The okayest revenge action-thriller ever. 5/10

It's like a real Italian watched _Léon_ and thought _"Nah, what's with this bittersweet happy ending and apotheosis nonsense?"_.

Seriously, the filmmakers are definitely fans of _The Professional_—the promo image with "almost of-age Mathilda being trained by her hitman father" is about as on-the-nose as one can get. And it's an okay scene, but the film has none of the charm of its source of inspiration. (Also, people who wanted a sequel to _Léon_ absolutely did not get the whole message of that beautiful film. Unfortunately, Netflix doesn't seem to have the full version, and it's only in HD, despite a 4k version existing. I think I'll just start buying Blu-Rays again for my faves.)

What this film has got is beautiful anamorphic, HDR shots of the idyllic, rolling Swiss (?) countryside with so much light-bathed detail—and definition so crisp—it almost hurts to look at. After that it gets darker—thematically, then, literally—for the rest of the runtime. Also, holy shit is the opening murder scene brutal. It's not what I'd call fetishitic, but it's rough.

Headshots on the baddies are nice, though. "Plinky plop-plop"s o'plenty. The audio mastering was a pleasant listen on TV speakers when trying to not be too loud. The bone-snapping, bullet punching sound effects were really satisfying to listen to—the foley artistry is like the action film equivalent of an ASMR Zeitgeist video.

The performances were fine throughout, but the script and cinematography were at best competent. I'd watch more from the actors, but probably not the director or writer(s).

My first impression, having watched Vendetta is its essentially, a basic, Leon The Assassin, knock off.

Loaded down with the usual trite woke baggage, Vendetta is a Leon the Assassin clone, minus most of the charm, heart and appeal, that made the former so endearing and memorable.

To be fair, acting is of a high standard. Its by no means the actors fault this is unremarkable. Its story is too much a facsimile of an earlier and much superior film, to merit more than passing interest.

In summary, hardly original, woke but well acted, nonetheless.