Kirk Cauoette has had a long professional career within the world of movie stunts. Having worked as a stunt performer on films including Watchmen and Fantastic Four, as well as coordinating fights and stunts on both Catwoman and Electra, it was only a matter of time before he moved into the field of directing. Having begun his directing journey back in 2012 with the movie Hit ‘N Strum, he now debuts his third feature, American Badger, at Glasgow Arrow Video FrightFest.
In addition to writing and directing the project, Cauoette also stars in the lead role as silent assassin Badger. He’s opted to go by the moniker of Badger as his real name, Dean, apparently isn’t menacing enough. Following the death of his wife, Bager has become redrawn and reclusive, his only line of communication being with his handler. This changes when he meets his latest assignment, a call girl named Velvet (Andrea Stefancikova). His mission is to get close to her and extract information about the Albanian gang that she has ties to. He does his job a little too well however, and as the pair grow closer romantically, Badger receives an update to his mission – kill Velvet. Can Badger kill the woman that has brought him back to life?
Cauoette being a stunt performer, and Badger being a hitman, means that American Badger of course has several extended fight sequences. The opening action sequence, set in a members club, channels a similar ferocity to the Red Circle chase in John Wick. It is whiplash fast and frenzied, and sets the film off on strong footing. The camera has a fluid rotation, leaving no angle uncovered and captures all the violence in its bone-breaking entirety. The choreography also has some flourishes; it’s not quite Eleven88 gold standard, but is better than your average actioner.
After such an explosive opening, the pace grinds to a halt upon introduction to our characters, after which a good chunk of the movie feels slow and ploddy. The story fails to match-up to the frenetic opening as the tone and pacing starts to get a bit dreary. It is just yet another rehashing of a tale as old as cinema, a modern iteration of the gangster and the showgirl, and although he tries, Cauoette adds nothing fresh to proceedings.
It’s not just the (identical) velvet dresses that Velvet is forever enrobed within – visually, American Badger channels the nineties. The whole production has an old-school DTV action movie vibe, one that will no doubt appeal to many. By Caouette throwing right back to when this type of action film was at its height of popularity, he taps into that vein of nostalgia that audiences cherish.
As over familiar the story might be, there are plenty of flashes of inspiration, particularly within the action, that sets American Badger apart from your average low-budget action thriller.
American Badger was reviewed at Arrow Video FrightFest Glasgow 2021.
American Badger
Summary
Actions speak louder than words in this throwback to the action movies of yesteryear. American Badger has some cool memorable action sequences, but lacks the narrative ingenuity.
