THE MERCENARY

Directed by: Jesse V Johnson

Starring: Dominque Vandenberg, Louis Mandylor, Carmen Argenziano, Manny Alva, Alfina Andrei, Luke LaFontaine

A mercenary outfit led by LeClerc is conducting contract work for the CIA, taking out prominent and dangerous targets for bounty. Maxx, a highly trained and efficient killer, is starting to have doubts about the path they have taken. When injured and left for dead after a mission in Columbia, Maxx takes the opportunity to start afresh, helping out at a local church. However, it's not long before Maxx and his old teammates cross paths again, this time on opposing sides…

Just as Scott Adkins turned to Jesse Johnson to help him bring his dream project (Accident Man) to life , Dominique Vandenberg has done the same with his. Originally titled Legion Max, The Mercenary has been a long gestating passion project of Vandenberg, drawing on his experiences in the French Foreign Legion and as a mercenary himself.

The film begins with three missions which showcase Maxx and LeClerc and their team as they take out bad-guys in Central Africa, Baghdad and Columbia. The team are completely ruthless and take no prisoners. We get the first sign that Maxx isn't particularly happy with the situation when he questions the execution of prisoners.

The Baghdad mission is an amazing bloodbath yet starts with a quiet introspective but epically shot scene or the team driving across a barren desert, dropping Maxx off so he can run to his sniper position. This is where we are introduced to Max's theme tune, a simple pan-pipe ditty that is definitely going to get stuck in your head.

Later in the battle, Maxx chases a bad-guy into a mosque, where there are twenty guys at prayer. At first you are concerned by the blasphemy of Maxx entering the temple with murder in his heart, bend on killing his man regardless of who is present. But then, all the people at prayer reach for their own guns propped against the wall, showing these guys are only paying lip service to their religion. This particular fight scene is incredibly brutal. Maxx is completely deadly with a blade in his hand and has been trained to be brutally efficient.

Maxx has discovered that he has lines he doesn't want to cross - not anymore, at least. When he tries to help a young woman who's being attacked and molested, Max finds himself with a slashed neck and almost blown up for his troubles, but his "death" finally gives him an out from his old life. For a while he's successful, hanging out with a couple of priests at the local church and helping out.

However his old life comes calling, in the shape of two local enforcers looking for a girl they were trying to abduct. Maxx is initially able to get rid of them by turning the other cheek, however when the come back, acting more obnoxious than before, Maxx is forced to show off his skills, which in turn brings him to the attention of LeCerc, who had thought he was dead.

Jesse V Johnson, currently the vanguard of DTV action movies, had previously directed Vendenberg in PIT FIGHTER (currently on Amazon Prime) and its great seeing them team up again for this passion project. Vandenberg is a very unique presence here, quiet and introspective but at the same time incredibly violent when needed (the aforementioned mosque scene has a brilliant punchline when one of the other mercs walks in and sees the devastation).

Vandenberg suggested that the film be shot in the style of a spaghetti western and you certainly get that esthetic, with characters being introduced from their boots upwards, dusty interiors and that haunting pan-pipe score which does come across a little like a Central American Ennio Morricone.

Because the film is so focused on Maxx and his attempt at redemption, we don't get to meet with the other team members much, other than LeClerc and the one female member, known as Magpie. The rest are do have names but there isn't much time spent fleshing them out until they each get confronted by Maxx. Magpie's name by the way is due to her habit of robbing jewelry off the dead. Maxx makes sure she gets a very appropriate end, and Johnson's use of gore (think Jeeja Yanin's sendoff in TRIPLE THREAT) makes sure there's a reaction from the audience.

THE VERDICT

There's nothing particularly original in the story here but it is a high example of the bad-guy going rogue and helping the little guy. The action is crisp and clear, the action is proper grown-up stuff, full of blood squibs and practical fx as well as CGI. Vendenberg throws himself into the role and Louis Mandylor is superb as LeClerc, at once Max's friend and nemesis.

8 our of 10 RECOMMENDED

MIkeOutWest

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