Redeemer (2014) - Marko Zaror and director Ernesto Diaz Esponiza

[One Armed Boxer]

This movie seems to have slipped under the forums radar, but it's the new flick from Chilean director Ernesto Diaz Esponiza ('Bring me the Head of the Machine Gun Woman') and Marko Zaror ('Undisputed 3'), who previously worked on 'Mirageman' and 'Mandrill' together.

Word is this is a straight up revenge actioner, which is enough to have me interested!

Twitch posted a review here -

http://twitchfilm.com/2014/09/fantastic-fest-2014-review-redeemer-delivers-awesome-mma-inspired-action.html

& an article which features an action scene from the movie here -

http://twitchfilm.com/2014/09/marko-zaror-kicks-ass-in-first-exclusive-clip-from-redeemer.html

[ShaOW!linDude]

I've been wondering when we'd see Zaror again. I'm super-stoked. All I need to know is a dvd release date. (Bet it probably won't be until spring.)

[Drunken Monk]

That fight scene was horrible. I enjoyed the brutality of it (the antler impalement was cool) but the choreography was slow and just boring.

I've always liked Zaror but I've always felt as though he needs better people to work with. People worthy of his talent.

[ShaOW!linDude]

Hmm. For the most part, I liked what I saw in the choreography. Nothing mind-blowing, but solid. While it did seem a bit slow, the clip kept dragging while it played. Look, it was a 1:18 taste of the action. I'm am totally down with this and awaiting a proper trailer.

[The Amazing Psycho Per]

Trailer is out, courtesy of Twitch.

http://twitchfilm.com/2014/11/marko-zaror-will-kick-that-face-and-that-face-and-all-the-faces-in-first-redeemer-teaser.html

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The religious aspect irritates me, but I'm a huge Zaror fan so I'll try to get passed it. I like what I see fight wise, it looks in the line of what we have come to expect from the Espinoza/Zaror duo. Really looking forward to it. Good news about the US distribution rights deal, means we're not going to have to wait forever to see it.

[One Armed Boxer]

Personally I think a much more appropriate and catchy title for this movie would be 'The Grey Hoodie'.

[Drunken Monk]

New trailer...

-D4s4I8CvN4

This movie looks a lot better than I initially thought.

[Gwai LO]

I read a dvd comes out June.. But does anyone know where to order it?

[The Amazing Psycho Per]

I don't know about a dvd release but I read that it'll get a limited theatrical release and be available on VOD on june 12.

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/71556

[One Armed Boxer]

The guys over at Twitch have just posted an interview with director Ernesto Diaz Esponiza. Check it out below -

http://twitchfilm.com/2015/05/fantaspoa-2015-interview-redeemer-director-ernesto-diaz-espinoza.html

[ShaOW!linDude]

Oh, I am so stoked for this!!!!! Thanks for the link, OAB.

[Gwai LO]

Umm please please share a link with me

[One Armed Boxer]

Review's up at Twitch, guys.

http://twitchfilm.com/2015/06/review-redeemer-creative-beyond-the-visceral-fight-scenes.html

Same review that's linked to in post #1...

[ToryK]

Same review that's linked to in post #1...

I just came back to say this and you beat me to the punch!

[Gwai LO]

I read the comment to quickly, my bad. I thought he said he got a link to the actual movie.. That's what I was Asking to share with me. Oops

[One Armed Boxer]

The Blu-ray will be hitting shelves on September 1st -

http://www.cityonfire.com/marko-zaror-gears-up-for-the-martial-arts-film-redeemer/

[OpiumKungFuCracker]

Have this on vudu, I'm halfway there, it seems like there is no formidable foe for Marko Zaro to fight? The henchmen all look like guys that do construction.

[ShaOW!linDude]

The Blu-ray will be hitting shelves on September 1st -

http://www.cityonfire.com/marko-zaror-gears-up-for-the-martial-arts-film-redeemer/

Cool beans!!!!! Psyched!!!! Stoked!!!!!

Have this on vudu, I'm halfway there, it seems like there is no formidable foe for Marko Zaro to fight? The henchmen all look like guys that do construction.

You know that was kind of odd about Mandrill, too, but he did face that trio of killer kickers which was really good. Surely there will be something comparable. He does need to have an end fight like he did against Scott Adkins.

