Debt Collectors 2020 * * * Stars

Director: Jesse V. Johnson
Year: 2020
Rated NR
Rating: * * * Stars
Cast: Scott Adkins, Lousi Mandylor, Vladimir Kulich

"No more hurting my fellow man". Oh really. Then how come the characters in Debt Collectors "hurt" and spit like no one's business. I mean male bodies are pounded like tenderized meat trolled out at a Four-star steakhouse. Whoever was in charge of the sound editing via many blaring punches needs a little recognition.

Anyway, "Collectors" is a cleanly-staged action film, a pseudo-martial arts mantra, and an ode to how much head trauma punishment a human being can take. It's also a tale of two guys who demand some long, overdue moolah. They accomplish this by using desperate physicality, a non-blarney approach, and no BS.

The amassed actors involved (Scott Adkins and Louis Mandylor) exhibit spitfire dialogue, mobbing frailty, pinched brotherhood, and knuckled fists of fury. Their scenes of prolonged discussion are like Vincent Vega and Jules Winnfield: The Dukes of Hazzard version.

As far as this year's releases go, Debt Collectors is about as violent and unforgivable as a "grindhouse" spool on high-grade PCP. Being a second installment to 2018's The Debt Collector (which I have yet to see), "Collectors" is almost akin to the True Romance sequel Quentin Tarantino never had a chance to make (Tony Scott's signature lighting and lead Christian Slater excluded).

Yet to be released in the UK, feeling like a latter-day Western, and directed by a guy who's also a stunt coordinator (Jesse V. Johnson), "Collectors" is about a couple of debt collectors who get involved with a drug kingpin bent on killing them no matter how well the job is done.

This film takes place in LA and Las Vegas with a final shootout sequence that follows some explanatory talk and footsy, electrocution torture. I give "Collectors" a 3 star rating but it's not for the easily squeamish. Yup, you can "bill it".

Written by Jesse Burleson