Action movies have been in cinema since the 70s, and this trend has never really fallen out; it just changed in details and formulas to adapt to each era’s audiences and wants. Vendetta (2022), directed by Jared Cohn, is a continuation of this old trend in cinema. While it is not one of the best films the genre has to offer, it remains a solid story that delivers and checks all the requirements of a successful action flick. One might even call this little film a star vehicle because the leading roles played by Clive Standen and Theo Rossi are not precisely stars of the movie. The film also features Mike Tyson and Bruce Willis performances, an indisputable emblem of cinema and, more specifically, the action genre.
Vendetta is entertaining, but that is all one can say about it. It is nothing exceptional and is sometimes very predictable and cheesy, a formulaic film made to cater to an audience that wants exactly that: a good time with an easy and predictable plot in a standard runtime of one hour and a half.
In this article, we will dive into the plot and explain each story element and fragment in detail before arriving at the climactic ending and explaining its intricacies. So, be aware as it is going to be filled with spoilers.
Vendetta (2022) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:
The movie opens with scenes of a happy family, a husband named William Duncan, his wife Jen, and his daughter Kat, they’re having a meal together, and nothing seems out of the ordinary. The daughter is in school and has a passion for sports, she likes to play softball, and her parents tell her to focus on her studies but are supportive of her hobby. Nothing seems out of the ordinary.
William takes his daughter to her game, and after she wins, he congratulates her and asks her if she wants to get tacos to celebrate, and she happily accepts. They go to the store, and he goes in, and she waits for him outside the car. While he is getting the food, she is grabbed by gang members. They suddenly pull out of a few cars while masked and stand around her with guns while two men hold her by arms on the ground. A man in a mask is talking to his partner and keeps asking him to kill the girl because that would make him a man and make him more accepted in the gang.
While she is begging for her life, the man shoots her, and she falls to the ground, bleeding. The shot is heard inside the restaurant, and William runs out to find his daughter bleeding on the ground while the gang members are fleeing. He is able to catch the man who shot his daughter and removes his mask to look at his face before he, too, is able to run away while the cops arrive at the scene, and William keeps screaming for an ambulance.
The next scene is at the hospital just as Jen arrives, and her husband holds her as the doctor comes out with the bad news. The girl is dead. Grief settles around the happy house, and when William meets with the lawyer, she tells him that the shooter will only get a few years in prison and will most likely walk out soon due to the lack of evidence. In court, William refuses to identify the shooter, even though he saw his face, and the judge dismisses the case, and the shooter walks away free.
William stalks the shooter to where he lives, and while he is waiting for him in the car to leave his house, a prostitute approaches him, and he refuses what she offers before she walks away. The shooter – Danny, walks out of his house, and William follows him in the car and runs him over. He walks out of the car, kills him with a baseball bat, and leaves the crime scene.
Detectives arrive at William’s house the following day to ask a few questions before leaving. When Danny’s gang, and more specifically his brother Rory, find out about the murder, they quickly link the killing to him due to the testimony of the prostitute, and they track him and try to kill him, but he escapes and runs to his wife in the house. He confesses what he did and tells her that it is because the shooter was going to only get a few years for killing their daughter, which he thinks is not fair. The detective in charge of the case tells him he knows he killed Danny and offers police protection while he is waiting for questioning. Rory and his father (played by Bruce Willis) distract the cops and enter William’s house, killing his wife and shooting him multiple times, thinking they have killed him.
Vendetta (2022) Movie Ending Explained:
William miraculously survives the shooting and spends a period in the hospital recovering before he starts planning his revenge, which begins by purchasing guns from a car stealer named Dante. Afterward, he starts tracking down the gang members and killing them, starting with a man named Zachary, who tells him where Rory is. When he arrives at the nightclub where Rory and his father run their business, he waits for the enraged Rory and his gang mates to leave the club before walking into his father’s office and killing him, picking up his phone and calling him to tell him that his father is dead.
Rory and his friends return to the club where William is hiding, and they have a violent shoot-out before William flees the place with a gunshot to the shoulder. He runs to Dante, who helps him remove the bullet before Rory and his friends find them, and they follow them in a car while shooting at them while William and Dante run towards Roach (played by Mike Tyson), a business associate of Dante’s who owes him a favor. In his garage, Rory’s and Roach’s gang have a massive gunfight that leaves everybody dead except Rory and William.
William hides while Rory calls his name, and when William tries to tackle him, Rory shoots him in the stomach and thinks he got him. William picks up a screwdriver next to him and stabs Rory in the side of his throat, killing him instantly. The cops then arrive at the scene, and the detective in charge of the case goes to William, asks him if it was worth it, and tells him that he can’t afford to let him die because of everything he has done. William tells him he better arrest him fast before he lays his head down and closes his eyes. The open ending scene leaves the audience with the question: is William dead, or will he face punishment for his revenge and all the killings and crimes he has committed in his journey?
Related to Vendetta (2022): The 10 Best Suspense Thriller Movies of 2022
Trailer
Vendetta (2022) Movie Links: IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes
Vendetta (2022) Movie Cast: Bruce Willis, Theo Rossi, Clive Standen, Thomas Jane, and Mike Tyson
