July 15, 2020 (NYC)– Scott Adkins soars in Legacy of Lies (2020). Legacy of Lies is Adrian Bol’s “Cold War” style spy thriller built around the familiar fight between the intelligence communities of the East and West for spy secrets.
Adkins plays Martin Baxter, a former MI6 intelligence officer whose final mission set off the personal genesis for film’s title, the Legacy of Lies. While in voluntary exile with his daughter he is faced with no choice but to re-enter the espionage game in order to save the life of the person most precious to him.
Members of the worldwide martial arts community have seen Adkins, an authentic, trained martial artist, rise to the heights of success in the martial arts film genre with such winners as Savage Dog (2017), The Accident Man (2018), and the Debt Collector films (2018 & 2020). While Adkins has made his share of films outside the martial arts action genre, Legacy of Lies is the first prominent non-martial arts, action film in which he commands the leading role. He does so masterfully. Adkins plays Martin Baxter with grit, depth, and vulnerability while still maintaining his masculine, “kick -ass” demeanor. His performance makes it hard not to feel empathy for this conflicted anti-hero.
The film has the opportunity to expose Scott Adkins to an entirely new viewing audience, as Legacy of Lies is not merely a martial arts action film, but a well-crafted, well-executed, dramatic spy thriller with appeal to a broad viewing audience. It may be hard for viewers not to crave more Adkins content after this one.
In addition to the powerful performance by Adkins, the supporting cast is stellar in their roles. They offer complexity to their performances and offer more than the simplistic two dimensional cliche’d “good guys and bad guys” of most spy films. The supporting cast includes Honor Kneafsey, Martin McDougall, Yuliia Sobol, Tom Ashley, Anna Butkevych, Leon Sua, Victor Solé, and Tetiana Nosenko.
Adrian Bol’s script and direction are the masterful foundation upon which this engaging and enjoyable house is built.
Make no mistake; while this is an intelligent, spy thriller, it is also packed with fights and action from the opening moments. The seasoned partnership of Tim Man and Scott Adkins for the fight and stunt choreography delivers top-notch, fight scenes. With this collaboration, unlike many conventional, contemporary action films, in which “shaky cam” has become the tool in which the filmmakers subjugate the action to the storyline, the fights here are gritty, raw, and close up.
Legacy of Lies has it all- a good story, good directing, good acting and good fighting. The cinematography makes the film, much of which is set against the backdrop of the Ukraine, very watchable.
Legacy of Lies hits stores and VOD on July 28, 2020. I highly recommend this film. It is not only one of the best films of 2020, it is one of the best espionage thrillers of the past decade.
The film is Rated R for violence, language and some sexuality/nudity
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