No Surrender Cinema: End of Loyalty
Murder. Vengeance. Honor. These are the central themes of End of Loyalty, a new crime thriller from the fine folks at Uncork’d Entertainment that debuts on VOD and DVD today. Yours truly had the opportunity to screen the movie ahead of its release, and I’m ready to share my thoughts on it in this edition of No Surrender Cinema! Since this review is dropping on End of Loyalty‘s first day of availability, I want to provide you all with my standard spoiler warning for newer fare. Although I’ll do my best as to not “overshare” details about the film, there will be some spoilers in the paragraphs ahead.
When Grant (Justice Joslin) accompanies his father Carmine to a meeting with rival kingpin Rooker (Vernon Wells of Commando fame), things go from cordial to chaotic rather quickly. Dissatisfied with Carmine’s refusal to allow trafficking in “his” city, Rooker guns down his rival and makes a run for it as Grant opens fire on him and his bodyguard Yukio (Sho Ikushima), only to wind up as the one with a bullet in him. Grant survives being shot, but Carmine’s murder has him swearing revenge on Rooker and his crew. Flanked by his father’s right hand man, Vincent (Simon Phillips), Grant is ready to rain hell down on Rooker, that is until his best friend returns home.
Grant’s BFF is federal agent Ray Rose (Braxton Angle), who is down in Colombia trying to take down a cartel boss named Sombra when he gets word that Grant is in the hospital. Before you know it, Ray is back home and brawling in the hallway of the hospital with Grant’s guys who won’t even let his own daughter in the room to see him. The reunion of the two friends is a welcome one, but the return of Ray into his life isn’t about to stop Grant from making good on his promise to kill Rooker. Ray tries to be the voice of reason and keep his friend from going down a dark path, but when that fails to work he chooses the path of least resistance and joins the cause, if only to try and contain Grant’s rampage.
As the old friends and Vincent trek through the underworld, Ray begins to dole out some vigilante justice of his own, but the takedown of Rooker and his cronies doesn’t come without a price. Pops (Michael Pare, Streets of Fire) and Grant’s daughter Jada (Tenley Kellogg) are attacked by members of the gang who wear red devil masks that reminded me of the mask used by Ethan Hawke’s character in The Black Phone. Ray begins to suspect that there’s a traitor in their midst and considers the possibility that one of his fellow agents might be working with the bad guys. Vincent spots a dirty cop that he recalls from prior encounters. Top all that off with a casualty that serves as added motivation, and the unlikely group of heroes find themselves on a collision course with Rooker’s crew. By the time the credits for End of Loyalty start to roll, we’ll witness another major casualty and find out just where everybody’s allegiances truly lay.
End of Loyalty is a solid outing from writer/director Hiroshi Katagiri, who cut his teeth as a VFX Make-Up Artist on blockbusters such as Avatar: The Way of Water, Captain Marvel, and The Mandalorian. Even though the plot is something we’ve seen ten times over, the story does pull you in, even when the next twist can be seen coming a mile away. There are more than a few “obvious” moments in End of Loyalty, but the film is carried by the work of the main players (especially Joslin, Angle, and Phillips) who all have a likability factor which kept me invested; Angle in particular at various points reminded me either of a young Tim Roth or a young Gary Daniels. The variety of action in the film was well done for the most part and never felt too derivative. We get gunplay, fist fights, knife fights, bottles being broken over people’s heads all happening at a breakneck pace. That said, some of the action sequences did feel slightly clunky and unpolished. I could give that a pass in the scenes where the brawl is the set-up to a punchline (like an early hospital fight that ends with Vincent throwing a gun at the head of one of his own guys, Three Stooges style, only for that same person to be knocked out the same way a few moments later when the bad guys show up), but since it happened more than once, I’m going to knock the film down a peg.
The most surprising aspect of End of Loyalty was the consistency with which the characters would bring some levity into their cold, cruel world. The comedy wasn’t overwhelming and never felt out of place, and since it was done mainly by the protagonists, it made you like them more. In fact, the characterization of every major character felt like just the right amount. A prime example of this is Grant. We know Grant is out to avenge his father, but when we see him as a protective father and friend, it humanizes him. Even the character of Carmine, his father, for his brief appearance, was made out to be a man of honor who refused to take part in sex trafficking (Rooker’s main source of income), a decision that had consequences in the form of bullets. So though Grant might be making the “wrong” decision in wanting to end the life of the man who killed his father, we know he has good reason for it and isn’t just acting out of blind rage.
Overall, End of Loyalty delivers on the promise of being a twist-filled, action-packed thriller that’s worth of your viewing eyes. Without spoiling anything else, I will say that there are a few plot points that seemed to be glossed over that could leave the door open for a potential sequel. If that was intentional or not I have no idea, but whether this film is a one and done or the first of more to come, End of Loyalty is an entertaining entry into Uncork’d Entertainment’s vast catalogue.
