Detective Knight: Redemption- An epic sequel!

Directed by: Edward Drake

Starring: Bruce Willis, Lochlyn Munro, Beau Mirchoff, Paul Johansson

Synopsis: Bruce Willis stars as Detective James Knight in this second film of the action-packed trilogy. In custody in New York, Knight finds himself in the middle of a jailbreak led by The Christmas Bomber, a brutal fanatic whose Santa Claus disciples are terrorizing the city. With the promised return of his badge in exchange for taking out the terrorists, the steely-eyed Knight doles out mercy for the just…and merciless justice for all the rest.

“Merry Christmas Motherfuckers” 

Bruce Willis and Beau Mirchoff return in Detective Knight: Redemption, the high-octane explosive sequel to Detective Knight: Rogue. 

Keeping the holiday theme alive, Rogue revolved around Halloween, while Redemption is a full-blown Christmas epic. Think Die Hard With A Vengeance but at Christmas time meets Cobra! 

Drake opens this sequel with a barrage of bullets, injecting the audience with enough adrenaline to keep them fully engrossed to the screen. Redemption doesn’t stop to let you breathe. Once the adrenaline is pumping don’t expect the levels to drop until the credits roll.

The Road to Redemption

Beau Mirchoff is back as Casey Rhodes who is recruited by a psychotic madman known as the Christmas Bomber to join his band of disciples. A violent bloodthirsty gang carves a path of destruction throughout the city following a daring prison break. Casey has his own agenda; he wants his name cleared and to be reunited with his family. The task proves to be more difficult than expected. 

You better watch out – you better not cry

Paul Johansson plays Ricky Conlan, a former special operations operative. Over the years, Conlan has evolved into a ruthless criminal known as The Christmas Bomber – He looks like a Christmas incarnation of Michael Myers in his Santa suit and body armour, wearing a rubber Santa mask. He carries an assault rifle, two handguns, and grenades. – When he was imprisoned, he preached the word of God and forgiveness to the inmates and guards and planted all the right seeds for his escape plan to succeed. A man without morals, empathy, or fear, Johansson gives a terrifying performance as Conlan. You will be on the edge of your seat every time he appears as he can go from calm to completely psychotic in a matter of seconds. The movie is dominated by Johansson, who is in top form. 

Bruce Willis is back as James Knight. We pick up with Knight in prison who now gets his days in by playing cards with Rhodes and keeping his head down. Knight remains in his cell while Conlan escapes prison. This decision leads to a proposal. If Knight is successful in bringing the Christmas Bomber to justice – alive, he will receive his badge and a full pardon.

It’s a different story for Lochlyn Munro this time, his character Detective Fitzgerald is learning to walk again after the events of Rogue and for now, he’s in a wheelchair. Despite this, he manages to do some detective work and is a crucial part of Knight’s hunt for Conlan. 

“HO HO HO!” 

Conlan’s disciples chant hauntingly as they make their way towards their victims armed to the teeth with assault rifles like rabid wolf packs. 

“I’m going to shove a Christmas tree up your ass and set it on fire”

The finale is when Bruce’s Knight comes to life, he has put his detective skills to work and figured out where Conlans next target will be. He loads up a shotgun and blasts through everything in his quest to confront Conlan for one final showdown. 

Edward Drake’s follow up hits all the right notes and is THAT sequel that manages to surpass its predecessor. Drake’s move into thrillers has proved to be a game-changer for his career. I hope Drake brings us some dark Mel Gibson movies now that his tenure with Bruce has ended, movies where Mel can channel an older sort of version of what we can only imagine Riggs from Lethal Weapon 1 would be like now.

Towards the end of the movie a conversation between Knight and Conlan has Conlan say the line ” There are no more cowboy cops, all the heroes are dead”. This interaction screams Die Hard, a subtle nod to McClane and Gruber when they talk about cowboys and riding off into the sunset, maybe? 

As an explosive holiday thriller, Detective Knight: Redemption delivers amazing performances from the main cast and is completely dominated by Paul Johansson’s performance! 

Redemption seals Bruce Willis’s legacy as The King of Christmas Action! 

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

If-so-facto-

Stay tuned for a mid-credit scene which ties up the story and has director Edward Drake make a welcomed cameo! 

Lionsgate will be releasing DETECTIVE KNIGHT: REDEMPTION in Theaters, On Demand and Digital on December 9, 2022.