“Are we watching Supernatural or not?” —Richard
Today’s quick review: Expo. Richard Evans (Derek Davenport), a veteran with a rap sheet, works as a driver to support Sarah (Amelia Haberman), his younger sister. When one of Richard’s fares is kidnapped by human traffickers, the police try to pin the crime on Richard. To clear his name, Richard sets out to save the kidnapped girl himself, relying on his neighbor Caden (Shepsut Wilson) and drug-dealing friend Majeed (Titus Covington) for help.
Expo is a budget action movie about a down-on-his-luck veteran forced to take on a human trafficking ring. Expo aims to be a gritty thriller, but it suffers from clumsy storytelling and low production values. The plot is held together by the barest of threads, the acting is noticeably flat, and what action the film has is disappointing. The film also runs into issues with the way it presents information, both visually and through its script.
Expo also can’t make up its mind about what it wants to be. The main thrust of it is an action thriller with a hero who takes justice into his own hands, but Richard has a poor track record against the criminals he sets out to stop. The movie invests time in Richard and Sarah’s troubled past, but their arc is poorly thought out. Most perplexing of all is a subplot about Richard’s time as a soldier and a mysterious pill he was once addicted to.
Overall, Expo is a movie with very little to offer. Fans of budget action movies may get marginal value from its ideas, which have the makings of a serviceable thriller if executed properly, and the movie does make an honest effort to make its story work. But nearly everything it tries to do is flawed in significant ways, and it finds itself outclassed even by other budget offerings. Most viewers will want to steer clear.
For a more action-packed thriller about human trafficking, try Skin Trade. For a budget action movie that has better luck with a similar premise, try I Am Vengeance, Silencer, or The Hard Way.
3.7 out of 10 on IMDB. I give it a 3.0 for poor execution quality all the way around.