Detective Knight: Redemption

Detective Knight: Redemption
Official release poster
Directed byEdward John Drake
Screenplay byEdward John Drake
Story by
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyLaffrey Witbrod
Edited byJustin Williams
Music byScott Currie
Production
companies
Distributed byLionsgate
Release date
  • December 9, 2022 (2022-12-09)
Running time
93 minutes[1][2]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$192,939[3]

Detective Knight: Redemption (also known as simply Christmas Knight) is a 2022 American Christmas action film directed by Edward John Drake, from a screenplay by Drake and Corey Large, and produced by Large, Randall Emmett, and George Furla. Serving as the second installment of the Detective Knight film series, and as a sequel to Detective Knight: Rogue (2022), it stars Paul Johansson and Bruce Willis.

Detective Knight: Redemption was released by Lionsgate in limited theaters and VOD on December 9, 2022, followed by its release on DVD and Blu-ray on January 17, 2023.

Premise

After the events of Rogue, Detective James Knight is in prison for the murders of Winna and Brigga. During the Christmas season, Knight gets caught up in the middle of a jailbreak, led by a violent fanatic named Ricky Conlan, "The Christmas Bomber", and his crew, the "Real Saints of Christmas". He strikes a deal to take out the terrorists in exchange for his reinstatement. With the bomber's henchmen terrorizing the city, Knight must seek justice.[4]

Cast

Production

In October 2021, Bruce Willis signed on to star in an action film under the working title Christmas Knight, from writer-director Edward John Drake, for a back-to-back production with Devil's Knight in Vancouver, Canada, from November 17 to December 14, 2021.[5][6][7] Filming had wrapped by January 9, 2022, while Trevor Gretzky was confirmed to have reprised his role for both films.[5][6][8] By September 2022, Christmas Knight was retitled to Detective Knight: Redemption, and set a December 9, 2022 release date.[4][9] By November 2022, Lochlyn Munro, Corey Large, Miranda Edwards, and Beau Mirchoff, were set to reprise their roles from the first film, while John Cassini, Jerry Yu, and Paul Johansson were added to the cast.[4][10][11] Detective Knight: Independence is one of the last films to star Willis, who retired from acting because he was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia.[12][13]

Release

Detective Knight: Redemption was released by Lionsgate in limited theaters and VOD on December 9, 2022,[4][14][15] followed by its release on DVD and Blu-ray on January 17, 2023.[10]

Box office

As of January 15, 2023, Detective Knight: Redemption grossed $192,939 in South Africa and the United Arab Emirates.[3]

Critical reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 67% of 9 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.3/10.[1]

Roger Moore, of Movie Nation, gave the film a 1.5/4 rating, summarizing that "one just hopes the once and future John McClane was well-compensated, and that his retirement is as comfortable as he's earned, even if this is nobody's idea of "Redemption"".[16] Brian Orndorf, of Blu-ray.com, gave the film a "D", writing the film was "just as dull and pointless as Rogue, adding another chapter to a shapeless, directionless saga jammed through the production process to take advantage of Willis's diminishing marquee value".[17] Jeffrey Anderson, of Common Sense Media, gave the film a 2/5 rating, saying "the second movie in Willis' farewell action trilogy features even less of its star player this time, and while the tricks and cheats used to film around him sometimes work, they too often don't".[18]

In a positive review, Film Threat writer Jason Delgado gave the film a 6/10 rating, summarizing that "Willis is the action hero in Detective Knight: Redemption, which should be reason enough for his fans to see it".[19] Evan Dossey, of Midwest Film Journal, also gave the film a positive review, saying the film is "a suitably entertaining crime caper, as long as you know what to expect going in."[20]

Sequel

Main article: Detective Knight: Independence

References

  1. ^ a b "'Detective Knight: Redemption' (2022)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved January 19, 2023.
  2. ^ "Detective Knight: Redemption Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved December 10, 2022.
  3. ^ a b "'Detective Knight: Redemption' (2022)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved January 16, 2023.
  4. ^ a b c d P, Maddie (October 21, 2022). "Bruce Willis' 'Detective Knight' Trilogy: Release Date, Trailer, Cast, & Everything We Know So Far". Collider. Retrieved October 21, 2022.
  5. ^ a b Gittins, Susan (November 9, 2021). "Christmas Knight & Devil's Knight With Bruce Willis Block Shooting in Vancouver This Fall". Hollywood North Buzz. Retrieved October 21, 2022.
  6. ^ a b Tangonan, EJ (September 20, 2022). "Detective Knight: Rogue – Did Bruce Willis make a trilogy no one knew about before retiring?". JoBlo.com. Retrieved October 21, 2022.
  7. ^ "'Detective Knight: Redemption' (2022)". The Numbers. Retrieved October 22, 2022.
  8. ^ Dawson, Angela (January 9, 2022). "Trevor Gretzky Takes A Swing At Acting, Joins Heavy Hitter Bruce Willis In 'American Siege'". Forbes. Retrieved October 21, 2022.
  9. ^ Fu, Eddie (September 29, 2022). "Bruce Willis Could Appear in Future Projects Thanks to Deepfake Twin". Yahoo!. Retrieved October 21, 2022.
  10. ^ a b Oddo, Marco Vito (November 4, 2022). "'Detective Knight: Redemption' Trailer Gives Bruce Willis One Last Action-Packed Christmas [Exclusive]". Collider. Retrieved November 7, 2022.
  11. ^ Franklin, Garth (November 6, 2022). "Trailer: Bruce Willis In "Detective Knight: Redemption"". Dark Horizons. Retrieved November 7, 2022.
  12. ^ Rosenbloom, Alli (February 16, 2023). "Bruce Willis' family shares an update on his health and new diagnosis". CNN. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
  13. ^ James, Meg; Kaufman, Amy (March 30, 2022). "Concerns about Bruce Willis' declining cognitive state swirled around sets in recent years". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 21, 2022.
  14. ^ Billington, Alex (November 8, 2022). "Bruce Willis in 'Detective Knight: Redemption' Sequel Official Trailer". First Showing. Retrieved November 9, 2022.
  15. ^ VanHoose, Benjamin (November 7, 2022). "Bruce Willis Stars in Trailer for Christmas Action Sequel 'Detective Knight: Redemption'". People. Retrieved November 20, 2022.
  16. ^ Moore, Roger (November 29, 2022). "Movie Review: Bruce's Farewell Trilogy? "Detective Knight: Redemption"". Movie Nation. Retrieved December 8, 2022.
  17. ^ Orndorf, Brian (December 9, 2022). "Detective Knight: Redemption review". Blu-ray.com. Retrieved December 9, 2022.
  18. ^ Anderson, Jeffrey (December 11, 2022). "Detective Knight: Redemption Movie review". Common Sense Media. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
  19. ^ Delgado, Jason (December 13, 2022). "Detective Knight: Redemption review". Film Threat. Retrieved December 14, 2022.
  20. ^ Dossey, Evan (January 6, 2023). "Detective Knight: Redemption Review". Midwest Film Journal. Retrieved January 16, 2023.