After spending decades coordinating combat spectacle behind the camera for Hollywood heavyweights, lifelong stunt performer Mark Hicks is grabbing the directorial reins to unleash his magnum opus – the hard-hitting revenge thriller “Retribution For Cory”.
With an eyes-wide roar of high-octane stunt work and gritty street action, this film aims to claim the action movie crown. Hicks both directs and stars as Marcus, an ex-Marine turned vigilante who loses his family to ruthless assassins from a drug cartel. Hellbent on revenge, Marcus takes justice into his own hands, pitting him against almost impossible odds.
Produced by Hicks’ stunt company Stunts Supreme, and co-starring Phylicia Lloyd, “Cory” features some death-defying, edge-of-your-seat action sequences ever put to screen. Known for performing all of his own stunts over a legendary career, Hicks is more than qualified to orchestrate the film’s explosive fight choreography and vehicle mayhem
In an age of CGI and green screens permeating the action genre, Hicks has ensured “Cory” brings authenticity back through gritty practical stunt work. Elaborate sets were constructed to be decimated through actual explosions that left cast and crew pulling real G-forces and fighting real flames. There was no room for contrivances or acting on this run-and-gun set – only primal action energy and palpable life-risking danger in every take.
Hicks promises that “Retribution For Cory” will unleash a thunderously visceral, brutal combat put on film in years. Fight scenes deliver a guttural rawness as punches connect with flesh and flickering fire illuminates spinning kicks. An uncompromising violence pulsates through the film that health and safety regulators likely lost sleep over.
“I push myself and my cast into life-threatening scenarios because capturing authentic adrenaline on camera demands genuine peril,” Hicks said of his gonzo filming techniques. “We achieve things through practical stunt work that digital artists could only dream of.”
Indeed, this fusion of narrative fury and bleeding-edge action choreography looks set to propel “Retribution For Cory” into the upper echelon of vicious action storytelling. A breakneck vision, directed by one of the genre’s undeniable masters, it will leave jaws on the floor.
The time has come for Mark Hicks to unleash his legend and cement “Cory” as the definitive action experience of 2024. A film that leaves no prisoner, takes no concession, and delivers what audiences crave – real in-camera stunt spectacle so intense that health boards shrieked and insurers recoiled.
“Retribution for Cory” demonstrates everything that makes Mark Hicks a heavyweight name in Hollywood. It arrives directly from his singular stuntman-turned-auteur creative vision. So open your eyes wide, grip your armrests tighter, and surrender your senses to the hard-hitting action motion picture experience in decades when it lands soon.
Because Mark Hicks didn’t quietly coordinate fight scenes for heavy-hitters – he absorbed the integral craft of generating authentic spectacle… all leading to this moment. His movie. His masterstroke.
Beyond the breakneck action sequences, what sets “Retribution For Cory” apart is the beating heart at the film’s core. The palpable familial bonds between Marcus and his niece Celest give the story intimacy and emotional weight rare for such an adrenaline-charged genre flick.
As Hicks attests: “At its core, this film explores the psyche of a profoundly principled man giving himself permission to devolve into chaotic violence to protect those he loves most – then wondering about the monster he becomes afterwards.”
So while the trailer-ready moments crammed into “Cory” will undoubtedly leave jaws on the floor, its emotional core ensures elevated staying power. When this vigilante action spectacle hits theaters, be prepared to be not just awed but moved by Hicks’ career-defining statement cementing his directorial arrival after 30 years commanding spectacle from the stunt trenches.
Published by: Martin De Juan
