Pact of Revenge - DVD

Film: The lives of teacher Will (Nicolas Cage) and his wife Laura (January Jones) are thrown completely off their harmonious course when Laura is brutally raped one night. Still in the hospital, a mysterious stranger (Guy Pearce) approaches Will and offers that his organization could see to finding the perpetrator and bringing him to justice. Will would then only owe the organization a small favor. Overcome by his desperation and anger, Will takes the deal, unaware that the price he has to pay could put not only his life but Laura's in acute danger.

Roger Donaldson, director of such diverse films as Bank Job, Species, Cocktail, Dantes Peak and the wonderful With Heart and Hand, has delivered a solid revenge and vigilante thriller with Pact of Vengeance, which may not be among his best work, but despite a certain predictability offers very exciting entertainment until the successful finale. Nicholas Cage, who has been taking a lot of criticism lately, gives a routine but convincing performance as a simple man who is confronted with the dark side of his character out of sheer desperation. Guy Pearce gives the mysterious stranger with a good mix of trustworthy-seeming competence and intense menace. And January Jones, known from the series Mad Men and the thriller Unknown Identity, also manages not to let her role degenerate into pretty accessories. While all of these characters are filled with numerous clichés, the actors really bring out the best possible in these not-so-deeply drawn characters.

The initial situation Will and Laura are thrust into is still absolutely realistic and understandable. As a viewer, you keep wondering how you would react in a similar situation, whether you would have gone along with the dark pact yourself, and what you would be willing to do to protect the person you love the most. As for the structure and work of the mysterious organization, logic should not be questioned too much here. Because even if some aspects of the story and some plot twists seem to be arguably far-fetched, the whole thing has enough suspense and such a decent entertainment value that insisting too much on logic would only detract from the enjoyment of the thriller completely unnecessarily.

Who likes solidly staged revenge thrillers with high suspense and good actors, and can overlook some dramaturgical holes and illogical moments, can safely enter this pact of revenge. Worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: The film is coherently implemented on the DVD. The picture is clean, the color scheme atmospheric and the sharpness is also on a good level for a recent production. The audio, which is in Dolby Digital 5.1, has some decent surround effects to offer, which effectively break up the otherwise rather quiet proceedings every now and then. Good.

Extras: The just under 23 minutes of bonus material consists primarily of promo material, including a short making of of fairly poor quality, some B-Roll footage and interviews with the cast and director Roger Donaldson. While the making of and the B-roll footage have little interesting material to offer, there is a moment or two worth watching in the interviews, despite their highly promotional nature.

Conclusion: Pact of Vengeance is a decent thriller that varies the theme of vigilante justice in a not unoriginal way. While director Roger Donaldson has demonstrated his craftsmanship better in the past, despite some inconsistencies and clichés, this home movie premiere offers good and exciting entertainment that is neatly conveyed by the actors. The DVD presents the film in good picture and sound quality, only the bonus material is very superficial. Nevertheless, who appreciates decent thriller entertainment, can confidently enter this pact of revenge. Recommended

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp