Detective Knight: Redemption (2022) Film Review
If there’s one thing we should really appreciate about Edward Drake’s latest films, also known as the Knight trilogy, is that the director never pushes to make anything more than just entertainment vehicles starring one very famous face. These are the kinds of films that when shown to audiences outside of a very specific niche, it’s quite smart to disclaim the kind of film to be shown.
However, Drake never goes for cheesy. Sure, his scripts aren’t great pieces of narrative storytelling, but at least you can sense he’s always out of his comfort zone with character arcs that matter beyond the simplistic traits that an action thriller may bring along with it. Detective Knight: Rogue was a clever presentation of good character actors that were alongside one of the greatest action stars. Only that film had a well-built concept to introduce, and delivered on something that couldn’t be repeated. No, Drake may be accused of anything, but of being a director with cheap moves.
In part 2, Detective Knight: Redemption, James Knight is in jail for a crime he openly admitted to committing. He’s paying for something he deserves after a night of mayhem ended up in a move of revenge. Casey Rhodes, played by the impressive Beau Mirchoff is also in that prison after he surrendered so that his family wouldn’t be touched.
But this isn’t the storyline in the sequel. It regards a series of bombings taking place in banks in the city. A gang of criminals wearing very disturbing Santa masks are breaking in and installing chaos. It seems their order for the day is simply to destroy. The reason? A very vocal leader whose rage against capitalism is going very far.
Knight and Rhodes are in the center of a jailbreak during this series of events, and they both end up in very different places. Knight decides to help his former buddies to catch the killer and Rhodes falls in the hands of a criminal with a very clear agenda.
It seems the Knight trilogy is all about the antagonists’ arcs. They are quite prominent as justifiable characters who face a tired Bruce Willis who’s probably in these films to make a few bucks. That’s OK. We already had that discourse and we know why he’s vocal about it. Drake puts him in the center of films that are about emotional battles that have more to do with morals, than a shallow take by a powerful criminal. He insists on making them strong and we like him for it.
Paul Johansson as Ricky Conlan is very, very good. Considering this is an action thriller and they don’t require much of a character’s development, Johansson just steals every scene he’s in as his multilayered interpretation feels good enough to stand against Knight, Rhodes and everyone else. Without him, the film wouldn’t be as good. His presence in the third act is not very balanced, but the plot twists are fine enough to make us accept these stumbles.
Good action sequences (love the digital effects), a solid premise, and great performances. What else do we need from Drake’s trilogy but to feel in the hands of a director whose passion is focused on making some viewers happy and complying with a mission to draw a smile on everyone by giving us a solid version of Willis. Detective Knight: Redemption is a good follow-up to the first entry but it’s good as a standalone film as well.
Oh, and Lochlyn Munro is always welcome to do his thing.
