Invincible (2020) Review

“Invincible” Theatrical Poster

Director: Daniel Zirilli
Cast: Johnny Strong, Marko Zaror, Vladimir Kulich, Sally Kirkland, Michael Paré, Paul Kennedy, Jason Archilla, David Blazejko, Paul Collett, Nick Khan, Natalie Lorence, May Myat Noe, Ron Smoorenburg
Running Time: 92 min. 

By Paul Bramhall

Whatever happened to Johnny Strong? After supporting roles in the likes of The Fast and the Furious and Black Hawk Down, his leading role in the 2010 flick Sinners and Saints had some speculating there was a new DTV action star on the block. Trained in multiple martial arts styles, willing to do his own stunts, and well, that name, it certainly seemed possible, however for whatever reason it just didn’t happen. A rumoured sequel to Sinners and Saints never get off the ground, and while he’d re-team with director William Kaufman for 2016’s apocalyptic zombie actioner Daylight’s End, other than that the next 10 years would consist of unremarkable bit parts and little else. So it’s somewhat of a surprise to see him suddenly re-appear almost on the dot a whole decade later to headline Invincible.

Not only is he headlining, he’s also contributed some tunes to the soundtrack, and he’s one of the scripts co-writers. You could almost say this is the movie Johnny Strong has been waiting to make. Along for the ride is another guy who’s never really made it as big as many thought he would, the Latin Dragon himself Marko Zaror. In the same year that Strong would headline Sinners and Saints, Zaror was cast as the main villain for Scott Adkins to face off against in Undisputed III: Redemption. It was a career high performance, and he’s never looked as good as he did facing off against Boyka (not even in a re-match against Adkins in 2017’s Savage Dog), so Invincible provides another opportunity to strut his stuff onscreen.

Shot in Thailand, I admit a sense of trepidation crept in when the first image to grace the screen was that of KAOS Entertainment, the production company of sometime director Wych Kaosayananda. After helming the borderline unwatchable Mark Dacascos vehicles The Driver and One Night in Bangkok (the same mansion that the finale takes place in can also be seen in Invincible), here Kaosayanada refrains from the directors’ chair, and steps into the role of cinematographer and executive producer. Instead, at the helm is Daniel Zirilli. After starting his career directing music videos, Zirilli has spent most of the 2010’s as a gun-for-hire on DTV action flicks, a few career ‘highlights’ (I use the terms loosely) include working with Steven Seagal on 2016’s Asian Connection, Luke Goss on 2019’s Hollow Point, and Dolph Lundgren on Acceleration from the same year.

The plot is simple enough, with Strong being the bodyguard for a British millionaire inventor who’s designed cybernetic limbs that can be controlled through the receiver’s nervous system. However it turns out the inventors been working with shady military man Vladimir Kulich (The Equalizer, The Debt Collector) to put his technology to more sinister use, and they’re looking for test subjects to try it on. Enter Zaror as the leader of a military outfit stalking the jungles of Thailand for reasons never really explained, and after he’s mowed down in a hail of bullets, it’s decided he’ll be the one to be the test subject. Unfortunately the promise of Zaror running around as a kind of half man half cyborg martial arts super soldier doesn’t come to fruition, and it feels like somewhat of a cop out when they inject him with nanobots instead, allowing him to heal instantly (cue basic CGI of bullet holds healing themselves).

When Zaror wakes up after the procedure it turns out he’s still “mentally in combat”, so he goes on the rampage and in an attempt to do damage control, Strong is sent on a mission to bring him back. Zaror doesn’t prove too hard to track down, however their encounter doesn’t go well, and Strong ends up with his back broken after taking a hard fall. The solution? Inject him with nanobots as well of course, and set the scene for two highly combat trained tough guys to go at each other, with neither of them being easy to kill. Basically it’s a B-movie riff on Universal Soldier, only on a fraction of the budget and with a charisma-less cast.

Despite its punchy 90-minute runtime, I could have sworn days had past by the time the end credits rolled. While the script probably called for brooding and moody performances, onscreen both Strong and Zaror’s limited acting range results in them looking like they only got a couple of hours sleep and could doze off at any moment. Every line is spoken in hushed tones, there’s a lethargy to everyone’s movements which makes it feel like there’s no rush to do anything, and it’s all offset by a truly awful soundtrack that lifelessly drones on in the background of almost every scene. 

Strong is surrounded by bizarre casting choices, including having his ex played by Burmese model, musician, and actress May Myat Noe, 24 years his junior. She at least gets some footage of her singing in there, and when Strong picks her up from one of her gigs they have such inspired exchanges like – “Was there many people there tonight?”, “Yeah, many people.” He also looks up a private detective buddy who becomes his onscreen partner, and is played by Thai singer Krissada Sukosol, recognisable as the lead from 2006’s 13: Game of Death (for anyone who enjoyed Squid Game, check it out!). Sukosol is basically there to act as Strong’s translator, and has an annoying tendency to end every sentence with “man”. Most bizarre of all is the appearance of Oscar nominee Sally Kirkland from the likes of Best of the Best and JKF, who turns up as one of the scientists involved in the project, and must be hard pressed for cash to appear here.

Of course Invincible sells itself as an action movie, and it at least has some credible action talent behind the scenes. Likely not having enough budget for a stunt coordinator and fight choreographer, Charlie Ruedpokanon is onboard to do both, assisted by Chanwit Pittayanukit. Ruedpokanon is definitely more of the former than the latter, having been a stunt coordinator on over 10 productions, and fight choreographer on only one – One Night in Bangkok (the less said the better). Notably he can also be seen in front of the camera in the Wu Assassin’s spin-off feature Fist of Vengeance. Interestingly though two of Invincible’s best fights involve neither of them. A knife fight that pits Zaror against stuntman Nick Khan (Tribal: Get Out Alive, The Asian Connection) was choreographed by Khan himself, and an opening flashback sequence that sees Strong taking on multiple attackers is choreographed by Ron Smoorenburg.

If Smoorenburg’s name seems familiar then it’s likely for the fact that he played one of Jackie Chan’s 2 rooftop opponents at the end of 1998’s Who Am I?. He’s been based in Thailand for a number of years, and usually crops up in any action flick in some capacity that’s being filmed there. Here he pulls triple duty by also briefly appearing in front of the camera as an assassin, and doubling for Marko Zaror. When it comes to the rest of the fight scenes it falls to Strong and Zaror, who face off 3 times throughout the runtime in a series of unremarkable one on ones. The muted sound design is atrocious, making everything feel more like a rehearsal than the final product which should have ended up onscreen, and the pair continue to speak in hushed tones even when they’re going at it. Throw in editing that feels sloppy and lacking in any kind of understanding of how to film an action scene, and there’s little to recommend.

Consisting of little more than Marko Zaror lethargically pacing around Bangkok in a tattered Michael Myers boilersuit, Johnny Strong looking miserable trying to reconcile with his ex, and a director who seems to have lost interest in his own movie after 5 minutes of shooting, Invincible is an arduous chore. I’m not sure which makes me more depressed, the fact that between them Daniel Zirilli and Wych Kaosayanada already have 2 movies currently in post-production between them, or that a movie like Invincible somehow found a distributor. Avoid.

Paul Bramhall’s Rating: 3/10