With an honest job and a loving wife, Nick Brenner believed he had safely escaped his violent, criminal history. But his old crew hasn’t forgotten about him or the money he stole, and when they take what Nick now values the most – his wife – he has nothing left to lose. Confronted by the town sheriff, who is also his father-in-law, Nick must decide if he will stay on his new path or indulge in his need for revenge and force his enemies to pay for what they have done.
Being a film critic means not only do you get to watch the spectacles of the year, but you also have to watch the non-spectacles that trickle in too. So I’ll be honest, I find it very hard to not have low expectations for straight to DVD or VOD movies. A lot of them have a ton of potential but they never reach their true form. So when I got “Into the Ashes,” I had those same apprehensions but in this case, while “Into the Ashes” isn’t a complete waste of your time, it will not have audiences barrel diving into the straight-to-DVD bargain bins.
Luke Grimes plays Nick Brenner who has a criminal past but has since turned over a new leaf. Unfortunately, he stole money from his old crew (Frank Grillo and his guys) who get revenge on Brenner by taking away his wife. Now Nick is faced with exacting vengeance in the name of his wife while being intertwined with the county sheriff. The performances are pretty decent for the movie but not the Oscar-worthy portrayals you were probably expecting from a movie like this. I will say Luke Grimes is probably the standout of the film as his character is the most nuanced and he does well with all the different emotions his character has to go through.
The script, on the other hand, is where the movie suffers a bit. Many dialogue moments stand out like a sore thumb. Either the lines are a bit too cheesy or just come off way over-the-top. The first act does take a bit of time to pick up, which could lose a lot of viewers. When it does pick up though, it has many spots that tend to slow down throughout the following two acts. The overall story of a changed ex-criminal being tracked down by his old crew has been done a million times over and “Into the Ashes” doesn’t do anything special or offer anything new to the trope. I will say while some of the overall story moments aren’t extravagant, in any sense of the word, they are not flat-out terrible.
The direction is actually my favorite part of the film. Writer/Director Aaron Harvey does a fine job of extracting as much grit out of the script and technical elements. The score is chilling and gets under your skin from the second the film starts. The movie looks great with impressive cinematography and color grade that adds to the overall gruff of the movie. The action scenes are half and half, with some of them being good while the other half is just plain amateurish. With a better script, Harvey could be something to look out for.
Overall, “Into the Ashes” may be one to check out with good direction from Aaron Harvey, decent performances and a chilling feel to the film. I do think the screenplay drags the movie down quite a bit but not enough to dismiss it entirely. If you need something to watch on a rainy night, gives this one a chance.
Available on Blu-ray & DVD September 3rd
