Review: Joseph M’Bah’s EXPO Tries To Thrill While Stumbling At The Basics
Joseph M’bah’s new action thriller, Expo, details what looks to be a straight forward fugutive/rescue action thriller on its face. Largely, what you get is a flawed, low-budget offering that’s better acted at times than it deserves, and even with a few good action scenes to make it worth your while.
Derek Davenport is Richard, a down-but-not-out ex-soldier newly on his first day working as a driver. That afternoon he’s forced to pick up his little sister, Sarah (Amelia Haberman) to rehearsal at the expense of a pick up job for another customer (Hayley Vrana) who gets taken in a van and kidnapped.
Detective Moro (Michael C. Alvarez) suspects Richard’s involvement due to his own criminal past, and is soon arrested. Eventually freed thanks to his lawyer, Richard has no choice but to take matters into his own hands with the help of a performance enhancing drug, his old skillset, and a Majeed (Titus Covington), a friend who once took him and Sarah in from the streets when they were homeless.
M’bah’s Expo has its moments where it works as a fast-paced action thriller. It’s well-acted for the most part and carries well for some of the fight scenes, and even gets a little creative for one of the climatic action scenes in the third act.
It’s not enough though as some of the film’s biggest flaws are not only its cinematography and editing, but at least one key fight scene as well. The editing tends to jump a few seconds in between translations during essential dialogue moments and though you might get that this was done for pacing purposes, it’s still very obvious and distracting.
One of the most critical action scenes in the film happens to be the most poorly setup and choreographed: holding exactly zero cards to bargain with and no real introduction prior, our hero walks into a gangster’s home with a gunpointed at him, completely strips the gun and its magazine of all ammo, drops it and tells the guy he only wants to talk. His men then grab Richard who somehow gets the upperhand after stabbing a guy in the foot with a freaking pencil… and the man is wearing combat boots.
The film deals in quite a few inconsistencies along the way in the aspects I’ve mentioned in this review, and so all the film really has going on at this point are the some of performances which are pretty good, including from supporting actress Amber Thompson. Many of the flashback sequences which helped arouse some sympathy for our hero’s cause, and yet the film still feels so subpar from itself.
I’ve pretty much said all I needed to say about this particular film ahead of its digital release on August 3. You may give it a shot as it serves as a nice little D-movie stab at Taken or the like. I wouldn’t recommend buying it though. It’s not a keeper.
Native New Yorker. Been writing for a long time now, and I enjoy what I do. Be nice to me!