Bryan Larkin returns to his iconic Contractor role in this fast-paced, tense-filled third installment of his short film franchise.
The Contractor has found himself in a major bind. His actions in China have resulted in a series of murders that have caused him to be confronted by his handler, who suggests he lays low until further notice. With nowhere left to go, the Contractor finds the last place he ever expected to go and that is “home”. He heads to his native Scotland, where he pays a visit to the man who was a father to him, Old Gun. However, he has not come alone and now, these two will work together to survive. Meanwhile, the Handler is investigating the Asian trafficking ring she once sent the Contractor to handle.
Leave it up to one of the best directors of today’s British action cinema, Ross Boyask, to take the task to helm this third installment of the Dead End franchise. He knows his stuff and together with franchise creator Bryan Larkin, gives us two interconnecting plots meshed together in one nicely wrapped package, blending the visuals of the European thriller with Hong Kong’s international flavoring of action and setup pieces in terms of storytelling.
Larkin’s iconic Contractor has always been somewhat of an enigmatic figure and it’s great to get a piece of his backstory when he heads to Scotland and reunites with Old Gun, played by producer Tony Greengrass. This is just one piece of the puzzle as we also see his Handler, played by Rebecca Yeo, investigating the human trafficking ring involved in the previous film. There are some nice twists and turns along the way with some of the new characters and looks like we will eventually be treated to a fourth film down the road.
Dead End: Dead Man Walking really delves in as we have a nice meshing of the aftermath of the previous events mixed in with a bit of a backstory of the enigmatic Contractor. Bryan Larkin once again shows why he is a master storyteller and Ross Boyask’s direction really takes the cake here. Let’s see these two work together again on the next installment.
WFG RATING: A
A Hybrid Films production in association with ERS Media and Black Camel Pictures. Director: Ross Boyask. Producers: Bryan Larkin and Tony Greengrass. Writer: Bryan Larkin. Cinematography: Mark Nutkins. Editing: Brian MacInnis.
Cast: Bryan Larkin, Julian Gaertner, Rebecca Yeo, Tony Greengrass, Greg Burridge, Beau Fowler, Huang Fenfen, Leon Sua.
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