Avenging Angelo is the newest release in
a line of former A-list actor Sylvester Stallone movies that either
have gone straight to video or should have gone straight to video.
Since 1997's Cop Land, Stallone has headlined the following movies:
Get Carter, Driven, Eye See You (straight to video) and Avenging
Angelo. Ouch! This time around, Stallone is Frankie Delano, a loyal
bodyguard for a mafia boss named Angelo (Anthony Quinn). Angelo gets
whacked and Frankie must now protect his unsuspecting daughter
Jennifer (Madeleine Stowe) from any attempts on her life.
Before I go any further, I have to point out that growing up, I was a
huge Stallone fan. Whether it be the Rocky movies, Rambo, Lock Up,
Judge Dredd, Cobra, I liked them all. Sure there were some duds
sprinkled in there through the years, but few were on the top of their
game like Stallone was throughout the 80's and early 90's. I'm sure
nobody is interested in a commentary on Stallone's career but the
movies he has been doing over the last five or six years are not going
to get his career back on track. The problem with Avenging Angelo has
nothing to do with Stallone's acting ability. I actually found his
performance was decent. The problem with Avenging Angelo is the
script. The movie was trying to be some sort of action,
comedy/romance, mob flick, with a dry sense of humor somewhere along
the lines of The Whole Nine Yards. The movie failed on all counts. The
story was weak, the witty dialogue was stale, the comedy was not funny
(another failed farting incident), the romance was not romantic and
the action was stagnant. A movie starring Sylvester Stallone and
Madeleine Stowe is not made with the intention of going straight to
video. There is a reason that Avenging Angelo did. I have to admit
that the ending of the movie had a bit of an unexpected twist but even
that could not save this one.
As for the extras, the domestic trailer leads one to believe Avenging
Angelo is an action-filled Stallone movie and the international
trailer sells the movie more as a action/comedy. There is a short
featurette that concentrates on some behind the scenes activity while
filming in Italy (where Stallone is apparently still a very huge
star). There is also an interview with the film's two writers, Will
Aldis and Steve Mackall. They seem like really nice guys who put a lot
into the movie and were very proud of the final product, which really
does make it harder to give my personal feelings on movie.
The featurette also does a small piece on Anthony Quinn's final days
filming Avenging Angelo. This was Quinn's last movie and during his
last days on the set, he was so sick that a doctor was needed on the
set just to help him get through the day. Quinn passed away before the
film was completed. The crew was in Sicily filming the final scenes of
the movie when the got the news of his passing and they held a
impromptu memorial in his memory. May he rest in peace.
To briefly summarize, Avenging Angelo is not a good movie. Unless you
are a die-hard Sylvester Stallone fan, I would not recommend watching,
and even then, I still would not recommend watching. It is not funny.
It is not romantic. There is no action. Besides the fact that the
movie was filmed in Toronto, I cannot think of one redeeming quality
of this movie. The extras on the DVD are surprisingly okay, and if you
are interested in Anthony Quinn's final days as an actor, I would
definitely recommend watching those. Just don't watch the rest of the
movie after Angelo get whacked.
