A follow-up to the 2021 short Redsin, Redsin: Martyrs of Dissent is Christopher Ortiz’s proof of concept for his espionage/action film scenario introduced in that fateful first short. A terrorist splinter cell, Redsin, has a diabolical plan to destroy the United States by contaminating its water supply with a virulent bioweapon. The leader of Redsin, Nathan McKane (Leo Giannopoulos), has a brother, Jenson (Jay Welch). It is Jenson’s plan to find and reconcile with his brother, thus foiling the plot to dump the bioweapon into America’s water supply.
As you, gentle reader, would expect, Jenson’s plan is not without complications. The biggest of which is Jenson has no idea where to find Nathan. As the ‘race against time’ story trope unfolds, Redsin: Martyrs of Dissent proves itself a very fine small budget action film. The hand-to-hand combat is well-photographed. The sniper sequences are endowed with unease and a slight touch of discomfort, as you can’t quite pinpoint where the sniper might be hiding. While the foley for the action is a bit louder than it probably should be, I’ll chalk that up to craftspeople who are still learning the trade. It takes years to perfect good foley for action. There even big budget films (I’m looking at you Pearl Harbor), who manage to mangle the action sounds, such that there are far more bombastic booms than need to happen in a given instance.
“…has a diabolical plan to destroy the United States by contaminating its water supply…”
What Redsin: Martyrs of Dissent nails is the mood and atmosphere. This is a potentially dire situation for the country, these two brothers, and potentially the world if this bioweapon proves to be as lethal as the terrorists think it is. Framed within the mystery of where Nathan is at any point in this film, Redsin: Martyrs of Dissent proves Ortiz can write a compelling screenplay. He even directs his actors well. What he needs top-flight help with is going to be the action choreography, the sound effects, and the music. None of what I say here should detract from Redsin: Martyrs of Dissent though. Clearly, this film is a calling card in order to find investors to buy into a longer, deeper feature-length version of this adventure.
I found Redsin: Martyrs of Dissent to be a fun film to watch over my lunch hour. Forty-nine minutes was the ideal amount of time for the material Ortiz has developed to this point. Redsin: Martyrs of Dissent presents a story that I expect would happen more frequently if people could go through with their world-destroying fantasies. As with all action films, there is a strong element of wish fulfillment in Nathan’s plot to take down America and unshackle the people by spreading a virulent disease. On that note, if you still suffer PTSD from the Pandemic, you may wish to steer clear of this film.
For everyone else, and I’m specifically speaking to action film fans, Redsin: Martyrs of Dissent is a suspenseful, hard-hitting roller-coaster worthy of your time. It clearly demonstrates the great promise Christopher Ortiz possesses as a future feature-length action filmmaker. I know I’m intrigued to watch what he does next.
"…a suspenseful, hard-hitting roller-coaster worthy of your time..."
