The Warrant: Breaker’s Law

• Directed by Brent Christy
• April 18, 2023

A warrant brings a frontier marshal and his deputy cross-country to deliver a dangerous criminal which causes them to cross paths with a ruthless gang.

The Warrant: Breaker’s Law opens in the type of Western setting one would expect. Kind of dusty and dry and maybe more than a little too hot. This is in contrast to The Warrant which had a very wooded setting. It looked more like Oregon or Pennsylvania than it did what comes to mind when one mentions the West. This change in locale does help since this aims for the more traditional feel of a Western.

Breaker here must work with his father which is a mild inversion of the first film. John Breaker (Neal McDonough) is once again a man with a strong moral code doing what’s right. In this case it is defending the besieged town of Absolem’s Hill from outlaw Yule Bronson (Dermot Mulroney) along with getting his prisoner and Yule’s twin brother Dead-Eye to that very town where Breaker’s father Judge Thaddeus Breaker (Bruce Boxleitner) resides and presides. And he lives there with Breaker’s sister and Deputy Bugle Bearclaw’s (Gregory Cruz) former flame Charlotte (Amy Hargreaves). Holy coinky dink, Batman!

It’s certainly a little more humorous than the last one. The humor doesn’t undermine anything, but rather accentuates the feel and helps the movie to embody the older style fun if not mythmaking of some previous Westerns. One man with a strong sense of right and wrong can defy and triumph over evil. They are trying to have a little fun and maybe deliver a message that one person can make a difference.

Both Bronson’s are entertaining. They are charming and willey with enough distinct characteristics you can tell them apart. Bearclaw gets more time in front of the camera allowing the actor to shine with an entertaining though not great romance. I do give them credit for the twist at the end. While pretty obvious when it was revealed, I honestly didn’t see it coming. I guess I was entertained enough to not see what was right before me. Not a masterful bit of work, but once the reveal comes it explains so much else that happened and didn’t happen.

The Warrant: Breaker’s Law is a good is a follow up that ultimately is a touch better than the first one. While neither will go down as classic this is a good film for old school Western fans. I for one really enjoyed it.