ACÉRÉ: Ross Peacock’s New Action Short Debuts With Five Minutes Of Thrills, Short And To The Bloody, Brutal Point
If you’re a deep action aficionado like myself, who is appreciative of the introspection and analysis of the action genre, you should be familiar with the name Ross Peacock, aka Rossatron. His video essays on YouTube about Action Cinema are the finest you’ll ever see, I promise you. No one breaks down Action movies quite like Ross.
But Ross has made it known that while he does enjoy making his video essays, his true love lies in filmmaking. And coupled with his expertise on Action, fans were salivating at the thought of what he could accomplish as a filmmaker. Well, ladies and gentlemen, we now have a glimpse of exactly that, as Ross has just released his debut as writer/director with Acéré.
A man on the run. A villain with a knife. A fight to the death. This is Acéré (Sharpened to Kill).
With Acéré (which means Sharp in french), Ross has shown why we were correct to have anticipated his arrival as an Action filmmaker. In just a little under 5 and ½ mins, he thoroughly displays the skills necessary to be a top guy in the world of Action Cinema. A simple story of two men engaged in a deadly duel where only one will survive, Acéré is completely tension filled throughout, and features some gorgeous choreography, impeccably performed by highly underrated Action performers Jean-Paul Ly and Laurent Plancel that evokes memories of the all timer fight that appears at the end of The Raid 2.
Seriously, this thing is absolutely brutal. Set in what seems to be a large cellar, a man comes face to face with one of the expert professionals sent to kill him. Already having dispatched one of them, the assassin has a large chip on his shoulder, and a score to settle, leading to a fight bathed in absolute savagery.
It is a wonderful thing to watch a director who knows how to shoot and cut Action properly, and Ross, who also edited, and with help from his cinematographer Jon Muschamp, capture unbridled violence remarkably. And when you have amazing performers such as Ly & Plancel as the stars, you know you’re getting top level stuff.
Is it 100% flawless? No. The film is slightly held back by being a bit on the dark side. While it isn’t the picture of darkness like Alien vs Predator: Requiem was, and you can see everything, I think the film would have benefited more with a tad more lighting. But that’s just a very minor nitpick.
But all in all, this is a fantastic debut, and Ross should take a bow for proving something his fans have known for the longest: he is a great storyteller, and I surely cannot wait to see what he has in store for us as Action fans.
Bravo.
Watch the film here: