The action movie, Savage Dog (2017), is set in Indochina in 1959 after the French have left following a humiliating defeat. The country has been left open to all the undesirables and is no place for nice guys. Directed by Jesse V. Johnson, the film stars Scott Adkins, Marko Zaror and Juju Chan, Cung Le, Vladimir Kulich, Charles Fathy, Matthew Marsden and Keith David who narrates the film. Keith David’s character tells us that Indochina during this period is “a melting pot of villainy” and if this film is indicative of what it was like, Martin Tillman (Scott Adkins) has his hands full when he finally decides to go against the bad guys.
A Foreign Legion deserter and fugitive with IRA ties, the Irishman Martian Tillman, is held prisoner in a labor camp run by an ex-Nazi, Steiner, played by Vladimir Kulich. Steiner forces his prisoners into violent bare-knuckle fights in all kinds of conditions with no rules and death is often the losers reward. Steiner profits off those who bet on the challenges. After his release from the camp, with few other prospects, Tillman takes a job as a bouncer at a local bar owned by Valentine, played by Keith David. Valentine answers a few of the questions Tillman has about Isabelle (Juju Chan) and Steiner, and Isabelle and Tillman begin a relationship.
Lured by big money, Martin Tillman is convinced to go back and fight for Steiner, helping Steiner attract heavy bettors. Now that Tillman has money, Valentine convinces Tillman to leave with Isabelle and go to America, but this never comes to pass. Forced to take a dive, people lose big including Valentine who loses the bar and his life and Isabelle and Tillman are shot at the same time and then buried in shallow graves. Tillman survives realizes what had been important to him was gone and he goes on a very violent rampage to decimate the people who killed his friend and shoot he and Isabelle. It make take guns, knives, sword, and explosives, but he will get the job done.
