Jean-François Richet’s “Blood Father” is supposed to be considered Mel Gibson’s cinematic comeback as the action hero we all knew and love before… you know. “Blood Father” is one in the many growing titles of fifty something men displaying vigilante justice, and Gibson plays well to type. He’s that crusty fifty something man who often resembles Martin Riggs if Riggs became a convict, and attempted to spend his life redeeming himself or something. Gibson plays Link, an ex-convict working hard to live out the rest of his life as quietly as possible. But things don’t go as planned when his estranged daughter, who is involved with a vicious gangster, shows up at his door begging for shelter. But when her boyfriend is convinced she knows too much, he goes looking for her.
A la “The Professional,” Link is something of a simple man outrunning his demons and decides to hide his daughter, all the while garnering unwanted attention by relentless gang members who will do anything to bring Lydia back home. “Blood Father” is a very okay action movie with a spirited performance by Gibson who commits to the angry and bitter old man routine quite well. Gibson has always been at home in action films, and he’s still pretty entertaining getting in to gun fights and mouthing off to various gang members. Lydia is possibly one of the most annoying characters in action movie history, as she disrupts her father’s life and never redeems herself, even when we see how she’s redeemed herself in the finale. Much of the film revolves around Link looking for reasons to keep Lydia safe as she proves to be about as grating as nails on a chalkboard.
Really, “Blood Father” is a showcase for Gibson who is a man forced to resort to extreme violence to save his daughter, and has to come to terms with his darker side when Gabriel Luna’s villain begins wrecking his personal life. Beyond Gibson, William H. Macy gives a short but interesting turn as one of Link’s neighbors, and one of the few bright spots in Link’s life. Beyond that Luna is fairly forgettable while Erin Moriarty is serviceable. “Blood Father” just can never seem to decide if it wants to be a goofy action thriller, or a stern drama about redemption, giving it an uneven tone. There’s also the rough editing which makes the narrative sometimes difficult to follow. That said, while “Blood Father” is much too long in the tooth, it’s still a solid Mel Gibson vehicle with some raucous gun fights, and Gibson doing a respectable impression of a biker.