BEYOND REDEMPTION reviewed; debuts on Blu-ray and DVD today

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Beyond Redemption

Directed by Bruce Fontaine

Canada, 2015, 89 minutes

Beyond Redemption marks the feature film directorial debut of stuntman and actor (Once Upon a Time in China) Bruce Fontaine. It becomes available on Blu-ray™ and DVD today, Tuesday, February 7th, 2017 from Well Go USA Entertainment. (It's been available on digital since January 3rd.) This review is based on the Blu-ray release.

The film takes place in two Canadian cities. Most of the action is set in Vancouver, with some scenes in Toronto. Billy Tong (Brian Ho, X-Men: Days of Future Past) is a recent recruit in the Ching Tau Gang, which is led by Yuan Chung (Don Lew), a.k.a. Big Brother Yuan. Billy becomes involved in Yuan's plot to kidnap Tiffany Long (Linna Huynh), the daughter of Xi Long (Anthony Towe), a businessman suspected of having ties to Triad organizations. Things get complicated because this operation turns out to be part of a gang rivalry involving arms trafficking.

The situation is particularly difficult for Billy because he is actually an undercover cop working for the Asian Crimes Task Force of the Serious Crimes Division! He has to not only bring down Yuan's gang, but also protect Tiffany from harm.

Not surprisingly there are some weaknesses in the story. The reason for Billy being recruited as an undercover cop is pretty incredulous. And his lack of preparedness in having an exit strategy from where he is "holding" Tiffany is surprising to say the least.

Still the action scenes are decent and make the film worth watching.

Disc Specs:
-- Audio
   -- English DTS-HD Mastere Audio 5.1
   -- Eglish Dolby Digital 2.0
-- Subtitles
   -- English SDH
   -- Off
-- Bonus
   -- Behind the Scenes (of two of the exciting action sequences of the film)
      -- Yuan vs. Billy (2:20)
      -- Mauler Opening Fight (3:42)
  -- Trailer
-- Previews
   -- Sky on Fire
   -- Cold War 2
   -- Kill Zone 2

AsianCineFest Rating: 2.5 out of 4 stars; fairly good, especially for a feature film debut