Road to Revenge

• Also known as Royal’s Revenge (*better title*)
• Directed by Kellen Garner and Christopher Sheffield
• March 17, 2022 (Germany)

When four estranged siblings learn the man that killed their mother is running for governor they set aside their differences to join together to stop him and get justice.

Being that it was a newer Western, I went into Road to Revenge with extremely low expectations. Toss in that this appears to be a micro budget film and I was not expecting too much. To my surprise, it wasn’t bad after all. I’m not saying great, but it was much better than I expected or it should have been all things given.

The story is a revenge narrative where a group of siblings go to avenge the death of their mother. It’s an interesting plot idea that feels as if it borrowed somewhat from The Sons of Katie Elder. And given that it was made today it executes the story without being exceedingly dark.

This is a well thought through film that doesn’t try to exceed the limitations that it has upon its making. A prime example of this is when the sister Lucy (Alexis Moeller) gets in a fight during the finale with a physically superior opponent. They don’t show this slight woman being able to take out her attacker with her bare hands. Rather, she wins through a combination of intelligence and the use of a weapon that she’s able to get herself in a position where she can kill him. I bring this up because today it is not uncommon for a significantly smaller female to trash a much larger character with surprising ease. I am not against a woman beating somebody up but doing it easily to a significantly physically greater opponent tends to bother me. Make them struggle a bit. There were times even Ahnuld struggled in his films, and he was always the best of the best.

I admit I was a little lost in the beginning. They throw multiple elements at you but don’t necessarily give much of a hint on how they all come together or that they even will. It left me thinking this was going to be a series of events forced together. Mercifully though after about the first third or so of the movie they start explaining how these things connect.

The main issue is the acting. Nobody was truly bad but they were not great. This was more along the lines in quality of a better than most YouTube film and not with a theatrical or even direct-to-video release. I’m not sure if the performers needed a few more takes to get some of the stuff right or they just were unseasoned. They did the job, but not as well as it could’ve been done.

Slade (George Nelson) for example is much more of a jerk than a murderous villain. He certainly has some great dialogue but is not of as threatening a manner as someone capable of murder and any other crime should be. He is the asshole that makes work a tough slog but not a dude that can kill or order death.

Speaking of which, why could the siblings not just bring Slade in for murder with a group of lawmen. One of the siblings is now a U.S. marshal and he is bringing in Slade for their mother’s murder. Why not get help? It would be a whole other matter if he was not bringing in an apparently wanted man.

The costuming is not bad, but it’s only because one of those nerdy things I know there is clear evidence that some of the pants have belt loops and they worked to hide them. Loops came after the West faded. Just pop them off! And speaking of working to hide stuff I swear I saw some electric lights not turned on in the background here and there. They try to keep them out of shots. Again, if they had a slightly better budget they could’ve CGI’d them away or build some sets without them.

But what saves this is the story. It’s a good execution at the hands of not too bad directors that elevates this from something that’s forgettable to something that I could find myself watching again. Despite its flaws and its weaknesses, there are more good points than bad. There are some jokes along the way and it’s a fun revenge driven Western. The character of Brody was perhaps the most engaging one and perhaps should’ve been given a little bit more time to develop.

This is not some bummer Western filled to the brim with terrible people facing off against even worse individuals. It’s not mythmaking either. Rather this is a family seeking to honor their mother as well as bring the only kind of justice they can for her killing. And this justice also will heal the wounds of their past. You don’t get much of that these days.

Road to Revenge, while not great, is not bad. There is some good action and good dialogue along with some interesting characters. Western fans will like this and may even check it out again.