Film Review: PAYBACK (2020)

PAYBACK **** U.S.A. 2020 Dir: Jesse V. Johnson. 97 mins

Debt collector French (Scott Adkins) gets fired from his job at an old dive bar after one brawl too many with the locals. Sue (Louis Mandylor) who was presumed dead walks into French’s life giving him an offer he can’t refuse, one last job with a payday to die for. All they have to do is collect three lots of money and deliver to their boss Tommy (Vladimir Kulich) to collect the 70k payday and quit the business for good. Things go awry when boss Tommy is held hostage, and French and Sue have to fight for their lives.

Payback is the official sequel to director Jesse V. Johnson 2018 film The Debt Collector, which also starred Scott Adkins and Louis Mandylor as debt collectors. They both reprise their roles here for this killer action flick.

Payback comes across like a buddy cop movie, although these men are on the wrong side of the law. It feels like a homage to 80’s action movies and even video games like Double Dragon, as they confront numerous bosses to collect money, facing various hoodlums along their conquest deliver to the big boss man.

This film is freaking amazing, it has it all, superb fight scenes, boxing, chases, shootouts, torture and best of all witty dialogue, all of which are the perfect ingredients for an awesome action movie.

Scott Adkins and Louis Mandylor work so well together. Scott is a very underrated actor and an amazing martial artist who would give Jason Statham a run for his money, and Louis plays this role with a hint of Mickey Rourke to his performance, which is amazing.

Overall, a great action thriller flick which leaves you wanting more. I hope we get another sequel from this epic action series!

Review by Tony Newton