On a side note, I watched Machete Kills the other night. Zaror was pulling some awesome moves in that, and he was in it way more than just a cameo, which was all he had from what I had read. Honestly, he's the sole reason to sit through that.

[KUNG FU BOB]

The Blu-ray will be hitting shelves on September 1st -

http://www.cityonfire.com/marko-zaror-gears-up-for-the-martial-arts-film-redeemer/

Pre-order!!!!

Cool beans!!!!! Psyched!!!! Stoked!!!!!

You know that was kind of odd about Mandrill, too, but he did face that trio of killer kickers which was really good. Surely there will be something comparable. He does need to have an end fight like he did against Scott Adkins.

On a side note, I watched Machete Kills the other night. Zaror was pulling some awesome moves in that, and he was in it way more than just a cameo, which was all he had from what I had read. Honestly, he's the sole reason to sit through that.

In a review I just read, it said that he does have a few serious opponents in the film, with longer fights.

Totally agree with you Dude. I enjoyed both MACHETE movies, but nearly as much as I thought I would. The original trailer was spot-on, but I felt the films missed the mark a lot of the time. However, Marko was fantastic in the second one. I was surprised by his part, and also the lack of fan reaction to his role in it.

Found this on the film: http://asociacionronin.blogspot.com/2015/06/redeemer-2015.html?spref=tw It's in Spanish though. I put it through Google Translate, and here's what I got... It's rough, but you can tell what's meant. Unfortunately I couldn't find the author's name anywhere on the page to give him/her credit.

REDEEMER (2015)

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

We know that the martial arts film, although present in most of the cinemas, is almost exclusive fief of Asia, focusing on Hong Kong and China but without forgetting Japan, South Korea and even India. If we go to the West, it is clear that the United States takes the cake, with some incursions (and stars) British. In Spain a handful of martial actors try to get create an industry, however modest, and Latin America ... apart from competitors in MMA and other martial arts, often not leaving many actors, especially because of the absence of titles genre Hector Echevarria and beyond any other derivative which has not achieved success ... except Marko Zaror.

Chilean actor and martial artist has a few titles from 2006, where he debuted as a protagonist with "Kiltro". In this he followed the great "Mirageman", "Chinango" and "Mandrill", all Chilean productions that followed "Undefeated 3" and "Machete Kills" as a villain in both films. After going from hero to villain, Zaror lapped which is his best film to date, which is the main protagonist and a Chilean-American co-production under the auspices of XYZ Films, the same who are behind such films as " The Raid "and its sequel," Killers "," On the job "," Nazi Zombies 2 "or" Tusk ", in addition to the same Zaror as a producer with the director of this and of the best titles of the actor, Ernesto Diaz Espinoza.

The plot is simple in its approach, a mysterious man (I will not reveal anything that might annoy the film to anyone) is dedicated to kill criminals as expeditiously as possible, until one day comes to a small town and after help a fisherman, he is involved in a death struggle against a drug dealer American that has lost money that seeks to recover. Despite being a very typical story, the development that make the screenwriters (the director he helped by some of his colleagues in movies such as "Bring me the head of the submachine woman" or "Mirageman") it is kept in a very classic line leaving the depth of the main character. Let him know through flashbacks, deepen their motivation and giving it a religious character which, although not usually like it too, in this film is absolutely necessary. All the drama piggybacking the character of the Redeemer, Pardo, ie Zaror is not counted as such show, so to speak, the origin of the Redeemer relying on the interpretation of Marko to give some nuances. Even the ritual that takes place every day, carrying a pistol with a single bullet and playing Russian roulette, is not explained, but it is clear by the above interpretive nuances. Come on, do not make mistakes of American cinema to have everything with words and not let the public try to understand the character, motivations and actions, beyond the martial arts scenes. In this regard, we must also thank the incredible choreography Zaror which we enjoyed in almost half an hour of footage. Obviously the film is martial arts, being the highlight the fights. Zaror training is continuous and excellent physical form seems to be more and more, delighting with combinations of fists, legs, acrobatics and grappling, matching the choreography with films like "Undisputed 2" and the third installment or "Flash Point" . You cast more than one hand to the head with this last reference, but the fight between Zaror and Icarus, Nelson Nunez, the young man in sweats, is very similar in spirit and in the use of techniques which could see between Donnie Yen and Collin Chou. It is another plus point of the film. Not only the choreography is full of excellent technical, if not the execution thereof is spectacular, introducing us to unknown actors with a great technical level with the quality stunts. The work of specialists, largely supporting actors themselves, the usual thugs, it is doubly applauded by some particularly hard times since the choreography have expedited bloody and savage point, techniques and moments that rely on digital effects offer yet more blood that while "singing" a little, like some fires and explosions, is forgiven by the high level that has martial. The use of sticks, baseball bats, guns, boat propellers and even spanners accentuate the harshness of the fights giving it a gore point. Furthermore, the duration of some fights, like Pardo and Icarus, of just over three minutes or three minutes Pardo also against Stone, played by Boris Smirnov, and the final fight against the Scorpion, five minutes together the excellent leadership of Diaz Espinoza, with open to enjoy each technique, with slowdowns in acrobatics, a great assembly, by the director, which is usual in his films planes, edit their own films, not to mention the frames more effective to praise the almost superhero image of the protagonist (not forgetting the costume itself, with those big hoods, urban uniform and actual superhero, something that showed us in "Mirageman" which I take to reclaim its premiere in Spain) and the most sinister Scorpion, absolute antagonist with an almost supernatural aura, a kind of staging of the eternal struggle between good and evil, with Christian religious connotation of God and the Devil used perfectly whiff away from the pamphleteer and providing some epic sense.

