Hollow Point, Co-Starring Juju Chan & Bill Duke

Nolan Cooray probably thinks crime in LA is out of control, but he should see the state of things here in New York. In 2020, shootings were up 97% and homicides were up 44%. Cops and prosecutors can’t even try to practice law, thanks to our revolving door “bail reform.” Ironically, a little of that could helped Cooray when he was arrested for trying to kill the murderer of his wife and daughter. Who wound up in prison? Cooray, of course. However, his new lawyer’s vigilante group might help him get a little justice in Daniel Zirilli’s Hollow Point, which releases this Friday on VOD.

Cooray’s wife and daughter took a wrong turn and just happened to witness the thuggish drug boss “Trigger” in the commission of a crime. Naturally, he just gunned them down without a second thought. There was a witness, but Trigger got to her too. Enraged and distraught, Cooray tried to take the law into his own hands. Unfortunately, he only wounded two of Trigger’s associates and earned an express ticket to prison.

Strangely, everyone seems out to get him there (the whole avenging his wife and little girl thing doesn’t seem to cut much ice). However, James, the Senior Guard takes a liking to him. So does high-powered criminal attorney and innocence activist Hank Carmac. More importantly, the former commando leaves him martial arts books. However, if Carmac gets released, he will recruit his client for his vigilante squad.

Frustratingly, Hollow Point’s most interesting cast-members, Juju Chan and Bill Duke, get comparatively little screen time. Of course, Duke is seriously steely and hardnosed as Sr. Guard James and Chan gets to show off her impressive marital arts chops. Frankly, Dilan Jay is surprisingly good as Cooray and Michael Pare is better as Damian Wakefield, the vigilante ex-cop, than he has been in his last half-dozen straight-to-VOD movies. The same goes for Luke Gross as Carmac. However, Jay Mohr is just a weird, highly questionable choice for Trigger.

Mercifully, Zirilli and co-writers Chad Law & Evan Law did not feel compelled to apologize and undercut the film’s vigilantism, thus allowing viewers some vicarious satisfaction. Granted, it is more ambiguous than Death Wish 3, but what isn’t? Nevertheless, they still let the film get bogged down in the long prison section, before cutting to the justice-seeking chase.

Zirilli is still not Gareth Evans, but the pacing and execution of Hollow Point is considerably better than what he did with the terrible Acceleration or the pretty lame Asian Connection. It is always nice to see improvement, so here it is. Just okay (but certainly better than awful), Hollow Point releases Friday (4/9) on VOD.