Home Media Catch Up - Redeemer (2014)

Director: Ernesto Diaz Espinoza

Cast: Marko Zaror, Loreto Aravena, Noah Segan, Jose Luis Mosca, Smirnow Boris

Country: Chile

Rating: NR (nudity, language, violence, you know what you're getting into)

Run Time: 88 min

I watch a lot of foreign action films from countries like Hong Kong, Japan, United Kingdom, Indonesia, and South Korea. Asian cinema in general tends to be the best foreign action. However, there are several other foreign countries and territories out there that I don't keep up with as well as I should. It's difficult enough to keep up with not only your own country's action cinema, but with the rest of the planet's as well. Therefore, I decided to give Chile a shot and check out Ernesto Diaz Espinoza's latest joint, Redeemer.

Espinoza has frequently collaborated with martial arts star Marko Zaror before on such films as Kiltro, Mirage Man, and Mandrill. Zaror himself has also appeared in numerous action films, including American films like Machete Kills and the DTV masterpiece Undisputed III: Redemption. Therefore, I knew that I had to check out both Zaror and Espinoza's work sooner or later, as I had heard so many great things about them. Redeemer, the latest collaboration between the two, is a particularly solid Chilean action film that harkens back to the early 90s when filmmakers like Robert Rodriguez made films on shoe-string budgets and stars like Steven Seagal brutally dispatched their foes by breaking their limbs. The film blends hard core action with a basic storyline about redemption, forgiveness, and revenge amidst a drug war in Chile.

The Redeemer rolled into town and Hell followed him.

Redeemer joins a long list of drifter films (i.e. Yojimbo, A Fistful of Dollars, El Mariachi, Last Man Standing, Dragon Eyes, etc.) to come before it that blend bare knuckles action with a lone gun man protagonist. However, Redeemer differentiates itself from the rest of the pack thanks to its strong religious themes and imagery.

Pardo (Marko Zaror) is the Redeemer, a vigilante who beats up on those who wrong the innocent. After destroying a gang of neo-Nazis in the opening prologue, the Redeemer meets a man who found a bag of money in the ocean. Unfortunately, that bag of money has attracted the attention of several men and drug dealers. Therefore, the Redeemer sets out to protect the man and his wife, all while taking down the drug cartel. The Redeemer is forced to confront his past in the process as the Scorpion, a cruel killer, comes back to haunt him.

Redeemer reminds me of early Robert Rodriguez films like El Mariachi and Desperado with its low budget, Latin American cast, and fusion of martial arts and gun play. The film has an "in your face" style that feels similar to Rodriguez's stylized tendencies. Redeemer, much like El Mariachi, was clearly made on a small budget, as it utilizes real locations for its sets and features some less than stellar special effects at points. However, Espinoza separates himself from the likes of Rodriguez by showcasing a level of silence and maturity in his film that Rodriguez himself has yet to demonstrate. Espinoza also injects a heavy dosage of religious symbolism throughout Redeemer, thereby separating it enough from its influences to make it seem like an original product of its own. If a blend of mature/religious symbolism and brutal bone crunching action is your thing, than Redeemer is the action film for you.

The Redeemer strikes a religious pose before he brings the pain.

Redeemer's strongest element is surprisingly its protagonist, the Redeemer himself. On the surface, the Redeemer is your average vigilante who fights for justice and maintains a consistent outfit the way a superhero would. However, the character is more complex than that. The Redeemer is a tortured man who forces others to pay for their sins because he can not forgive himself for his own sins. Therefore, beating up on other wrong-doers helps him feel better because somebody is being forced to confront their sins. The Redeemer experiences an arc towards the end of the film where he learns to accept his mistakes and realizes the error of his ways. These mistakes and sins of his are revealed through partial flashbacks that persist throughout the film until their entirety is revealed towards the end.

The Redeemer is also unique in that he prays to God and plays Russian Roulette with a revolver and a single bullet before he goes out to beat up on bad guys. He feels so bad for his past sins that he risks killing himself each day. The religious imagery is extremely apparent throughout the film, even down to the Redeemer's tattoos, over sized hood, and crucifix-like poses. He is also very quiet, a man of a few words. The viewer may feel like they have stumbled into a 70s era Bronson vehicle or even Nicolas Winding Refn's Drive thanks to Zaror's almost routine silence. His actions truly speak louder than his words. None of the Redeemer's uniqueness as a protagonist could have been accomplished without Zaror's great performance. Zaror's impressive fight moves and intimidating stature, along with Espinoza's direction, help make the Redeemer one of the best action heroes in recent years. 

