Sword of Vengeance is shot almost entirely in slow motion. Characters perceive time differently from us, as they feel the need to dramatically walk, talk and stare at each other while posing at the camera. Visual is all shades of gray, while this might be stylish at first, it overstays its welcome by the fifteen minutes mark, by then the main character probably have taken his fifth slow-mo steps. Story is thin at best, with average runtime and majority of it is painful slow-mo, the film barely has any substance to offer.
An outsider comes to a village, he beats up a few thugs, makes a speech and fights tyranny. This simple premise is flawed by the first couple of scenes. The outsider dispatches people easily at one point, only to be jumped by a random extra and got whooped in the next. Considering that everyone moves as though they are in fashion show, it's borderline comedy this near superhuman can be even wounded, his plot armor must have worn off.
Acting is equivalent of cardboard box, but at least one could draw smiley or sad faces at a box. To be fair, it's not the actors' fault, the script barely gives anyone personality aside from one-dimensional extra from Vikings or 300. Story is heavily predictable, and the title helps by giving it away. There could be some underlying message of vengeance here but it's buried by the piles of slow-mo spam.
The fight is mediocre, either it's slow or shaky cam. There's barely logic in this as well, people swing and charge recklessly. Soundtracks are mesh between electronic and techno. It's a strange style and could've worked better if the movie had ordinary pace. Cinematography is different shots of a forest, some with all trees, a few buildings and its interior. The film tries too hard on creating cool shots, it is literally nothing but slow motion.
Watching Sword of Vengeance is more like looking at slideshow of concept art, which may be edgy in modesty, but not for entire movie. Alternatively, one could watch Robin Hood in half speed or compilation of fights from 300, any of those should prove more interesting.
