Recoil (2011)

Has there ever been two actors who you really wanted to see make a film together, like Robert De Niro and Al Pacino, Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp, or Ron Jeremy and Jenna Jameson? I bet when they finally did work together, it just resulted in a mess... quite literally, in the case of Jeremy and Jameson.

Well, two performers that I have wanted to see work together, Steve Austin and Danny Trejo, team up in the recently released on home video film Recoil. I am happy to say they did not disappoint.

Ryan Varrett (Austin) is a former police officer who becomes a vigilante after his family is gunned down at his son's birthday party. If you thought that year when your parents hired a clown for your birthday bash was bad, consider yourself lucky. Varett's mission brings him to a little town called Hope, which, despite the pleasantsounding name, is not a nice place to inhabit. Police officers are assaulted, arson runs rampant, and there is little to no regard for personal property. Thank God I live in London, Ontario and not in a place like that.

Varrett takes up residence in a hotel operated by Darcy (Serinda Swan), a woman whose husband was murdered by a local gang of bikers who run the town. Darcy and the rest of the town folk have been living in fear of the gang and specifically their leader Drayke (Trejo), and have avoided rocking the boat. Varrett, however, has a mission: take out the members of the gang responsible for his family's demise, and anyone who stands in his way. This results in plenty of action, particularly in the final showdown between Varrett and Drayke, who toss the guns aside and exchange good old fashioned fisticuffs.

Steve Austin is, of course, best known for his exploits in the WWE, but he is carving out quite a career for himself. While he was featured in the big budget 2010 film The Expendables, he has mostly been starring in modest budget action films such as Damage, Hunt To Kill and The Stranger. Austin has stated time and time again that he is starting out from square one in his new profession, and he is eager to learn and improve — and that he has, each time out. Recoil is his finest work to date. If he keeps working at it, he could soon be beating up the likes of George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Christopher Plummer.

While Austin was known as the toughest S.O.B. during his wrestling career, Danny Trejo could likely contest that claim. He is a former boxing champion... a prison boxing champion. Trejo spent 11 years in the can before changing his ways and going on to star in approximately 820,000 films and TV shows over the past three decades. Seriously, think of a film or show, and he was in it: Baywatch, Modern Family, Young and the Restless, Spy Kids, Heat, From Dusk Till Dawn, I could go on and on. I think he even played a brontosaurus in Jurassic Park. If I attempted to print off his list of credits on IMDB, I'd be responsible for killing a dozen trees.

Trejo is best known for his work as the title character in Machete, one of the most enjoyable films of the past decade. Trejo is just as badass in Recoil as he was in Machete, though this time you'll find yourself rooting against him... at least I hope you will, since he's a murderous drug dealer.

There are no complicated plot twists in Recoil — it is simply about a man, and really a whole town, who have had their world turned upside down, so they decide to get revenge on those responsible. In this case, revenge is a dish best served Stone Cold.