Recoil (2011) – Review

Where to watch Recoil

3 Stars

It’s Death Wish meets A Fistful of Dollars (or Kurasawa’s Yojimbo, more accurately) in this vigilante tale set in the perpetually rainy town of Hope, WA. A small community over run by a biker gang involved with criminal activity. Ryan Varrett (Steve Austin) is on the run from federal agents, laying low in a small motel located on the outskirts of town. A special Federal task force is on Austin’s tail, as the cops are closing in violence erupts causing a war to break out and the townspeople of Hope are caught in the crossfire.

Steve Austin is never going to be a master thespian but he has the goods to star in these films til the end of time. In Recoil, Austin is out to avenge the brutal slaying of the innocent. Its the typical vigilante role, a bad guy doing good deeds but at least it gives him a chance to play a different note than the wise cracking country boy audiences have come to expect. This time he’s called upon for some emotion and the task of making his character likable while committing murder.

Danny Trejo has turned into the George Foreman of Hispanic on-screen thugs. Watching the sexagenarian beat the crap out of a fellow biker is a bit of a howler. Trejo, was once a menacing presence that seethed anger and barely contained his violent tendencies. Then came the campy roles in Robert Rodriguez’s work and numerous other films (including the disastrous Harold & Kumar 3) which altered his tough guy persona into a lovable ex convict and gang member. So it is a little off putting to see a film that present Trejo as an equal opposing force to Steve Austin.

These Steve Austin starring direct to DVD moves are a cut above the usual. The production vales are solid on a shoe string budget and the story hangs together better than most in the genre.

Director: Terry Miles
Stars: Steve Austin, Serinda Swan, Danny Trejo