The Definitive Guide to Living in the Capital , Cairo , Egypt

Featured image via massobreseries.com

It has come to the point that when a Bruce Willis fan sees a new film by the star, they just hope that this time it does not suck. A recent string of C-rate action features with Willis starring, but rarely showing up or providing a noteworthy performance, have made for pissed fans. Could the star’s latest film Reprisal be his way of breaking the “bad luck” streak or is it just another disappointment?

Reprisal follows Bank Manager Jacob (Frank Grillo) who is determined to find the perpetrator (Johnathan Schaech) who robbed the bank he works for. Jacob teams up with his ex-cop neighbour James (Bruce Willis) to clear Jacob’s name and bring the thief to justice. But as Schaech’s character (Gabriel) finds out what they’re up to, matters get really complicated.

Despite the fact that the plot seems suspenseful and intriguing, the actual film is definitely not.

The execution lacked the fast pace of an action film that would keep audiences on the edge of their seats. Instead the scenes where prolonged and stretched, taking away any kind of anticipation and making the experience of the film flat.

The film was also very predictable, starting from its main premise all the way down to its minor details; another vigilante feature that has nothing new to offer over the dozens of recent vigilante films, had the audience expecting what will happen within the first couple of minutes.

Another main issue was the script; most, if not all, of the lines were either mediocre, repetitive or completely incomprehensible. Action films rely on stereotypes, but having the audience unable to remember even a single line from the film after just watching it says something about the script. Villain thief Gabriel, kept repeating “a life for a life, an eye for an eye” and that was never explained, so every time the line was repeated the audience had no idea what he was taking about and eventually lost interest in finding out.

The only aspect that could have given the film some life was the acting, but that was the biggest let down of all. There is no question that Bruce Willis is amazingly talented, but in this film, as well as several of his latest, Willis fans get almost none of the dazzle and raw talent that they witnessed in Die Hard. Frank Grillo is no different, also going through the motions with a flat lifeless performance and no input other than Grillo’s action fitting physique.

Don’t watch this film if you are a Bruce Willis fan, you will be disappointed. In fact, you will most probably be disappointed no matter what.