By: John M Jerva

It’s Friday and time for another bullet riddled, gun powder smelling installment of Firepower Fridays! Action star Scott Adkins has ruled Foot Fist Friday so it’s only fitting that he finally makes an apperance in FF with a high-octane and adrenaline pumping scene from one of his lesswr known starring vehicles. I’m talking about 2012’s Robert Rodriguez style actioner El Gringo which has Adkins starring as a man that is known simply as…well…The Man. The movie was helmed by  Eduardo Rodriguez and iy has the look and feel of a movie that Rodriguez or Quentin Tarantino might have done back in the day. The movie does have its faults but Adkins is one of those actors who elevates any flick that he is in and this one not only features some trademark Scott Adkins fisticuffs but it also is loaded with a firestorm of firepower.

El Gringo is the story of a man called simply, you guessed it, The Man, played by Adkins, who is trying to get away with a satchel of $2,000,000 and he’s also trying to escape a very bloody past as well. While trying to recover from almost getting killed, The Man finds reguge in a sleepy Mexican town known as  El Fronteras. The town is loaded with numerous quirky characters and the always game Christian Slater is in fine form as Lt. West who is wanting vert badly to catch The Man and his loot. The only problem is that when the town folk discover that he is in possesion of a crap load of money, every killer and assassin comes crawling out of the woodwork to take The Man out and take the money all for themselves.

This leads to a series of narrow escapes for Adkins and it is highlighted by the standout action set piece of the movie where he single handidly takes out an army in the town while trying to get away. The scene is a blistering assault of shooting and fighting as Adkins does it all to stay one step ahead of the killers hot on his trail and stay alive to enjoy his premature retirement.

The scene is also a homage to John Woo in my book as Adkins displays the fact that his anti-hero really knows how to handle a weapon and when an altercation calls for more than bullets, Adkins obliges and takes out his enemy with some slick, signature moves in the process. This sequence really showcases Adkins’ onscreen fighting prowess and even though the action fizzles after it, this sequence is certainly worth the price of admission alone.

Like I said earlier, the film has it’s faults and the budget is smaller and I think they spent most of their dollars on this one scene which leads to a very anti-climatic finale. That’s OK because up until then, there’s enough Adkins action to keep fans happy and the star really excelss in these kind of roles where he is anything but squeaky clean.

Check out the scene of the hour in the player below and watch Adkins do what Adkins does best and that’s prove that he is one of the most exciting action stars working in the industry today! It’s Scott Adkins versus everyone in El Gringo! Enjoy!