The Reckoning (I) (2014) User Reviews

Kind of feels like a long episode of a popular cop TV show.

[Hellmant · 6/10 · 21 October 2014]

'THE RECKONING': Three Stars (Out of Five)

Australian crime-mystery-thriller flick starring the brothers of some well known celebrities; Jonathan LaPaglia (kid brother of Anthony LaPaglia) and Luke Hemsworth (big brother to Chris and Liam Hemsworth). It was written and directed by John V. Soto and also stars Viva Bianca, Hanna Mangan Lawrence and Alex Williams. It tells the story of a cop investigating the murder of his former partner; while also tracking down two troubled teens, linked to the killing. The movie is pretty well made but nothing too memorable.

LaPaglia plays Robbie Green; a detective investigating the roadside murder of his ex-partner Jason Pearson (Hemsworth). He finds an SD card, at the scene of the crime, that contains video shot by two runnaway teens; Rachel (Lawrence) and AJ (Williams). The teens were making a documentary, on the hit-and-run death of Rachel's sister, and the video could contain information leading to Pearson's killer. With the help of Detecitve Jane Lambert (Bianca), Green investigates the crime and finds some pretty shocking and gruesome imagery, on the video, in the process.

I was expecting a pretty poorly made, and mostly boring, B movie crime thriller but this is better than that. The acting is all pretty decent (especially LaPaglia and Lawrence) and the directing isn't too amateurish. It does kind of feel like a long episode of a popular cop TV show, but a good one at least. While the film is more interesting (and better made) than I was expecting, it's still nothing too special and I doubt I'll remember too much about it more than a year from now.

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is in......I give it a pass.

[adrossan · 6/10 · 15 August 2014]

I was about to let my attention wander with this movie, when it took an interesting turn.

It had my full attention from then on, and while not a world beater, I quite enjoyed it.

Made a change from over-the-top clichéd rubbish, and put a new turn on the almost exhausted found-footage genre, which I hope will take a long rest very soon.

This not a found footage film per se, but uses the style to clever use to keep our Detectives on the hunt and guessing, as does the viewer.

I liked also the intelligent denouement and completion of the storyline, except for one section, which still needs work in most films.

More attention should be paid to this critical part of any film (budding film makers TAKE NOTE), as it can often snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, leaving the viewer appalled at a "cheapskate" way out of a corner the writers have painted themselves into. Reference American Gigolo as an example of a poor and rushed ending that spoiled an otherwise very good film.

A little more use of the Australian scenery would have added a more Aussie feel to the picture, which has somewhat of a generic feel (could have happened anywhere) but overall the dark subject matter was handled quite well with deep moods and lighting to match, not too dark and still able to hear every spoken word.

Nice one John Soto, more please.....

THOSE THAT DEAL IN DEATH SHALL TASTE ITS FRUIT

[nogodnomasters · 6/10 · 10 November 2018]

If you read the Amazon editorial review you get the whole movie, including the "twist" you had already figured out. If you watch the film for Luke Hemsworth, he gets killed in the second scene and only appears in flashbacks. When Detective Jason (Hemsworth) is shot and killed, Detective Robbie Green (Jonathan LaPaglia) and his partner Jane (Viva Bianca) are on the trail.

The film implies that Robbie and Jane were once an item to the dismay of his family. Robbie also likes his drink which he sips on all day while working. We know who the killers are in the film and why they are doing it. In fact they documented their deeds and made sure the cops got a thumb drive. Rachel (Hanna Mangan Lawrence) who has terminal cancer along with her mentally ill boyfriend AJ (Alex Williams) are on a killing spree, getting everyone who was involved in Rachel's sister hit and run death.

This is not the best vigilante film out there, nor is it exciting crime drama...yet at the same time it isn't bad. You knew where the film was headed and I was hoping they would come up with a different ending...something with a clever twist from some useless piece of information I missed...but they didn't.

The film uses Bible quotes in the killings, but not Samuel L. Jackson quality. In spite of what the film claims, Romans is in the New Testament, not Old. An okay rental if you're bored.

Parental Guide: Occasional F-bomb. Sex. No nudity.

Challenging sanity - the Aussie way

[discocat77 · 1/10 · 3 September 2014]

There's an old joke – "all Australians are walking upside down". This movie is a persuasive proof that there is definitely a tiny piece of joke in this statement. The society pictured in this movie is exactly like that – completely twisted.

For example, what would the three muscular drug dealers do when their safe house is approached by an inadequately looking teen girl with a skinny friend, who's shooting the bandits on camera(!!!)? And the lady is mumbling something about retribution from the bible… Of course, the criminals politely invite this creepy pair into their hideout, and then obediently allow to savagely torture and kill themselves. Of course, it' s an absolutely obvious way things are done in the streets of Australia!

