After a rather intense opening narration where our hero, Rendel, basically lays it on the line that he is going to tear every criminal he meets a brand new asshole, we learn about the VALA corporation and their shady vaccine business before cutting to some gangsta shit (also involving VALA) getting broken up (along with a score of criminal faces) by our viciously violent pal Big R (with some help from his ethereal blonde muse). Time passes, VALA gets super pissed that Rendel keeps harshing their gig, and action is taken…namely the assembly of a team of crazy hitmen gathered to take our hero down. Outrageous levels of violence ensue.
Rendel is a nice alternative to the high adventure cape and spandex yarns currently dominating pop culture. While Rendel does wear a superhero costume of sorts, he is silent, violent (there’s that word again…notice a theme?), and completely driven to destroy the VALA corporation (with very good reason, but i’m not givin’ that away here), and his lovely, lethal femme fatale sidekick is in all ways his psychotic equal (also with good reason, and also mums the F’n word from your’s cruelly). But everything isn’t all grim-dark, teeth gnashing gloom in this picture, as the criminal element, while dangerous and murderous, is full of tension breaking (and actually funny) humor as they bicker and argue over everything from hot dogs to the meaning of the phrase “take care of him”. Trust me, with a dude like Rendel runnin’ around, these moments are needed and offer the picture a great sense of balance. Also of note are the ultra-arty cinematography (especially the striking use of color), strong comic book style storytelling, and the excellent acting. Finally, the soundtrack features a song by the Rasmus…I love those dudes, so bonus points there!
I’d mention negatives here usually, but man…I just loved this film to pieces…it was a visual, action-packed delight that hit me like Rendel’s fists straight to my eyeballs! seriously, thank you Jesse Haaja for shaking the stale superhero genre up (now, how about getting this cat a Punisher episode to direct)!
So the flick is pretty damn tight and out of sight, but what of the extras? Well, you get a multi-part, “making-of” documentary, a “proof of concept” short, a teaser cooked up for the film’s crowdsourcing campaign, and a video for that aforementioned the Rasmus song; Wonderman.
If you are a fan of The Punisher or The Crow you can’t afford to sleep on Rendel Dark Vengeance; it’s hyper-violent, hyper-stylized, and just plain fun to watch (even when it’s dark as fuck)…see this one as soon as you can!
Be sure to head here to read our interview with Rendel star Bianca Bradley!
