Forced Vengeance (1982)

My second Chuck Norris film, after Missing In Action, and this one isn't a masterpiece either. Naturally, with a film like this, one expects a wafer-thin plot, clichés, mediocre acting, and certainly no high-quality cinematography, but these kinds of films are simply supposed to entertain, and this one didn't do that well enough. The suspense is stretched out far too long. Between the—unfortunately rather sparse—fight scenes, there is a lot of talking, but unfortunately, the story simply isn't engaging enough for it.

As an action film, Forced Vengeance is simply too slow. What doesn't help either is that Chuck Norris, in addition to a glaring lack of acting skills, has the charisma of a bag of sugar. And having coolness and charisma is surely a requirement for being the protagonist in an action film. That Mr. Norris has managed to build a fairly successful film career is, therefore, a miracle to me.

Is the film total garbage then? Well, no; Chuck Norris is, besides being a worthless actor, a true master of the martial art of Karate, and we do get to see a number of excellent fights. The fight scenes themselves are actually filmed reasonably well, and in terms of violence, it is all fairly straightforward. There is also some female nudity here and there; after all, Hollywood at the time was at least not that prudish. But ultimately, it is simply not entertaining enough to keep us engaged for an hour and a half. As a fight film, *Gewongen Wraak* is far too long-winded and the story lacks tension.

Worth watching if you like action movies, but even then there are better alternatives. 1.5*

Translated from Dutch · View original

A Norris action movie following a fairly standard concept, weak acting, a hefty dose of action that looks pretty good, but still a film that is quite watchable for a Norris fan.

Translated from Dutch · View original

A mediocre film about a veteran working for a casino boss in Hong Kong. An extremely weak plot that fails to captivate anywhere. However, there is beautiful location work, including in Hong Kong. Old-fashioned fight scenes where Chuck Norris does what he does best. It can't really be called good, but it is fun to catch a typical 80s B-action movie like this every now and then.

Translated from Dutch · View original