What a shame that the movie director didn't share with the audience the details of "bringing to peace" the avenged criminals, who overwhelm the attackers in every possible characteristic excluding "goodness". It makes one think that however hard the movie creators tried to work out a persuasive way of crazy teen couple's winning over 2 foot-soldiers with their boss, they couldn't make it without looking unrealistic. That's why they took an innovative decision to picture the bandits already neutralized. Genius move! Thunderous applause!

And there's one more especially vivid episode.

What would the main character of the movie, an experienced police officer in his 40s, do, when he comes home knowing he's being hunted by two extremely dangerous criminals intending to mortify him as painfully as possible? Especially considering the fact that previously they've already committed a number of psycho-aggravated assaults, presently on the loose and always do their thing fast. A normal thriller hero would send the wife and kids away and would be sitting in the dark corner of his home with a gun, waiting for the inevitable visit. But the Aussie heroes have a special sovereign methodology.

As clear as day, the concerned policeman first fixes himself a mighty drink, then has sex with his wife and…happily blacks out in the sleep of the righteous. Well, a man has a right to relax, doesn't he? Especially in the anticipation of brutal torture and violent death. That's how it usually happens, right? And then he's woken up in the warm company of quite expected maniac guests, who have already taken the heirs of this sleeping beauty as hostages.

And such "innovative" plot points, boldly challenging the most common everyday logic, adorn almost every episode of this movie. But along with that its content propagates the humanitarian target of youth de- narcotization. Guess the creators of "Reckoning" made a very good job in making it very hard to take this movie and its "humanitarian mission" seriously. They can be really proud of themselves.

Predictable, waste of time.

[adamgeorgeson · 1/10 · 8 August 2014]

My first review on this site.

Although I was able to watch the full movie, I at times, criticized certain points in the movie that are completely unrealistic and very badly acted.

Based in Australia, there are numerous major flaws to this movie, numerous things that the Police in America use(Badge) are used in this movie. It makes no sense, and when you notice it, it ruins the rest of the movie for you.

On numerous occasions, the plot and acting is completely off, and had me wanting to stop watching the movie.

The only reason I watched the whole movie was because I was already half way through, and couldn't be bothered watching another.

In short:

The movie is a typical, corrupt cop, wife kids, having a secret relationship with the "hot" partner cop, has a friend who is on the wrong side of the law, they somehow get into a situation where the cop has killed someone. For some weird reason he gets away with it, the person who he ran over, family member(Sister) and coincidently a guy he "Arrested" a couple years early that is "Mentally ill" go on a killing spree for "Everyone who contributed to her sisters death"(Somehow the plot leads us to a gang of drug dealers), also somewhere in between a girl and a mentally ill guy kills high ranking dangerous drug dealers, without the police catching them.

Another spoiler, the big guy with tattoos, his car is left INSIDE A WAREHOUSE!? and the "Police were called" earlier in the day, yet these two main characters are FIRST ON SCENE? IN A WAREHOUSE?.

Don't watch it. Waste of time, poor acting, could barely keep watching it. Typical Cop turned bad movie.

Herp derp, herpty derp

[Sankari_Suomi · 4/10 · 10 June 2016]

Good cinematography. Horrible everything else. This Australian movie is an embarrassment to the nation.

It contains a bunch of idiotic mistakes that should have been picked up long before the final edit.

Examples:

* the biblical book of Romans is referred to as part of the Old Testament (it's actually in the New Testament)

* Romans 13:4 is misquoted (they simply made up a bogus quote which has nothing to do with the original text)

* Numbers 35:19 is quoted, but they arbitrarily change 'he' to 'she' and incorrectly reference the quote as Numbers 35:19-21

Herp derp, herpty derp. And so on, and so forth.

I rate The Reckoning at 13.32 on the Haglee Scale, which works out as an dreadful 4/10 on IMDb.

Well acted thriller with twists

[chunky696 · 8/10 · 8 August 2014]

I was looking forward to seeing this movie because (1) I'm a fan of thrillers and (2) I like Viva Bianca since her Spartacus days. This film is an interesting blend of found footage and crime movie which I haven't seen before. The film starts off a bit slow but then picks up pace and certainly has suspenseful moments. Viva is good although the detective Lapaglia is also impressive as is one of the teenagers. Performances are realistic and there are plenty of twists which kept me on my toes, particularly towards the end. the movie has a good score as well although sometimes feels too busy, but it works. Overall i really enjoyed it and recommend it to others.

Good Aussie crime thriller with a twist.

[barry-maxwell-1992 · 8/10 · 2 September 2014]

I was a little cautious about John Soto's new film The Reckoning. I think the 'found footage' genre is over saturated. However, The Reckoning doesn't quite play out that way, in fact it's an intriguing mix of found footage and the police procedural. I feel that there is enough of a twist on the genres that it actually becomes quite engaging.

