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Cast: Jason Mewes, Michael Jai White, Michael Madsen, Quinton Rampage Jackson
Vigilante Diaries revolves around a team of black-ops agents turned crime-fighters, led by an elusive, brooding anti-hero of near-mythical physical and weapons skills, known only as The Vigilante (Sloan). Abandoned by governments, corporations and his handlers and with a bounty on his head, The Vigilante’s jam-packed missions of rescue and revenge take the audience from the mega-mansions and underbelly of Los Angeles to far-flung locales including Iraq, Armenia, Russia, and the UK. The film introduces a cast of colorful, dangerous, and hilarious characters with each of these missions. Mewes plays Beverly Hills documentary filmmaker Michael Hanover, who records the exploits of The Vigilante and is thrust headfirst into the middle of the story he is documenting—becoming a high-value target himself in the process. Mix in a trio of Asian femme fatales, a cadre of ruthless Armenian mobsters, and at the top, a pair of deep cover super-spies hell-bent on throwing the world into chaos – it’s no wonder it’s up to The Vigilante, not God, to sort ‘em all out.
"Vigilante Diaries" tells the story of a group of black-ops agents turned crime-fighters. They are led by a man known only as "The Vigilante." Their work takes them all over the work as they fight crime with their own brand of justice.
There is a lot going on in "Vigilante Diaries," it probably tries to do too much which makes the film a bit uneven. The time line keeps jumping back and fourth and it is easy to get a bit confused at times but its main weakness is the time line messes with the films pace.
That is probably my biggest complaint about the film which does have a few good things going for it. For starters the cast is one of its biggest strengths, Michael Jai, Rampage Jackson, Jason Mewes, Paul Sloan, Jacqueline Lord and Michael Madsen all shine in the film. The movie doesn't take itself all that serious and the actors seem like they are having a good time playing their characters just translates back to the audience.
Another thing that I liked about the film was the action scenes, there is a lot of them and some or better than others but overall they were full of energy and well done. I can see why the film had a brief theater and VOD run but I also thought it was entertaining enough to recommend it to fans of action films. There is also a good amount of humor in the film and some of it was very funny.
"Vigilante Diaries" is available now on DVD and Blu-ray with Special Features that include:
Vigilante Diaries: Behind The Scenes
You can order the DVD HERE and the Blu-ray HERE.
"Vigilante Diaries" suffers from writing issues but the acting, directing and action scenes make the film entertaining none the less. With a little better script and maybe some trimming in the editing room this could have been a real gem but I still recommend checking it especially if you like action and/or the cast.
Released by Anchor Bay Entertainment
** 3/4 Out Of *****