The 2018 action comedy was directed by Jesse V. Johnson and written by Stu Small and Scott Adkins. It’s the story of Mike ( Scott Adkins ) a hitman investigating the murder of his ex-girlfriend.
PLOT:
Mike is a member of a group of British assasins. He works at a pub called ‘Oasis’. There are two bosses, Big Ray ( Ray Stevenson ), a grizzly old, retired assasin who taugh Mike everything he knows, and Milton ( David Paymer ), a somehow-not nerdy type of schmuck.
As for the assasins, well there’s a few more of them:
Jane the Ripper ( Amy Johnston ) – Trained in the art of the samurai sword ( totally not a Kill Bill knockoff btw )
Mick ( Michael Jai White ) – a US special ops veteran, turned to a life of crime
Mac ( Ray Park ) – a US special ops veteran, turned to a life of crime
Finicky Fred ( Perry Benson ) – Picks his targets from a phone book, constantly trying to find new ways to kill his victims, otherwise a good-hearted lad
Carnage Cliff ( Ross O’Hennessy ) – a bearded man who likes to attack his victims ‘The Shining style’
& Poison Pete ( Stephen Donald ) – poisons people, really bad at grammar, hated by everyone for being a slimey little rat
After sniping his victim to look like the result of a car crash, Mike is tasked another hit at night in an alleyway, where he’s confronted by a biker with a helmet resembling the yellow power ranger. He attacks him with martial arts and is pretty much effortlessly knocked out. Given how Milton always assigns Mike his missions, he assumes a setup.
Later, through Charlie Adams ( Ashley Greene ), Mike finds out about his ex-girlfriend, Beth’s death, he instinctively knows it was a hit. He gives himself a mission :”Track down Beth’s killer”. He goes to Charlie’s apartment to question her. Suddenly, Carnage Cliff bursts in with an axe, attempting to kill Charlie and Mike. Mike kills him, Cliff having not realized it was him.
Big Ray is furious and tasks his assasins to hunt Mike down, and kill him, free of charge. Mike has also found the identity of who ordered the hit on Beth, an Indian businessman named Leonard Kent ( Nick Moran ). What was his motivation? He’s an oil tycoon, that Beth ( a strong believer of environmentalism ) was investigating. Not long after comes the big semi-finale. All the other assasins meet together to kill Mike. Mic and Mac are the first to go. Poison Pete tries to poison Mike, the lil’ rascel gets thrown off the stairs. Nobody liked him anyways. Fred is the last one, he doesn’t want to hurt him, but he has to. Mike spares him by simply knocking him out.
He tracks Kent down, Jane the Rapper acting as his bodyguard. He defeats her in combat. Kent begs to live, offering him millions of dollars, Mike refuses. Now comes the real finale: Milton and Big Ray. Mike goes back to Oasis. Long story short, Milton dies, Big Ray disowns Mike and everyone that’s actually still alive lives happilyish ever after. The End.
CONCLUSION:
Accident Man did a great job at delivering the comedy side of it’s action comedy drama. The British humor along with it’s Edgar-Wright style more than pleased this critic. As for the action, sure it was pretty generic, but I don’t think it was meant to be the change the world looks at action either. Nor was the plot anything too special to brag about. Overall, Accident Man relies on it’s cast and it’s clever, often subtle humor. I’d give Accident Man a 7.5./10. A hidden gem if you will.
-The Screenwriter