Recoil /riˈkoil/
1. to suddenly spring back; and 2. When you see Steve Austin coming; haul ass. 

Yes, Steve Austin still does movies from what I can tell. If you are expecting a mediocre plot set in a town called Hope, and ran by a ruthless, local crime syndicate who may or may not have at one time or another pissed off the wrong guy by accidentally killing his family–then you have come to the right place. RECOIL is an okay action flick that if you have a couple of hours to spare this is the one film that will pass the time. Not because it is a great film, but only because Danny Trejo is in it. Steve Austin is, too. He is there to kick some ass.

Ryan Verett (Austin) is a retired ex-cop turned vigilante out to avenge the death of his wife and son. It isn’t discernible just who these masked bandits were–they were wearing clown masks–and it isn’t easily discernible why they shot up Verett’s party–assuming that he was still a cop at this time and may have angered the wrong people. He survives the assault and now he finds himself in a small town, where a gang that deals in selling illegal firearms and drugs is lead by Drake (Trejo), who not only has every civilian in town at his mercy; he has the sheriff on retainer.

‘I hate it when I forget to turn my swag off at night. I wake up covered in bitches’ – Will Ferrell

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to find out that Drake was one of the masked killers responsible for the death of his family and since he controlled The Circle (what the gang calls itself), he is instantly suspicious when a stranger comes to town and things start blowing up.

Throughout the entire film we see Austin waging war with every member of the Circle gang, leading up to the suspenseful one on one battle with Trejo.  And that’s it. Never-minding the haphazardly matched fight scenes, where Austin stoically takes on 3 – 6 men at a time–it’s just plain awful to watch. He was much better matched in hand to hand combat with Trejo, aptly fulfilling his role as an ultimate bad-ass.

The fight scenes seem slowly choreographed–you can see when a “hit” isn’t really a “hit,” just actors going through the motions of the battle. I think I’d seen one of them smiling when being thrown across a pool table. Also never-mind the acting talent–Austin can’t act, and it is almost comedy to see him slowly throw back one-liners at the sole heroine Darcy (Serinda Sway) and not a heroine per se but a potential widower. Her husband was in some sort of trouble with The Circle and didn’t return home one day. What ever will be. Will be.

Don’t bring a gun to a knife fight. In fact, don’t bring anything. Fists will do just fine. 

Technically, this is my first Steve Austin flick. His ‘Stone Cold‘ alter ego is the one I am most familiar with (due to my brother’s failed attempts at peewee league wrestling matches in the late 90′s) and I have to say that I am indifferent in my opinion of the film. I mean, Recoil is a legit B-movie–predictable plot, cheesy one-liners, poor acting, and bang up fight scenes easily establishes the film as your standard, low-budget action flick. In the bonus viewing materials included on the disc director Miles discusses that Recoil (2011) is his first attempt at an action movie. What I have to say about that: I can tell. Even though this is a small budget film, surprisingly it looks really good.

Once you get beyond the almost lethargic acting performance by Austin; the thuggish bad-ass’ity of Trejo; and the minutely engaging combat action, you actually have a pretty bad film–that is actually pretty good. Does that make sense?

Never matter, it’s your turn to watch Recoil now. Feel free to come back and comment at any time. I am curious to know just what you thought of the film.

Fists fly in this tale of good, evil, and vengeance. 

Image source: Vivendi Entertainment  – all rights reserved.