The story develops nicely, and the two arcs of characters are molded together well. I think that Hanna Mangan Lawrence and Alex Williams, playing the two runaway teens, really shone in this film. That's not to say Jonathan LaPaglia and Viva Bianca were bad, they were good as their roles, but Lawrence and Williams were a driving force in the film.

I feel like The Reckoning is a great Aussie film, I took particular joy in seeing Perth on the big screen, and after watching it I really want to see Soto's other films Crush and Needle.

What do you reckon?

[morrison-dylan-fan · 8/10 · 24 January 2015]

Originally planning to watch the quirky Bollywood movie Finding Fanny, (what a title!)I was disappointed to discover that the DVD was faulty.With there only being a few days to go until a poll being held on IMDb for the best films of 2014 was to end,I franticly starting taking a look at a small pile of 2014 titles that a family friend had recently passed over.With having enjoyed the 2008 Aussie Noir film The Square,I was delighted to spot a fresh cut of Aussie Noir which appeared to be really over looked,which led to me getting ready to discover who you can reckon on.

The plot:

Called out along with Detective Jane Lambert to a crime scene, Detective Robbie Green discovers that the victim is his former partner Jason Pearson.Keeping hold of the vodka that he's secretly drinking,Green opens Pearson's car door,and starts to investigate the remains of the deadly hit and run.Carefully checking Pearson's blood-soaked body,Green discovers that a memory card has been left in a pocket.

Going back to the police station,Green and Lambert discover that the memory card contains a documentary movie being made by Rachel (who is dying from cancer) and her newly-married husband A.J.Watching the start of the doc,Green and Lambert find out that Rachel's sister was killed in a hit and run,which has led to Rachel deciding that she will use her final breath to get revenge on the people who killed her sister.As Green & Lambert set off to stop Rachel and A.J. on their road of revenge,Green soon finds out that he is unknowingly about to face his day of reckoning.

View on the film:

Whilst the "Found Footage" sub-genre has mostly become connected with Horror titles,writer/director John V. Soto uses the format here to cross Film Noir over with the Revenge genre,that allows for Soto and cinematographer Jason Thomas to give the movie 2 contrasting appearance.Backed by somber score from Thomas Rouch,Thomas and Soto use glass to subtly show Green being unable to see the demons reflected at him,and to also show Green and Lambert looking out to the murky shadows of the past.Keeping the "Found Footage" limited to featuring Rachel & A.J.,Soto and Thomas use the couples documentary to give the movie a rawness that gradually consumes the title,with the couples revenge attacks pulling everyone into a decaying gutter.

Although the structure of the title does feature some noticeable flaws, (if the documentary was the only clue that you had,why would you not watch the full movie before you went back out to continue the investigation!) the screenplay by Soto makes the flaws ones that are easy to overlook,due to Soto uncovering the past piece by piece which has led to Green (played by an excellent,worn down Jonathan LaPaglia) becoming a burnt to a crisp cop,who finds himself stuck on a Film Noir road to pain.Keeping away from showing Rachel and A.J. as 2 dumb teens on a killing spree,Soto digs deep into the events which have led to Rachel's desire for revenge,which leads to a wonderfully bleak final note,as everyone faces their day of reckoning.

Great!

[ohhelloo · 9/10 · 2 September 2014]

The Reckoning is a must see for crime thriller lovers . With a well structured story line with dark twists and turns, gut wrenching performances and crisp cinematography, Soto has proved himself in his talent for crafting genre films.

The notable performances of rising actors Lawrence and Williams proved strong in their portrayal of obsessive troubled teens with their quest for vengeance.

With successful use of found footage and the crime genre, interesting cinematic layers have been used to create a dark yet thrilling take on city crime. The visual elements have been prominently complimented by a prodigious soundtrack.

Overall a great and enjoyable Australian film with complex dimension and texture.

Tense cat and mouse thriller

[leos_monkey · 8/10 · 18 September 2014]

Writer and Director John V Soto known for his supernatural teen Crush and horror Needle has left those genres out for his third feature film The Reckoning. The musical score alone is brilliant and tense and once again the director has a knack for casting with Viva Bianca and Jonathan LaPaglia as detectives Jane Lambert and Robbie Green investigating the roadside execution of Luke Hemsworth's character Jason Pearson and tracking down two runaway teenagers (Hanna Mangan Lawrence and Alex Williams) as Rachel and AJ on a quest to seek revenge on her sister Abbie (Chelsea Williamson) who was killed in a hit and run and uncover the corruption within the police force and a twist at the end will keep your eyes glued on the screen from the start with a fast thrilling car chase at the beginning to the end with a rooftop stand off.