Blood of Redemption

On account of a small career resurgence thanks to the success of The Expendables franchise, actor Dolph Lundgren has been steadily involved in several "direct-to-DVD" films over the past few years.  Blood of Redemption continues the Lundgren tradition of the Swedish giant playing his usual tough guy role in uptempo action flicks.  Yes, Lundgren in action films might seem cliche at this point, but the cast involved make Blood of Redemption worthy of viewing for fans who can't get enough of the genre.

The Grimaldi family is sitting pretty with a large fortune courtesy of illegal gambling, identity theft schemes, and a counterfeit money operation.  Patriach Sergio (Robert Miano, Donnie Brasco) runs the business along with his older son Quinn (Billly Zane, Titanic).  Younger son Kurt (Gianni Capaldi, Ambushed) has been sheltered from the criminal lifestyle as he attempts a career in the FBI. 

On the night of his 70th Birthday, Sergio's business partner Hayden (Robert Davi, Die Hard) reveals that his nephew Campbell (Vinnie Jones, Snatch) is traveling to the United States to work in their enterprise.  Not long after Campbell's arrival, Sergio is murdered and Quinn is thrown into prison.  After a lengthy sentence, Quinn is out for revenge and enlists the help of longtime head of security, Axel (Dolph Lundgren, Rocky IV).  Together, Quinn and Axel attempt to determine who is behind it all.

Although the cover makes Blood of Redemption look like some sort of Expendables ripoff, that couldn't be further from the truth.  Lundgren serves more as a supporting player in this film and provides narration throughout.  He's there for the big action sequences, but thankfully Blood of Redemption doesn't rely solely on his acting chops.  Zane, Jones, and Capaldi carry the majority of the workload and are successful in their respective roles.  Jones plays the same charater he has in many a film, yet still remains exciting to watch.

The special features only contain a brief making-of featurette and trailer for the film.  The Lundgren interview during the featurette may have been interesting, but it was taped with a ton of noise in the background and ends up being more annoying than informative.  Actions buffs who are fans of Lundgren and/or Jones will probably enjoy Blood of Redemption the most.  If you've been wishing to witness a fightscene between Lundgren and a lethal high-class prostitute, you can now mark that off your bucket list.  Rental Recommended.