The Debt Collector Starring Scott Adkins Is A Bloody, Brutal, Action Packed Romp Through The Underground World Of Loansharks

If these cats show up at your door, there’s a problem. Photo courtesy of M.A.A.C

The Debt Collector stars Scott Adkins (Dr. Strange, The Expendables 2) as a martial arts instructor known as French whose training facility is experiencing a cash flow problem and is about to go under. Willing to do anything in the short term to prevent the studio from going bankrupt, French gets involved in the business of being muscle for a local loan-shark named as Tommy (Vladimir Kulich) who pairs French up with his best debt collector called Sue (Louis Mandylor) to help break French in and show him the ropes. The guys are complete opposites in every way, and the first day doesn’t exactly go as planned, with Sue being too hung over to drive to the client’s homes and French getting shot at, but with no other options available, French decides to stick it out, and that’s where the real fun begins.

After chasing down a few local, neighborhood clients to politely, with grace and eloquence, ask for Tommy’s money back, the guys are hired to help out another local loan-shark known as Barbosa (Tony Todd) with finding an ex employee who allegedly stole money from one of Barbosa’s businesses and is on the run. A few fights, some crying, and a handful of malicious threats later, a lead finally pans out and the ex employee is tracked down to an apartment complex on the other side of L.A. The whole ordeal turns out to be a set up with French and Sue ultimately getting the raw end of the deal while trying to do the right thing. A much needed glimpse of justice shines through the pain as the innocent get a second chance, and we the audience finally get to exhale.

The Debt Collector is absolutely brilliant, and one of my favorite movies of 2018 . The story line is smooth, intriguing, and at times extremely gripping while staying bare bones and close to its original idea. There’s no weird side stories, no strange character interactions or weird dialog; simply put, it all makes sense. There is even a deep comparison throughout the film between French and Sue and cow’s life cycle starting when it’s on a farm, and following it through until it’s killed and gutted at a slaughter house. It’s something you got to see to really understand, and once you do, you won’t forget it. Back to the positive stuff.

The action sequences are surprisingly solid, well put together, and really on point, something even large budget films struggle with. The film is beautifully shot with a great sound track, and just keeps you thoroughly invested in it throughout the whole movie. I’ve watched it twice, and it loses nothing with a repeat viewing.

Should we do a rating system, and I might as well start, I’d give The Debt Collector a 8 out of 10 and highly recommend it to anyone who loves action movies with a side of humanity and a shot of laughs.

The Debt Collector

Starring Scott Adkins, Louis Mandylor, Vladimir Kulich

Written  by Jesse V. Johnson and Stu Small

Directed by Jesse V. Johnson

Official trailer can be seen here