WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Vanquish, which is currently playing in select theaters and is available on digital and on demand.
In Vanquish, Ruby Rose's Victoria, a former drug runner for the Russian mob, is forced to do the bidding of Morgan Freeman's dirty, retired police officer, Damon, after he takes her daughter hostage. From the moment it begins to its twist ending, the film includes an overwhelming number of plot holes, logical inconsistencies and bizarre story elements. It would take far too long to cover every single one of these, so these are just a few of the plot holes that can't be overlooked.
Early in the film, Damon comments to Victoria that he's sure she's heard the rumors about him. He's talking about the rumors that he was -- and is -- a dirty cop. However, in a logic-defying declaration, Victoria claims she knows none of it is true as she sits in Damon's palatial estate.
Victoria works as Damon's housekeeper, and for some reason she believes Damon is able to pay his mortgage and Victoria's salary on a cop's pension. Throughout their association, Damon has been kind to her, so it makes sense Victoria would want to believe Damon's goodness. On the other hand, given her long association with the mob, it seems impossible she'd be that naïve. In fact, in response to Victoria, Damon says as much, confirming all the rumors about his illegal activities and pointing out he could never pay for his mansion otherwise, something Victoria should have realized long ago.
After another police officer infiltrates Damon's gang of crooked cops, Damon comes to the conclusion that none of them can be seen engaging in the criminal activities they have scheduled for the night. However, their payouts still need to be picked up, and given Victoria's skillset, Damon tries to enlist her. First, he asks nicely and promises that if she does what he asks, he will pay for her daughter's medical treatments.
Victoria wants nothing to do with such illicit activities anymore, so Damon goes to plan B. He kidnaps Lily and tells Victoria he won't give up her daughter's location until she's completed the five pickups. Victoria immediately agrees and heads off for the first pick-up, but perhaps if she'd taken a second to think, she might not have.
Throughout the time Damon attempts to convince Victoria to help him out, they're barely apart. Plus, Damon is primarily restricted to his house and lacks personal assistance, so if Damon took Lily, it's highly likely she'd just be in the mansion. Plus, Damon shows Victoria video of Lily in a room. Given how large Damon's estate is and the limited time they would have had to get her into that room, an accomplice or even Damon wouldn't have been able to bring Lily to a new location in time for him to show Victoria that video. Yet, Victoria accepts everything Damon says without looking around the house for her daughter.
During her first stop of the night, Victoria takes out some German gangsters. However, their deaths don't sit well with a fellow German gangster, and he meets Victoria at almost every subsequent stop with the goal of gunning her down in revenge.
This leads to several car chases that aren't especially exciting and make no sense. The German knows Victoria is carrying out these pickups for Damon, and he knows where Damon lives. At one point, Damon even says the man will come to his home eventually. The question is: why doesn't he come to Damon's home right away? Victoria goes there between every single stop, so if he wanted to ambush her, that would be the best location to do it.
Once Victoria completes all five pickups, Damon lets her daughter go and informs her that all the cash she picked up is hers to keep. He also indicates that since she killed all of her former enemies from her drug-running days, she should now be free to live her life without looking over her shoulder. He then waits for his crooked cop buddies to come over -- presumably to pick up the money for themselves -- and once they're there, he blows up the house, killing them and himself.
This is clearly meant to reframe Damon as a good guy who wants to ensure Victoria and her daughter will be secure; however, it brings up a lot of questions. The biggest of which is if he had Victoria's best interests at heart why didn't Damon just give her money and tell her to get out of town instead of kidnapping her daughter and forcing her to do his bidding. It also raises the question why was Damon so sure Victoria would manage to go up against all of these enemies without dying in the process. Afterall, the movie makes it clear it's been several years since Victoria worked for the mob, so it seems reasonable to assume she would be rusty with a gun when Damon sends her out to make his pickups. Risking her life is a less than solid plan for securing Victoria and her daughter's future.
The end of the movie shows Victoria and her daughter playing in a park as if all is now right with the world. However, it seems that after keeping the money she picked up and racking up quite a body count Victoria wouldn't be so free and clear. First, depositing that much cash in a bank would raise eyebrows, and it's unlikely a hospital would allow her to pay for her daughter's medical treatments in cash, which means the money Victoria collected could cause as many problems for her as it solves.
Moreover, while Victoria may have taken out all the gangsters who were after her, given the body count she racked up, it seems highly likely law enforcement would be looking for her. At the minimum, they would be searching for the person who killed the governor, and given that Victoria wasn't all that careful, there would probably be at least a few witnesses or surveillance images that put her in places that would tie her to the crime. In other words, Victoria and Lily's happy ending may not stay happy.
Directed by George Gallo, Vanquish stars Morgan Freeman and Ruby Rose. The film is available in select theaters, on digital and on demand, with a Blu-ray and DVD release on Tuesday, April 27.
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