Today’s quick review: The Outsider. Jing Phang (Jon Foo), a Chinese railroad worker, loses everything he loves when his pregnant wife Li (Nelli Tsay) is raped and murdered by James Walker (Kaiwi Lyman), a local lawman. Jing embarks on a quest for revenge, killing his way through James’ men to get at James himself. But he runs into trouble when James’ father, Marshal Walker (Trace Adkins), hires tracker Chris King (Sean Patrick Flanery) to find him.
The Outsider is a Western action movie and drama from director Timothy Woodward, Jr. The Outsider follows Jing on his one-man crusade to get revenge on James Walker, who’s protected by his powerful father and a seemingly endless stream of hired guns. The movie aims for a serious tone, squeezing every bit of drama it can from James’ deeds. But The Outsider ultimately comes up short, missing the skill it needs to make the most of its promising setup.
To its credit, The Outsider has a better story than most budget flicks. At its core, the story is a straightforward tale of revenge: Jing is out for blood, and that’s basically the extent of it. But the movie does a reasonable job of dressing up the story with subplots that give it a bit of depth. The strained relationship between James and his father is The Outsider’s best feature, and it touches on some interesting motivations with Chris’ arc.
Even with these glimmers of potential, The Outsider never quite seals the deal. The drama falls somewhat flat due to a generic conflict and a mediocre script. The cinematography has a few sporadic issues, places where the dark lighting or slow pacing hurt the immersion. The action is workmanlike and unexciting. The stunts mainly consist of Jing disarming his enemies from up close, but without the flair or skill found in a true martial arts film.
The end result is a movie that makes decent use of the resources at its disposal but still falls short of its goals. The Outsider is a reasonable pick for fans of the budget action genre who are interested in something with a little more heft to it, but neither its story nor its action will be engaging enough to hook the average viewer.
For a gorier, more stylish tale of revenge in the West, try Django Unchained. For a dark, dramatic Western with better execution, try The Duel. For a serious Western with better direction and a more classic feel, try Once Upon a Time in the West. For more from the same director, try 4Got10, Checkmate, or Silencer.
5.5 out of 10 on IMDB. I give it the same for the makings of a decent story held back by a weak follow-through.