tipper. One in particular, he's at the desk of a hotel talking to a clerk, when Tipper catches someone before they could shoot Jane from behind. So it's "one Irish terrorist baddie, one Ranger and one UK secret service agent?" If he's such a badass lone warrior type, how is he letting someone get the drop on him so easily? Beyond all that, this is a fun time, and Jane's accent is even more fun. Also, with Jesse V. Johnson, you know there's a floor to his work that means it'll at least have a certain level of quality, and that was the case here. For a free streamer on Tubi this does the trick--I just wish it had a more accurate title.

This is now 12 director credits for Jesse V. Johnson, putting him in a five-way tie for third all-time, which is 31 behind Albert Pyun for top honors, and 3 behind Fred Olen Ray for second-most. While I would've said I don't see him catching Pyun, the speed with which he's making these movies does possibly put it in play. At this point I see 11 of his that I still have to review, and then if he keeps doing two films a year--okay, actually it's not that in play, unless I do this for another ten years, which isn't outside the realm of possibility! What I have to respect with Johnson, even with a film like this that I felt had its flaws, is he always turns out a competent, solid, professional product, which is no small feat in the current DTV action climate of churn and burn. If I'm spending my 90 minutes on a Johnson film, I have a good feeling it won't be wasted, and it wasn't here.

This is now five films for Thomas Jane, but I have a feeling that number will keep growing, because he's been working more in the DTV space recently--er, rather the last 10 years or so! I think his last theatrical film was 2018's The Predator. I liked what he did with this character here, even if the accent was a bit silly, and would like to see Jesse V. Johnson use him again. Maybe not in the UK, but what about LA or New York? Those could almost be unique countries to Texas. Also Vancouver or Toronto. And Johnson was worked in Thailand before too, so maybe we could stick the character there. The other thing is, with Disney bringing back the Jon Bernthal Punisher, it would be nice to see Jane's get some films again. Maybe a direct-to-Disney+ kind of thing, 90 minutes on a short budget, add in some other Marvel characters--like Scott Adkins as Daredevil?--and I think it would be a hit. Hell, Johnson could even direct. Give me a call Kevin Feige, I'm full of ideas.

In the podcast episode, Ty and I joked about Malkovich looking at the projects his agent was giving him, and then looking at the home improvement projects his wife was asking for for their house, and marrying the two. "Oh, this movie will cover the new kitchen island" or "this is perfect to pay for the outdoor pizza oven." Viewed from that lens, it makes sense why Malkovich would make these films--and to be honest, a low-budget Jesse V. Johnson film isn't the same as a Randall Emmett thing, but he's been doing his share of that level of quality stuff too. Also, I couldn't tell if his scenes with Jane and Tipper were shot together, or if he even made the trip to Ipswich where the UK scenes were filmed, which is the kind fun element of these low-budget actioners that I always enjoy. This is only his second film on the site, but I have a feeling we'll be seeing him more, as he has more home improvement projects that need funding.

Finally, we have an appearance by Mark Griffin in this. Who's that you ask? He played a higher up in the film I Am Vengeance: Retaliation, where he had one of the best lines of all time. He was asking some fellow soldiers if they wanted to go in and help the hero, and in asking he said "fancy it?" How do you say no to that? In American English, if you used "fancy" in that context, people would think you were trying to affect a UK way of speaking, so we really can't use it like that. Another I think is "cheeky." Some, on the other hand, we've been allowed to co-opt, like "baddie," or "on the tin" for "on the [DVD] cover"--though I think the latter might be pushing it a bit. Some uses would be confusing, like "chips" for fries, though we do use it in the name of the UK dish "fish and chips" instead of calling it "fish and fries"--I think in that case, "fish and fries" sounds too pedestrian to have on a menu. In Maine where haddock is really good, they use that instead of cod for that dish, so if you're ever there and see "fish and chips" on the menu, it's worth trying--I fancy having some myself when I visit my family up there again soon.

And with that, let's wrap this up. Do I fancy One Ranger? I don't know if I'd go that far, but it's solid enough to get you to the church on time. I just wish it had a more accurate title, like "One Ranger... Plus One British Agent." Either way, you can check out for free on Tubi here in the States, which is a great way to go. And for the podcast episode, check out number 143 in the archives.

For more info: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt23037488

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White Elephant (2022)

This was another in the Bruce Willis DTV films Ty from Comeuppance Reviews and I have been looking at on the podcast. He'd already seen it on AMC+, but once Hulu got it I was able to make it happen too, which we did on ep 123. We figured with the cast, and the fact that it was directed by Jesse V. Johnson, that it may be better than the usual DTV EFO Willis films.

White Elephant has Michael Rooker as a hitman for mob boss Bruce Willis. He's been training his replacement in anticipation of retirement. Problem is, during one of his replacement's jobs, he's caught by two police detectives, one of whom is played by Olga Kurylenko. Willis wants them both dead, and while her partner was an easy job, Kurylenko proves to be a bit tougher, which means Rooker needs to get involved. He sees similarities between her and a woman in his life who died, and that makes him sympathetic to Kurylenko's plight, causing him to go rogue and join her side. They run back to his fortified mansion in the country, and prepare for the final siege of Willis's men. Will they survive? Either way, consigliere John Malkovich is staying out of all of it.

