If John Wick had a Scandinavian cousin who traded slick gun-fu for blunt-force trauma, it'd be Stand Your Ground. The new trailer from Epic Pictures is a 90-second adrenaline dump—explosions, grim one-liners, and Peter Stormare sneering like a man who bathes in whiskey. But beneath the carnage, there's a question: Haven't we seen this before?
Daniel Stisen plays Jack Johnson, a former Special Forces op whose pregnant wife is murdered by a crime lord's sons. After six years in prison (for killing one attacker in a rage), Jack emerges with a plan: exploit the “Stand Your Ground” law to lure his enemies into a legal kill box. Cue home-invasion shootouts, Stormare's scenery-chewing villainy, and Eric Roberts showing up long enough to cash a paycheck.
Deep Dive: The Revenge Thriller Playbook
- 2014: John Wick redefined revenge with mythic precision.
- 2017: Brawl in Cell Block 99 traded glamour for grindhouse grit.
- 2024: Stand Your Ground leans into the Death Wish reboot's vibe—less social commentary, more “how many ways can a man crush a trachea?”
Director Fansu Njie (Last Man Down) clearly loves action, but the trailer's barrage of explosions and shotgun blurs feels like a Michael Bay garage sale. The twist? Jack uses legal loopholes as weapons—imagine Law & Order if the jury were replaced with Claymores.
This isn't high art—it's a sledgehammer to the sternum. But if you crave cathartic violence with a side of Stormare's patented Euro-trash menace (“You broke the rules…”), mark your calendar for May 9th.
Stand Your Ground won't reinvent the wheel. It'll just run you over with it.
