Professional wrestlers have never been known to be the most studied thespians - some are downright awful. Hulk "The Orange Golem" Hogan, while being a legend of the squared circle has been notorious for churning out tripe like Santa with Muscles and Suburban Commando that totally negate his amusing turn as "Thunder Lips" in Rocky III. A few others have done ok, like Roddy Piper (They Live), Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson (The Rundown, Walking Tall) and amazingly the Texas Rattlesnake himself Stonecold Steve Austin (Condemned, The Expendables). In Austin's recent film from director Terry Miles' titled Recoil, he stars alongside Danny Trejo as vengeance seeking seeker of vengeance.
Recoil is a formulaic ass-kicker very much in the spirit of the better B-movie actioneers coming out of the 80's. It centers around ex-cop, Ryan Varett (Steve Austin) who has every reason to be pissed off following the murders of his family. Varett’s brand of revenge is as brutal and merciless as the men who killed his loved ones. Danny Trejo plays the main baddie, a gun-running, murderous biker named Drayke.
Watching Austin is a real treat considering the fact it seems he can actually can fight . True, he’s an ex-wrestler but that doesn’t guarantee a believable action star. With Steven Seagal and Jean Claude Van Damme continuing to churn out tripe in 2012, Austin brings an excitement with his savagery that would make both of those washed up action stars turtle. It almost seemed he channeled a little Charles Bronson in a a way: tying thugs to the hoods of cars and crashing them into walls, crushing the larynx of a child killer and dropping him off a cliff - among other fine action scenes This alone made me think of what I loved so much about movies like Evil That Men Do and the Death Wish series.
Watching Austin is a real treat considering the fact it seems he can actually can fight . True, he’s an ex-wrestler but that doesn’t guarantee a believable action star. With Steven Seagal and Jean Claude Van Damme continuing to churn out tripe in 2012, Austin brings an excitement with his savagery that would make both of those washed up action stars turtle. It almost seemed he channeled a little Charles Bronson in a a way: tying thugs to the hoods of cars and crashing them into walls, crushing the larynx of a child killer and dropping him off a cliff - among other fine action scenes This alone made me think of what I loved so much about movies like Evil That Men Do and the Death Wish series.
To my surprise, Recoil turned out to be a real guilty pleasure when the credits finally rolled. It was much like a fat, greasy bacon cheeseburger - it may be terrible for you but nearly every bite goes down just fine. Recommended.
Wanna hear a little bit more about Recoil? We have an entire podcast dedicated to wrestlers in the movies? Take your vitamins, say your prayers, and listen to Jeff Dolniak, Kevin Moyers and David Hayes as they knock common decency over the head with a folding chair. Check it out right here: http://cinemaheadcheese.blogspot.com/2012/03/cinema-head-cheese-podcast-38-peoples.html
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