When I first saw the trailer for VANQUISH, I was excited. A mom taking on the bad guys so she can get back her daughter. But not just any mom, a mom who is motorcycle riding, bad guy beating up and taking ALL the money.

So when I had the chance to interview Director George Gallo, of course I did. I wanted to know why he chose such a powerful character for the movies story-line.

Note: I was invited as media to the movie screening and film makers roundtable. However any personal views expressed are always 100% my own.

Why did you decided to have a tough mother story-line versus just a regular woman?

George Gallo: In all honesty these movies have been done a lot. The mother doing anything she can to protect the daughter. Part of the story-line is that she's just a badass. She goes around town during the course of the night, she kills a lot of bad guys.

She's not a great person herself. She has a very checkered past. But I wanted to try to make it believable. When we were thinking of who can play the part, we taught how about Ruby Rose.

I believe that she's not afraid of anyone. She's not afraid of these people. When they threaten her, she doesn't care. She'll just grab a gun and start shooting.

Ruby has an interesting characteristic as an actor, which is she's very very tough but she's also very vulnerable. So those two things together really helped the movie.

When the film starts, it feels like we're jumping right into the action, was that deliberately done?

George Gallo: Yes, we were thinking about letting the audience catch up kind of vibe. It's like your getting dropped into this world very early on, starting with Morgan Freeman's character being in a moment of crisis.

It was definitely intended. You are forced to keep up with the movie, as opposed to spoon feeding you so much information.

It was something we all came up with together, the actors, etc.  Let the movie just start on this peculiar night and during the course of the night, let the story unfold.

While the movie does have a serious tone, anything fun happen with the cast while filming?

George Gallo: This is my third movie with Morgan (Freeman). Morgan and I have literally became best friends. Since Morgan is already my buddy, we're always cutting up on set. So that part of it is already fun.

And Ruby is a cut-up. Her and Morgan got along like that (finger snap). They were having a great time challenging each other as actors. Ruby is tough and Morgan was like I liker her. It was a lot of fun to watch those two together. Lot of it comes out in the movie.

How was the process of directing Vanquish?

George Gallo: A lot of crazy stuff happen on the set. Writing the movie was simple enough. Sam Bartlett wrote the first pass. I wrote the second pass. I gave it to Morgan. Since he lives in Mississippi, we shot it there so he can be close to home.

But while we were there, we got two hurricane hit. Plus we were shooting during the height of COVID-19. So we had to do the COVID test every morning and everybody had all that stuff on.

I had a mask and the plastic thing on. I looked like a beekeeper. I had all that stuff. The gloves and the little mitts on the shoes. Normally I'm use to looking at the monitor or I'd run over to the actors, but I couldn't do that. I had a walkie-talkie because every body had to stay in their spaces.

George Gallo: But just before starting to shoot we got hit with a hurricane, so everybody had to pack up and leave. Then we came back and was shooting, then another hurricane came. We had to pack up and leave again. We had only two more days left to shoot.

So the movie looks very fluid but it really wasn't. A lot of starting and stopping, starting and stopping.

What do you want people to take away from Vanquish?

George Gallo To be honest with you, it's just pure entertainment. We knew from the beginning this movie is just a fun ride with a surprise ending. It's like 90mins of forget your problems.

I make a lot of movies, most of the movies I've made are comedies. So I come from a place of loving entertainment. Life is hard, when I sit down to watch a movie, I want to forget stuff. I don't want to get reminded that everything sucks.

I want to have a good time, I want to laugh, I want to live vicariously through other people. So that what this whole thing was meant to be.

SYNOPSIS

IN SELECT THEATERS: April 16, 2021
ON DEMAND AND DIGITAL: April 20, 2021
ON BLU-RAY AND DVD: April 27, 2021

From the director of Double Take, Middle Men, and The Poison Rose comes this stylish, glossy action-thriller starring Morgan Freeman (Se7en) and Ruby Rose ("Orange Is the New Black") that shows what desperation can drive a person to do.

A mother, Victoria (Rose), is trying to put her dark past as a Russian drug courier behind her, but retired cop Damon (Freeman) forces Victoria to do his bidding by holding her daughter hostage. Now, Victoria must use guns, guts, and a motorcycle to take out a series of violent gangsters — or she may never see her child again.

Starring: Morgan Freeman (Damon), Ruby Rose (Victoria), Patrick Muldoon (Agent Monroe), Nick Vallelonga (Detective Stevens), Chris Mullinax (Detective Kehoe), Dylan Flashner (Detective Childs), Paul Sampson (B.J.), Julie Lott (Governor Ann Driscoll), Bill Luckett (Father Thomas)

Vanquish (2021 Movie) Official Trailer



Directed By: George Gallo
Screenplay By: George Gallo and Sam Bartlett

To learn more, visit - www.lionsgate.com/movies/vanquish