Bullet Points: Redemption Day
Sometimes you need to be a geopolitical expert to fully understand a film. While I’m not an expert, I do understand the message behind Redemption Day. Or at least I think I do…
- The Plot: Think Taken in the sandbox. Brad Paxton (Gary Dourdan) is a badass Marine who recently arrived home from a deployment. Kate, his wife (Serinda Swan) is an archeologist or something like that, and she goes looking for ancient artifacts in Morocco. Unfortunately, her team accidentally crosses into Algeria and she’s kidnapped by some ISIS wannabes. Guess who goes to save her? If you guessed Liam Neeson, you’re wrong. If you guessed Badass Gary Dourdan then you’re correct. Redemption Day is directed by Hicham Hajii and features familiar faces such as Ernie Hudson, Martin Donovan, Sammy Naceri and Andy Garcia. Saban Films will release Redemption Day in theaters on January 8, 2021 and On Digital and On Demand on January 12, 2021.
- Texas Tea: Oil plays a vital role in Redemption Day. There’s a message about war for oil at the beginning, and I believe the director, Hicham Hajii is attempting to make an anti-war / anti-USA involvement in foreign affairs movie disguised as an intense action flick. I don’t personally care either way, because the politics of the movie didn’t interfere in my enjoyment. Some movies are too political. If you lean one way, you might be turned off by a film. I try to keep all my writing all about the action. I want you to escape your everyday life while checking out my reviews. However, I did learn Morocco and Algeria don’t really care for each other. I believe their border is closed. The director is from Morocco, so props to him for making something he’s very familiar with. Also, you would expect a modern war movie to take place in Iraq or Afghanistan. Redemption Day shows us there’s other conflicts going on we might not be as familiar with.
- The Action: How many times can I call Gary Dourdan a badass in my review? Who knows, but he’s definitely a badass. I like the way he walks. He walks like he was born a badass. I have zero problems with his performance. I hope to see him continuing to take badass action roles. We have a lot of flashback sequences, so please pay attention, or you might get confused. As for the familiar faces that help with the supporting cast, I believe Ernie Hudson and Andy Garcia give the best effort. I’m also convinced Martin Donovan is making good money playing the same shady character over and over again.
- The Conclusion: Besides the extended driving scenes that seemed to just be there to take up runtime, I quite enjoyed Redemption Day. It is predictable, but in a way, it is different, because Gary receives a lot of help to accomplish his mission. See, even badasses need help every now and then.
Bonus Bullet Points…
- T-Bag: If you are patient, you will see a cameo at the end from Robert “T-Bag” Knepper.
- Samy Naceri: It was cool seeing Samy show up. If you’re not familiar with his work, check him out in a film from France called The Nest. It is a French remake of Assault on Precinct 13.
- Quote: “The first great action movie of 2021.” You can quote me on that Saban Films.
- Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
