In the brutal, stripped-down action thriller Due Justice (2023), Kellan Lutz takes center stage as Max, a former Marine and current lawyer whose world is shattered when his wife and brother are murdered, and his young daughter kidnapped. The film wastes no time diving into themes of loss, vengeance, and the gray space between justice and revenge.
Set in a decaying urban landscape, the story follows Max as he rejects the legal system he once believed in and turns to the violent instincts he tried to leave behind. Using his military training and legal mind, Max wages a one-man war against a ruthless criminal gang responsible for his family’s suffering. His only reluctant ally is Detective Santiago, a weary but principled cop who can’t decide whether to arrest Max or help him.
Kellan Lutz delivers a strong performance, portraying Max not as a typical action hero, but as a broken man holding on by a thread. His quiet intensity gives emotional weight to the film’s otherwise familiar revenge plot. The action sequences—though modestly budgeted—are grounded and gritty, leaning into hand-to-hand brutality rather than flashy spectacle.
The film’s pacing falters slightly in the middle, with some dialogue-heavy scenes slowing down the tension. However, it redeems itself with a satisfying final act that delivers both emotional catharsis and moral complexity. Due Justice may not reinvent the genre, but it knows what it is: a tight, violent, character-driven thriller with a human pulse.
In a potential sequel, Due Justice: Aftermath, Max lives in seclusion with his daughter, attempting to rebuild their lives. But peace is short-lived. When survivors of the gang he dismantled begin resurfacing under a new leader—an ex-military contractor with ties to Max’s own past—he is pulled back into a war he thought was over.
Meanwhile, Detective Santiago, now promoted and pressured by political forces, is tasked with stopping a new wave of violence tied to Max’s vigilante legacy. Torn between duty and old loyalty, Santiago must decide whether Max is still a broken father fighting for what's right—or a danger that must be stopped.
This imagined sequel would explore the psychological toll of vengeance. Max isn’t just fighting criminals anymore—he’s fighting the consequences of his own actions. The daughter he saved is now old enough to ask questions he can’t answer. The justice he once sought is now a haunting echo, raising the question: Can a man who lives by violence ever escape it?
With deeper emotional stakes, a morally complex plot, and new antagonists rooted in Max’s own past, Due Justice: Aftermath could expand the original film’s themes while offering a darker, more introspective take on justice and redemption.
