Angel of Death

*Currently only available on REGION 1 DVD*

Directed by: Paul Etheredge

Starring: Zoe Bell, Brian Poth, Doug Jones, Lucy Lawless, Jake Abel, Vail Bloom, Ted Raimi

Synopsis:

Eve (Bell) is a no-nonsense, hard-as-nails assassin working for a crime organisation. When a hit goes wrong, a fourteen year old girl is killed and Eve is stabbed in the head. The mob’s doctor is able to remove the blade but Eve finds herself haunted by her previous targets, who want her to avenge them by taking out the very people she works for. As she launches a bloody crusade, her handler and lover, Graham, tries to find her before it’s too late.



Review:

Every now and then a movie comes along which you've never heard of, but either the dvd artwork or the cast/director catches your eye and you pick it up. A lot of the time, there are very good reasons why you haven't heard of that movie. Other times, you discover a real gem and find yourself raving about it to anyone who will listen. I didn’t know anything about this movie before watching it. Zoe Bell's name was the draw here - I was curious to see how she fared in a non-Tarantino movie. Although this gem does have a serious flaw, I have to say that Zoe Bell is a bona-fide action heroine.

Written by renowned comic book writer Ed Brubaker, Angel of Death has a typical hard-boiled storyline but is full of interesting characters and doesn’t hold back on the action. The editing style of the movie takes its cue from Ed’s comic-book roots, often framing scenes as comic panels, which fits the movie a hell of a lot better than the score, which can be heard in the trailer. It’s aiming for a cartoony Desperado vibe when it needs to be a lot subtler. Once or twice the music does fit the action onscreen but for the most part it felt over the top. For example a scene where vicious crime boss Cameron is wielding his straight-razor on one of the good-guys. Wrong, wrong wrong.

Zoe Bell keeps her New Zealand accent for this movie and handles the mix of action and drama very well. Her relationship with her boss Graham is particularly well played, and her action scenes are just amazing. Choreographer Ron Yuan has crafted a number of excellent hard-hitting fight scenes, totally devoid of wire-fu and CGI, while Paul Etheredge thankfully avoids the current clichés of in-your-face shaky-cam and super-slow-motion, allowing the grace of the performers’ moves to be fully appreciated.

The cast is peppered with genre faves – Zoe was a stunt double for Lucy Lawless on Xena: Warrior Princess, while here Lucy plays Eve’s neighbour, an ex-stripper who saves her life and at one point acts as her “double”. Ted Raimi, another Xena alumni, appears very briefly as doomed accountant Norton. Doug Jones, best known for his performance as Abe Sapien in the Hellboy movies, plays the nervous and put-upon Dr Rankin.

Elsewhere, Brian Roth is excellent as the young mob-boss Cameron. You’d think it would be hard to convey the right amount of authority over a crime organisation when you look like you just finished college, but Brian nails it completely. Vail Bloom plays Cameron’s duplicitous sister, Regina who proves to be just as ruthless as her brother.

There are a few clunky scenes – the opening one isn’t a classic for sure – and the pace slacks once or twice but for the most part, this movie rocked. The action was crisp, bloody and very hard-hitting and Zoe Bell is the sort of action star we need to see more of.

Verdict:

Paul Etheredge has delivered a very slick looking movie, while Ron Yuan and Zoe Bell have provided some excellent fight scenes. That score though is a major problem and doesn’t give the movie the emotional emphasis it needs.

7 out of 10 (would be 8 if not for the score)(MikeOutWest)

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