Once a web series by famed comic book creator Ed Brubaker (‘Daredevil’, ‘The Death of Captain America’), ‘Angel of Death’ has been assembled into an expectedly rough but nonetheless enjoyably violent 78-minute actioner headlined by stunt woman extraordinaire Zoë Bell.
Originally presented on the web as short vignettes, Sony has done a commendable turning these short installments into a somewhat seamless feature film that doesn’t necessarily defy its low-budget web origins. Yet, it also coasts on the pros that this medium enjoys, namely no rating party-poopers; this ‘unrated’ pic and the heroine herself is one brutal, tough cookie.
The story isn’t breaking any new ground but the geek pedigree of the cast elevates this a few notches with Doug Jones (‘Abe Sapien in the ‘Hellboy’ flicks), Lucy Lawless and Ted Raimi all enjoying some nice moments. We start off seeing the assassin Eve (Bell) show off her efficient, all-business skills at murder.
When a hit goes wrong and a long knife winds up lodged in her skull, she accidentally kills a young girl and then has to employ the talents of a coke-addled doc (Doug Jones) who manages to keep her alive.
Healed and with a sudden ping of conscience, she sets out for revenge out against her former employers. Sound familiar? Essentially, Angel of Death is a gritty reworking of ‘Kill Bill’ amongst a myriad of other hit-men gone good pics.
The film works mostly because of some nice fight photography and the willing and able cast. Bell more than makes up for her lack of acting prowess with considerable charisma and the ability to realistically kick ass.
Obviously segueing her work as Uma’s stunt woman on ‘Kill Bill’ into a role in Tarantino’s ‘Death Proof’, it’s no surprise she made the leap from double to lead. It’s also nice to see Doug Jones sans make-up or f/x with Ted Raimi and Lucy Lawless getting fun cameos.
Besides some lackluster dialogue, the major weak links are goofy, unmemorable villains. Had some cooler villains been introduced, this could have made for one cool cult pic.
The film is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen and pretty much looks like it was made for the web. Grainy and dark, don’t come into this film looking for any real color or detail. A Dolby Digital English Stereo track is provided and does a serviceable job.
Special Features include an audio commentary by writer Ed Brubaker, producer John Norris, director Paul Etheridge and Zoë Bell. Also included are some featurettes ‘Making of’, ‘Writing, Ed Brubaker-Style’, ‘Casting an Angel: Zoë Bell as Eve’, ‘Behind the Stunts’ and Zoë Bell’s original screen test ‘Eve’s Tips for Killing’.
Considering Ed Brubaker’s involvement, I was expecting a bit more style in the script but this is an easy recommend for comic book and action fans.
Angel of Death is now available at Amazon . As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.
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