Avengement is a 2019 British Martial Arts Movie directed by Jesse V. Johnson and staring Scott Adkins.
While released on furlough from prison, lowly criminal Cain Burgress escapes his guards and returns to his old haunts to take revenge on the people that made him a cold-hearted killer.
Avengement contains the following tropes:
- Antihero: Cain is, by his own admission, a violent killer, but his targets are criminals far worse than him, and in the end part of his scheme against Lincoln is returning the money he stole to his victims.
- Bar Brawl: The climactic fight in the Horse and Jockey.
- Batter Up!: One of Lincoln's thugs uses a cricket bat against Cain during the climactic Bar Brawl, which Cain quickly takes from him and uses to great effect until he breaks it over a guy's head.
- Bulletproof Human Shield: When Tune opens fire on Cain with a machine gun, Cain is spared because another one of Lincoln's men happens to stand up between them and gets shot instead.
- Butt-Monkey: Tune gets zero respect from Cain, and only slightly more from his fellow gangsters.
- Cain and Abel: Cain Burgress' main goal is to kill his brother, Lincoln. Goes both ways, when it's revealed that Lincoln had a hit put out on Cain.
- Conservation of Ninjutsu: Played almost comically straight in the final braw where, as the numbers of Lincoln's men dwindle, the remainder seems to fight better almost in direct proportion.
- Crowbar Combatant: One of Lincoln's men is armed with a crowbar during the Bar Brawl, which Cain ultimately take and kills the man with.
- Dirty Cop: Evans, which leads him to getting thrown off the force during Cain's time in prison.
- Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: Ultimately the one thing that Cain and Lincoln share in common, with Cain ultimately deciding not to tell their mother about Lincoln's criminal activities because his brother is paying for her cancer treatment.
- Good Old Fisticuffs: Evans might not be the spectacular martial artist that Cain is, but when he said he was good with his fists he wasn't kidding. He's probably Cain's toughest one-on-one fight in the whole film.
- Grievous Bottley Harm: As befitting a Bar Brawl, Cain has a bottle broken over his head at one point during the fight in the Horse and Jockey, with Cain returning the favor by using the now broken bottle to stab the man to death.
- Had to Come to Prison to Be a Crook: Before prison, Cain had a clean record and feels immense guilt over the manslaughter he caused, but by the time of the movie, he's a hardened killer though the problem is exasperated by him being constantly attacked by the other inmates because of the price his brother put on his head.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Throughout the film, anytime someone uses a weapon against Cain, he is virtually guaranteed to take it from them and use it against them.
- How We Got Here: Cain takes the criminals at the Horse and Jockey hostage early in the movie, with most of the film dedicated to Cain explaining previous events to them.
- It Works Better with Bullets: Lincoln tries to shoot Cain with the Sawed-Off Shotgun, but Cain is unphased, as he knows he used up all the bullets already.
- Jerkass: There are few enough nice people in the movie as is, but Lincoln's money man and apparent dragon Hyde seems to derive special pleasure from acting like a smug, condescending asshole.
- Lawman Baton: Among the weapons that Lincoln's men break out in the Horse and Jockey are some batons that Cain is able to take from them and use against them.
- Loan Shark: Lincoln, who then gets people to owe him more money by running scams like the one Cain gets arrested for.
- London Gangster: Lincoln Burgress is one, with a number of low-lifes working for him.
- Made of Iron: Seven years in prison has made Cain this, shown when he gets hit in the back multiple times with a cricket bat and doesn't flinch.
- Man Bites Man: Cain one of Lincoln's men on the neck at one point.
- Name of Cain: The main character is Cain Burgress, an Antihero out to kill his brother Lincoln for Revenge.
- Never Bring a Knife to a Gun Fight:
- During the Bar Brawl, one of Lincoln's men draws a knife, and while he is able to stab Cain in the back with it, Cain blocks every other attack before killing the man with his own knife.
- In the end, Lincoln is quick to pull a knife on Cain during their fight, which Cain is equally quick to turn against him.
- Never Got to Say Goodbye: Cain doesn't get to say goodbye to his dying mother because the guards bringing him to see her stopped for coffee and she died in the meantime.
- No-Sell: Tune punches Cain in the face during the Bar Brawl and Cain barely reacts.
- Oh, Crap!: Tune has this reaction multiple times throughout the film as things steadily get worse for him.
- One-Man Army: Cain takes on about a dozen men in climax.
- Pistol-Whipping: Cain does this to Tune after taking his machine gun from him.
- Price on Their Head: It's revealed that the inmates keep attacking him in prison is because Lincoln has put out a hit against Cain.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Inspector O'Hara, in stark contrast to Evans; in fact, he's the reason Evans was kicked off the force during Cain's stay in prison, and he wants to bring down Lincoln Burgess as much as Cain does.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: After escaping from prison, Cain immediately begins working his way through the members of his brother's gang, eventually leading to the final confrontation at the Horse and Jockey.
- Sawed-Off Shotgun: Cain has one he stole from Lincoln's accountant, which he then uses to hold the gangsters at the Horse and Jockey hostage.
- Sean Connery Is About to Shoot You: Well, Scott Adkins is. With the aformentioned shotgun.
- Throwing the Fight: Despite happening offscreen, the ultimate inciting event of the film is when Cain refuses to do this for his brother's gang.
- The Topic of Cancer: The film starts with Cain and Lincoln's mother dying of pancreatic cancer, with the furlough the police grant Cain to see her giving him the opportunity to escape and begin his Roaring Rampage of Revenge.
- Throwing Your Gun at the Enemy:
- After emptying a machine gun into a number of Lincoln's men, Cain throws it at one of the few left standing after it runs out of bullets.
- Lincoln does this with the Sawed-Off Shotgun after discovering It Works Better with Bullets.
- Too Dumb to Live: On his knees, with Cain pointing the shotgun at the back of his head, Hyde proceeds to first insult Cain and then mock people whose lives Lincoln's scheme ruined as "losers." No points for guessing what happens next.
- Uncertain Doom: the last we see of Cain, he's slumped against a trashcan outside of Horse and Jockey, apparently too weakened by all the injuries he'd sustained to do anything but laugh at his plan finally coming to frutition. His prospects don't exactly look too promising.
- Use Your Head: Cain is fond of headbutting his opponents in fights, though a number of them are willing to throw headbutts of their own.
- Villainous Breakdown: Lincoln goes through a gradual one, but he really blows his top once Cain kills all of his men.
- Wouldn't Hit a Girl: Cain never so much as gives Bez an angry look, despite her smacking him upside the head with a liquor bottle and throwing a bag full of weapons to Lincoln's men in the final fight.