The atmosphere of the film, shot on location, and knowing that the budget is not the same as like Hollywood movies, is enriched with western touch with dusty villages, deserts and a sort of law of the strongest, yet a village blocked by armed men in search of the three fugitives and lost money. The sets, big or small local houses ruined roads filled with sand or used in fights, like broken bottles, matching elements visually in some moments with the genre elements. Zaror character is similar to that seen in the spaghetti westerns of Sergio Leone and interpreted by Clint Eastwood, a meager hero in words, with a past, unbeatable and imparting justice, in this case, divine dramatic. We even have a match point, when Pardo crosses for the first time with Stone. The selected drawings are typical in the West movie, with jeans standing in the middle of a street, staring at each other. I do not want to mention the actor Noah Segan, seen in "Looper" or "Cabin Fever 2" which is also one of the producers of the film. His character, Steve Braddock, deviates slightly from the drug lords seen in Hollywood with a fun, spontaneous character and gives the film a comic point, which is unusual. Loreto Aravena, Chilean television actress, fulfills its role of Antonia, the girl in the movie, but like about Braddock, away from the stereotype, mainly due to the absence of love story. There affection and friendship, and even can think that falls in love with Antonia Pardo, but the story does not need the usual ballast. A mother needs money to cure his son, subplot mentioned but again not introduced in excess in the script to focus on the history of redemption of the protagonist. Mauricio Diocares, another TV actor, is Agustin, the catalyst of the events of this adventure Rendentor. A character with some more comic moments but played very convincingly. Finally, note to José Luis Mosca, the evil Scorpion, which stands as a great villain of the film, Pardo joined a very cruel way, besides being Pardo who turned mob hit man to redeeming murderer.

In short, "Redeemer" or "Redeemer" is a violent story of redemption and revenge, with a dramatic depth that works perfectly with elements of western and some of the best choreography of the year. A graph and executed masterfully to make a small film in a cult automatically, a sign that talent is possible to do great films of martial genre work. Excellent leadership and a superb work by Zaror, both front and back cameras, choreographing action sequences where you use everything that has about as lethal elements, plus an amazing show excellent physical form and technique. I would even say that I liked more than "Falcon Rising" by Michael Jai White, to name a good action movie this year. A film that surpasses the expectations, a must for lovers of good cinema martial arts belt.

NOTE: 8.75

Sounds good to me!

[ShaOW!linDude]

Pre-order!!!!

In a review I just read, it said that he does have a few serious opponents in the film, with longer fights.

Totally agree with you Dude. I enjoyed both MACHETE movies, but nearly as much as I thought I would. The original trailer was spot-on, but I felt the films missed the mark a lot of the time. However, Marko was fantastic in the second one. I was surprised by his part, and also the lack of fan reaction to his role in it.

Definitely a pre-order!

Thanks for the article. Interesting read. Zaror hasn't disappointed me yet. I doubt he will in this either.

I had a tough time sitting through both the MACHETE movies. They were alright. I was glad Zaror had a longer appearance in the second. It made up for its length, which I think could've been pared down by about 15-20 minutes. I thought Mel Gibson was good as the villain, too. Not too hammy. He obviously had fun with the role.

[AlbertV]

Watched this last night...I liked it! Interesting story, great action and a twist that is just shocking but again, Marko Zaror truly did not disappoint IMO

[Bus]

This movie was pretty straight. Main bad guy's haircut was throwing me off

[AlbertV]

https://worldfilmgeek.wordpress.com/2015/10/07/review-redeemer-2014/

Here's my full review of the film.

[One Armed Boxer]

I got through watching this one last night, and it's definitely the best Zaror has looked as a screen fighter in my opinion.  I know many will hold 'Undisputed 3' as the benchmark, but I'm not a fan of fight tournament movies which restrict their action to the ring, so have been on the lookout for a chance to see him unleash in a movie like this.

I was definitely surprised at the inclusion of some brief moments of ultra-violence, and thought they added to the overall feel in much the same way similar scenes worked for 'Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning' (unless you're watching the US release - in which case you won't have seen them as they're all cut).  Over the course of the run-time Zaror throws down in a number of fights which incorporate a pair of pliers, a fish hook, and a (switched on) boat propeller, all of which result in suitably bloody consequences for the bad guys.

There are also 3 nicely choreographed one on one fight scenes, all of which take place against opponents who give Zaror's character a run for his money.  The highlight for me was the first one, which has him going against a lackey with some nifty moves of his own, with the fight displaying a nice mix of punch & kick exchanges that frequently segue into MMA style grappling.  I'm usually a big naysayer of MMA as an onscreen fighting style, with only Donnie Yen having been able to successfully portray it in an exciting way with the finale of 'Flashpoint' (& then failing miserably with 'Special ID' a few years later), however Zaror choreographs the fight in such a way that it really works here, and arguably nothing in the rest of the movie quite matches what's on display during this confrontation.

While some will likely complain about the heavy handedness of the religious element of the plot, for me it worked in a kind of pulpy way.  Zaror takes it upon himself to answer the prayers of those less fortunate, who have had a wrong done to them that hasn't been punished for whatever reason.  One such example sees a fisherman, who was badly beaten by a group of bad guys, pray that he wishes to beat them over the head with his oar, and grind their face off with the propeller.  Zaror, taking things deadpan literally, then proceeds to track them down, and do exactly that.

While the action is frequent, unfortunately the direction in-between is quite flat and uninteresting.  Zaror's character is supposed to be the quiet and mysterious type, but the way it was handled made some of the run-time feel more plodding than it did enigmatic. The score was also an issue, and kind of resembled muzak which seemed to be constantly playing at low volume in the background, even during fight scenes. It was a missed opportunity to add some excitement and impact to the action in my opinion.

All in all though it was an enjoyable 90 minutes, and definitely didn’t outstay its welcome. Looking forward to seeing Zaror featuring alongside Scott Adkins again in ‘Savage Dog’.

@KUNG FU BOB & @ShaOW!linDude - Did you guys ever get around to checking this out?

[ShaOW!linDude]

3 hours ago, One Armed Boxer said:

@KUNG FU BOB & @ShaOW!linDude - Did you guys ever get around to checking this out?

I sure did. Posted a review on the main page back in September 2015.

Redeemer

3 hours ago, One Armed Boxer said:

Zaror takes it upon himself to answer the prayers of those less fortunate, who have had a wrong done to them that hasn't been punished for whatever reason.  One such example sees a fisherman, who was badly beaten by a group of bad guys, pray that he wishes to beat them over the head with his oar, and grind their face off with the propeller.  Zaror, taking things deadpan literally, then proceeds to track them down, and do exactly that.

I don't remember this. I mean, I remember Zaror doing all that to those guys, but I don't recall that being in answer to someone's prayer. Well, oddly enough I was thinking about revisiting this the other day when I came across it looking for another movie. As if I needed an additional reason, now I have to. 

I actually revisited Mirageman a month or so ago. Have you seen any of his other films? (Chinango, Kiltro, Mandrill)