Redeemer features two villains: Bradock (Noah Segan, Looper), the ridiculous and over the top leader of the drug cartel who never shuts up, and the Scorpion (Jose Luis Mosca), the sadistic and terrifying assassin who has it out for the Redeemer. Bradock is an exceptionally annoying character who rambles on about "bad ass" names, ponchos, and killing people for fun. I understand that Espinoza probably wanted a talkative and humorous character to balance out the silence and bleakness that the Redeemer provides. It just sucks that Bradock is so over the top and ridiculous because I couldn't take his presence as the leader of the Mexican drug cartel seriously. Now that I think of it, all of Segan's scenes take place in the same location, the huge and lavish seaside mansion. Therefore, Espinoza must have had Segan for one shooting day and decided to use him purely for comedic purposes. In retrospect, Bradock barely qualifies as a villain, let alone a character. 

Marko Zaror pays for "breaking bad" and ends up in the yellowy desert.

The Scorpion on the other hand is far more imposing and villainous, arguably the lead villain of the picture despite his mostly shadowy appearances. The flashback that reveals the Redeemer's connection to the Scorpion even makes the viewer question whether or not the Scorpion is a villain, as the man only wants revenge for what was unfairly taken from him. Reveals like this help make Redeemer that much more morally complex and ambiguous as far as who its heroes and villains are.

Redeemer's themes of redemption, Catholicism, and forgiveness, as well as its excellent lead performance by Zaror, solidify it as something more than your less than average action film. Unfortunately, the film's production value is what ultimately prevents Redeemer from being one of the best action films in recent years. Redeemer features a fairly even blend of gun play and martial arts. However, one element is stronger than the other. Zaror's fight scenes are particularly awesome because of his swift moves and Espinoza's decision to shoot them with either wide or rotating 360 shots. Zaror's incredibly brutal take downs will remind the viewer of early Seagal films like Above the Law or Hard to Kill in which the star would take down his enemies by breaking their arms or stabbing pool sticks through their necks. Zaror showcases an equal level of brutal take downs here, utilizing deer horns, fish hooks, and even a propeller as deadly killing tools. If British action star Scott Adkins (Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning) is the new Jean Claude Van Damme, than Marko Zaror is the new Steven Seagal. How ironic that both Adkins and Zaror went head to head in Undisputed III.

The gun fights on the other hand leave much to be desired. Redeemer features several weak stock gun effects and some truly painful digital effects. Digital shots of fire, gun shots, and blood are particularly weak and pull the viewer out of the film's otherwise awesome action scenes. I also find it odd that Espinoza chose to shoot the final shootout in close up, thereby ruining the geography of the action scene and turning it into more of a montage of violence than a flowing action sequence. On the positive side, Zaror racks up a surprisingly high kill count somewhere in the 40s and sheds an excessive amount of blood throughout the film. Despite some great moments of gun fire here and there, such as Zaror's double gunned take down of the strong hold's guards, the film's gun play can't stack up to the awesome one on one fights.

Watch out Marvel, the Redeemer is the new hero in town.

Espinoza's Redeemer is ripe with imagery and similarities to many other great works of world cinema. The Western imagery recalls Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch, the low budget proceedings and Latin cast recall El Mariachi, the stylized violence recalls any one of Quentin Tarantino's films, and the opening fight against a quartet of neo-Nazis comes straight out of Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange. You get a feeling that Espinoza is an actual filmmaker and not just a director of action. It's clear that he and Zaror are using their pedigree as action filmmakers to homage those they admire and to pay tribute to those who have influenced them. However, Espinoza infuses just enough elements to separate his film from those he admires, thereby making Redeemer a unique religious actioner of its own accord.

Redeemer is a mostly solid but occasionally flawed actioner that restores the vigilante genre and marks both Zaror and Espinoza as two of action cinema's rising titans. The lead protagonist, the titular Redeemer, is one of the most unique anti-heroes to come along in a while. I would argue that even fans of superhero cinema would want to check this film out, as its hero bears many similarities to tortured or dark anti-heroes like The Punisher or Ghost Rider. After all, Zaror and Espinoza already made a straight superhero film, Mirage Man, before going full mythic with their hero in Redeemer. Zaror shines in a silent performance that showcases both his acting and ass kicking abilities. It's clear that Redeemer's production value is its greatest weakness, as any and all special effects in the film are particularly weak and jarring to the eye. Still, Zaror's lengthy one on one fights and Espinoza's careful control of the camera make the films multiple brawls the highlight of the film. I can tell that both Zaror and Espinoza will get better with time and larger budgets that allow them to create action films with higher production values.

Rating: 6/10 - Noah Segan and production values aside, Redeemer is a particularly solid martial arts actioner that brings the pain Seagal style.