Review by John Delia
Not much here that you haven’t already seen in other comical crime films, as Final Kill falls below the line of providing anything creative and new. The budget must have been low as it shows in the production value and final cut. And the very predictable storyline didn’t help it very much either. However, if you want to see Danny Trejo in yet another cameo role, then you may want to check this out on DVD or download it from Amazon prime video for a good laugh.
Micky Rome (Ed Morrone), a collector and protector for mob boss Carl Riser (Billy Zane), has finally reached the end of his rope and wants to retire. He meets with Riser to tell him and because he is short of men that he can trust like Micky, he asks him to take one last job. After this one he can walk away with a huge payday and retire. Still not happy about it, Riser assures him it’s an upscale easy-peasy job in Costa Rica and it will be a quick in and out.
Doing it for old time sake, Micky heads for the Central American paradise where he meets Ray Bauer (Edward Finlay) and his gorgeous wife Camilla (Anita Leeman Torres). There Mickey finds out that the couple stole $8 million from the Fratellis mob and Micky must safeguard the couple until they can be picked up by the FBI. Their testimony is keeping them alive and will put the Fratellis family away for good.
When the job starts to get dicey, Micky and the Bauer’s hunker down for big trouble. Director and writer Justin Lee lets his film get away from him spending a lot of film on scenes that really shouldn’t have had that much screen time. It may have been that Lee wanted to stretch his movie to a full feature hour and 20 minutes, but from what I could see at least 25 minutes were unnecessary. Shorter and a bit more realism may have saved Final Kill.
There’s not much more I can say about the film that would give it much hope, but it is what it is. I will say that the performance Anita Leeman Torres as Camilla Bauer is worth the watch. She gets into her role nicely, charming Mickey to accept the facts about the Bauer’s so he will make sure things go smoothly. Also gullible about her husband’s belief that they have scored big, she’s oblivious to the power of the mob and thinking that the millions they have stashed away will be enough to allow them to disappear. When the going gets rough she pulls off the best acting scenes in the film.
Final Kill has not been rated buy the MPAA, but contains strong violence, brutality and language. Be cautious when deciding to allow immature children see the film as it does have some scenes that are inappropriate for youngsters. The Blu-ray or DVD can be found on line at Walmart, Target, Best Buy and Amazon.
FINAL ANALYSIS: It’s not too bad for those who do not recognize the storyline and don’t care about production quality (2 out of 5 Stars)
Specifications and additional video information:
Cast: Billy Zane, Randy Couture, Ed Morrone, Dr. Drew Pinsky, Danny Trejo and Johnny Messner.
Directed and Written by: Justin Lee
Genre: Action, Comedy
MPAA Rating: Not Rated, language, violence
Running Time: 1 hr. 20 min.
Video Release Date: April 14, 2020
Original Theatrical Release Date: Mar
Language: English
Reviewed Format: DVD
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
Video: Widescreen and Scope
Subtitles: English SDH and CC
Distributed by: Cinedigm
Released on: Blu-ray, DVD at Walmart, Target, Best Buy and Amazon.