Ty and I were right on this one, it is a pretty good deal. Rooker and Kurylenko are solid, plus it has the Jesse V. Johnson action you're looking for. That end fight is everything you'd want, but also the action scenes before it are great too and do a great job building to that final siege. We also have good Willis mitigation, with him playing the mob boss he doesn't need too many scenes, though Johnson pushes it by having him get shot in an assassination attempt, and later in the hospital it looks like we have a double who gets comforted by Rooker. Overall though, we have a nice runtime, fun cast, and solid action scenes. To me this is everything you want in a DTV actioner.

We're now at 12 Willis films on the site, but with Ty and I covering so many for the pod, we now have 8 in the can that we could review at any time--and that's 8 and counting as Ty and I do more of these for the podcast. By my count there's roughly another 20 I could watch and review, which is huge, because by that math that would put Willis in the 40 Club. While that's far off, I think DTVC Hall of Fame consideration needs to be in play. If more of them were like this it'd be an easy decision, but they aren't, we have a lot of EFO tossed together stinkers to consider too. Is that possible that we could be keeping one of the greatest movies stars of all time out of the Hall of Fame because the quality of his DTV stuff isn't there? The other thing is the automatic induction if he hits 30 films, which is very possible too, and is even more fascinating. Using our baseball analogies as I'm wont to do, it's like he's amassed a first ballot hall of fame career in Hollywood, but has a Craig Biggio career in DTV. For those who aren't familiar with Craig Biggio and American baseball, Biggio did pretty well as a player, but wasn't an all-time great that you'd want for a hall of fame; but he had over 3000 hits, and anyone who has over 3000 hits is in the hall of fame, so he was put in too despite not having the greatest career. Will Willis be our Craig Biggio?

The last time we saw Michael Rooker on here, it was 2010 when we did The Marine 2. This is a much better film than that was, and Rooker has a much better role than he had in that one. My introduction to him was in Mallrats, but I know a lot of people are familiar with him through his work as Yondu in the Guardians of the Galaxy series--and I think that's my favorite name to say, "Yon-duuuuu." It's good to see him here playing an aging character who's coming to terms with the life he led, a kind of character we don't often see Rooker play when he's in supporting parts or cameos in bigger things. With him being a part of three major franchises, Marvel, DC, and the Fast and Furious, he'll probably have no problem paying the bills, but it'll be fun to see if he does more of this kind of thing in the future, as he was really good here. Also of note: he did two DTV films in 2022, and both were with Willis, the other being the Tubi Original Corrective Measures, which we've also covered on the podcast on episode 116.

With this post, Jesse V. Johnson crosses an important director milestone at the DTVC, he now has 10 directed films reviewed, which I think makes him the 10th director ever to have that honor. As of this writing, I haven't seen Hell Hath No Fury or One Ranger yet, but I'd say out of the others, this is my favorite of his since Avengement. Looking at who's doing DTV right now, it's probably him and Isaac Florentine as the best, and you know when you see his name attached that there's going to be a minimum level of quality that, even if it's not one of his best, will at least put this above a lot of the other DTV stuff out there and make for solid watch. In this world where we have so many options, and with EFO out there drawing us in on the promise of big names but not delivering, to feel confident knowing I'm going to get a certain level of quality can't be understated. Looking at the podcast episode Ty and I did, we paired this with Survive the Game, which was exactly the EFO rough sit I'm describing, so even we banked on the Jesse V. Johnson mark of quality to mitigate the pain we were getting from the EFO film we chose. It'll be exciting to see what Johnson does next, but he's already putting together one of the best DTV action directing careers.

Usually the "finally" paragraph is some personal anecdote or aside that is only tangentially connected to the film, but I couldn't write the whole review and not spotlight Olga Kurylenko. I'm always talking about the top women in action, but I've been leaving her out of the conversation, which is bad on my part. If you look at her CV, she's as good as anyone going right now, and compared to some other names like Amy Johnston or Natalie Burn, she's even better. On my Andy Sidaris LETHAL Ladies posts, I talk about how high up the list of women in action Dona Speir is, but looking at this CV I think Kurylenko might be ahead of her too. At this point this is only her third film on the site, so I need to dig in and watch and review more of her stuff, but she could already be behind Rothrock as second best DTV female action star. Total oversight on my part to not have been spotlighting her more.

And with that, let's wrap this up. Here in the States it's AMC+ and Hulu, which isn't a bad deal. This is a solid actioner that delivers what you're looking for, no need to worry if you queue this up on a Saturday night. And the podcast episode is 123 in the archives, definitely worth checking out. You can subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, or your favorite podcatcher so you don't miss the next time Ty and I cover more Willis flicks.

For more info: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14686544

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