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Friday, May 16, 2025

NITRO RUSH (2016)

French-Canadian Pulp-Actioner, a sequel to NITRO/’07 with lots of repeaters in front and behind the . . . WAIT!  Hold on there.  French-Canadian Action Pic?  Who knew?  I thought Quebec only put out thoughtful Film Fest also-rans, and the occasional deep-think Denis Villeneuve disappointment.  (Before he moved on to grander things.)  But no, here’s a perfectly respectable/reasonable facsimile of international action fare from director/co-writer Antoine DesRochers with sturdy/pint-sized juggernaut Guillaume Lemay-Thivierge as the toughest prisoner in the block, suddenly offered a chance to help the government stop a designer drug epidemic and save his estranged son from the criminal organization he’s joined to spite Pop who wasn’t around when Mom died because they couldn’t get her a new heart and now, if they can only bond as father & son and sneak back in to prison grounds where two psycho researches are working on that drug formula, they just might save the world and . . . Oh, come on.  You know how these things go.  Add one Mr. Big stuck in that prison; a wavering femme fatale with fists of steel and eyes for Father and Son; a power-truck for the caper; a gang member whose loyalties are hard to read; and you could fill in the blanks yourself.  What just might keep you watching is a modest budget that holds set pieces to a human scale (no digital overload or sledgehammer punches to bounce right back from) and leading man Lemay-Thivierge, a 5'6" canvas you can write your own emotions & motivations on.  And note how he pulls himself up to maximum height when standing off against our wavering female baddie.*  It’s endearing.

SCREWY THOUGHT OF THE DAY:  *Why are so many of these action guys on the short side?  Jackie Chan, Jean-Claude Van Damme, et al.  Over compensating?  (Sure, Jason Statham’s an average 5'10", but he’s got the hair thing, no?)

DOUBLE-BILL:  The final scene sets up another sequel that doesn’t appear to be happening.  But you never know.  Nine years separate the original NITRO (not seen here) from this.  Watch it for us and post your thoughts in the COMMENTS link just below.

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