Comeuppance Reviews When Colt MacReady (Adkins) rescues his niece Hailey (Lawlor) from imprisonment by an evil drug cartel, and kills a bunch of her captors in the process, the remaining baddies cross the Mexican border into America to come find him and get revenge. The cartel also wants back a flash drive that Colt has, so they lay siege to the house of Colt's sister Angela (Keats). Colt goes all out, and falls back on his skills as a former soldier to keep them alive throughout the ordeal. They won't be getting help from any of the local authorities, since Sheriff Jasper Calloway (Chinlund) is corrupt and in bed with the bad guys. Will Colt single-handedly save his family from the murderous cartel? Find out today… Thank goodness for Isaac Florentine and Scott Adkins. They are two of the last pillars holding up the concept of DTV action movies. Where would we be without them? Close Range is an entertaining and streamlined outing and another feather in their already well-plumed caps. While wags may complain that the plot is thin and the dialogue lacking, we would put it in a different light: nothing is overly complex and there is plenty of room for the main attraction, which are the action scenes. So many times there are overly-complex dramatic motivations and fat when there doesn't need to be any. Close Range dispenses with most of this and gives the fans what they want: thrilling and well-choreographed fight and action scenes.The whole movie opens with a bang and there's plenty more where that came from. Fan favorite Adkins more than makes up for the lackluster El Gringo (2012), with this follow-up south-of-the-border tale. Shootouts, car chases, and fights ensue, but as we always say, we're more fans of Martial Arts skill than gunplay, and of course there's plenty of that too. In this post-The Raid (2011) and The Raid 2 (2014) world, not to mention Ong-Bak (2003) or The Protector (2005), fight scenes have become more "open", and Florentine has taken this cue. Even the fact that the majority of the action takes place in one house is reminiscent of The Raid, as is the fact that the baddies get harder to beat as MacReady goes along. These are all good developments, by the way. Hopefully Florentine and/or Adkins will take these themes and run with them in the future.It's all very well-lit and we loved the fact that you could see everything clearly. The Adkins fight scenes are the undoubted highlight here, and they don't disappoint. In the 70's, bad guys looked for "the ledger", in the 80's/90's they looked for "the disc" and now in the present they look for "the flash drive". In this way, Close Range is very much in the tradition of B-action movies of yore, and the Sergio Leone touches only serve to reinforce the pleasantly retro vibe.For unpretentious, audience-pleasing fun, look no further than Close Range.

festus-26986 A little good acting. A lot of STUPID situations with trained gunfighters going through a thousand rounds of ammunition leaving only holes in buildings. It's easy to see that the writers didn't know how to fill up 90 minutes without adding copious amounts of gun fighting and hand-to-hand. Pay attention within about five minutes of the opening credits and you'll basically know how the film ends. The only twists in this plot are the ones in the road. What upsets me the most about this film is that I've had to add extra lines just to make the review contain enough lines to submit it. SO I'll just have to continue on until I can type enough lines to submit which should be about now.

swaldeck2006 I personally felt that the was cheesy and very poorly acted out... it was like watching a movie with brand new actors who had no idea what they were doing...the beginning just looked so fake he kills with a knife a bunch of people and there is no blood any where but a little drip on his hand.... and the fighting looked so fake... like the other people were not even trying... and the other guys just stood there not helping waiting for their turn... the trailer looked good... and the story line would had been great if the acting its self was better and the fights were more realistic or not so fake looking... ans the dialogue just came off so fake and set up.. not real... not like it was really going on it was more like it was all set up,....

The_Phantom_Projectionist In between filming scenes of the upcoming UNDISPUTED IV, it seems as though director Isaac Florentine and karate torchbearer Scott Adkins decided to crank out an additional movie while they had the time. Shot on a low budget in only a couple of locations with a limited cast, CLOSE RANGE may be the most compact action film of 2015, but it's a pretty good one at that. While not the best work of either the director or the star, this is high quality time-wasting material that supplies all the thrills that action junkies and Adkins fans could want. Potentially the best DTV action title of the year.The story: Following a rescue mission, a mercenary (Adkins) and his family are besieged on a rural homestead by the minions of a dangerous drug lord (Tony Perez).For the most part, the film looks like something that Florentine would have filmed 15 years ago, before he achieved major cult fame. He's virtually exploiting himself here, from the pseudo-western vibe and corny dialogue to the condensed nature of the script. Running at a slim 85 minutes, CLOSE RANGE sticks pretty close to its adrenaline agenda and doesn't bother with things like character development, focusing instead on physical tension. It's the type of movie that drama snobs will hate, though it's also a step down from the level of storytelling that Florentine's become adept at. It's disappointing that the film's premise boils down to a white guy almost exclusively killing evil Latinos, and overall, I conclude that this one leaves less of an impression than almost any other picture the star and director have made together.…Unless, of course, we're talking about the action scenes, for which the auteurs remain in top form. These scenes are an even balance of fights and shootouts, and both are exhilarating. The best of the gunfights take place within a home, at close quarters, with the shooters blazing at each other across furniture and through walls. The fights, though, are in a league of their own. Adkins has so many stellar matches under his belt that how these ones rank among the rest is a matter of opinion, but know that onwards from the very first fight – wherein Scott lays waste to seven thugs within a single extended camera shot – top effort has been made. These fights are potential star-makers, as Adkins finds some choice opponents in relatively unknown performers like Jimmy Chhiu, Craig Henningsen, and especially fight choreographer Jeremy Marinas. Occasional slow motion marginally taints some of the brawls, though their overall quality is strong enough to withstand this fault.In a movie wherein the characters are stock, the setups are old hat, and the lines are recycled, what can still make it worth watching? In this one's case, the answer is gusto and talent. I emphasize how much this seems like something the filmmakers threw together as a side project, but the fact that it's Isaac Florentine doing the throwing means a lot. CLOSE RANGE is a short, fun trip to Actionville that I encourage all fans to take.