Good then to find one in-name-only sequel (and direct to DVD, too!) that the well-to cousins (in this case, Kevin Bray’s Walking Tall remake; starring The Rock and Neal McDonough) might actually be proud to announce as kin. It’s one to be proud of.
I can hear it now ‘the star of Hercules'
heading up two back-to-back sequels to a film that starred The Rock?
Sheesh, how good could that be!?’ - Well, cloak the ruling for a spell…
at least until you’ve sat through the thing. For all intents and
purposes, the economically minded cash-in might actually have just as
much merit as its predecessor.
Nick Prescott (Kevin Sorbo), the
son of a sheriff, returns to his hometown to take on the bullies
(naturally, they’re ‘Morris’s!) that are making life hell for everyone.
With the help of a foxy FBI agent (Yvette Nipar; you may remember her
from 21 Jump Street) and some of the victimised locals, Prescott forms an army (whittled down to one by the end) and wages war.
It mightn’t have the names of the original (in fact, any of the Walking Tall
series); it might be working on the budget equivalent of what it would
take to buy a liveable commission house; and its director (newcomer
Tripp Reed) may be as fresh as apples picked straight from the tree…
but the makers of Walking Tall : The Payback
have recognized their weaknesses and made sure to put the hard yards in
in the other areas – like story, script (an uncredited Joe Halpin), and
performance. As a consequence, some of the action sequences pack more
of a punch than Tyson, and the storyline grabs you like a mugger in the
night.
The biggest surprise of the film is Kevin Sorbo. Never thought much of the guy before. Granted, I’ve never seen his TV series, Hercules (nor the latter one he did, Andromeda),
but from what I could gather, he is a male model-type that had struck
it large in acting. I was wrong. This dude is pretty damn charismatic,
and as Nick Prescott, he’s superb. Sorbo comes very close to rivalling
The Rock’s genuinely good performance in the first film. He really lets
it swing too, in the first scenes, impressing that one step further.
Director
Tripp Reed should let loose on a few more direct-to-video sequels… some
of them could do with as much enthuse as he’s injected here. He’s
definitely one to watch.
Yep. Colour me surprised. Direct-to-video sequels are usually pretty so-so (especially ones that are ‘in-name only’; hello American Pie: The Naked Mile!)
but this is full-on ‘go-go’. Granted, it’s not the kind of film you’d
probably sell you lung for (costs about that much to go to a movie
these days) to see at the theatre, but on video or cable, it’ll
definitely satisfy.
Bring on the next chapter. EXTRASBits and pieces, such as deleted scenes. But, considering it's a straight-to-DVD release, you couldn't really expect much else. Conclusion:
Movie 65% Extras: 30% 
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