It’s time for the return of John Wayne. He is riding with a vengeance this time as he arrives to really turn the tides in a tricky situation. It’s a pretty good all around title with a memorable main villain as well as a decent supporting cast. It ends up being one of the better John Wayne films. He’s had so many that you will probably still end up mixing them around a bit as the years go on but I can say that they did a good job with this one.

The film starts by introducing us to a legendary crook known as Pandro. He’s masquerading as a mexican and is so infamous that the guy is worth $5000 dead or alive. He also bumps off John’s father so he is now on the lookout for revenge. This crook decides to target a local girl named Ruby and so her father takes her into town to be safe. John knows that this is now his chance to take Pandro down but the tricky thing is that the local sheriff isn’t particularly smart and may end up getting in the way. How can John defeat the villains while being limited by his own allies?

I did like the fact that the sheriff was generally incompetent the whole time but still talking a big game. It makes for a fun character to have around and also made sure John’s job wasn’t too easy. This guy doesn’t even know how to properly secure his prisoners which becomes a problem later on. I half blame John too since he knew this wasn’t a good lock but decides to take a nap anyway. It’s still on the sheriff of course but John probably should have just stayed up. If not for the sheriff’s meddaling, we do see that John makes short work of Pandro in all of their encounters. Pandro is just completely out of his depth and isn’t that durable either. John easily knocks him out the first time and in the second instance the domination is even more extreme.

Despite all of that, you will at least remember Pandro because there was actually some depth to his character. He wasn’t just a random villain with a gun. He actually had a gimmick with the whole disguise part and was very over the top. It’s a way to ensure you don’t forget him and so I give the movie a whole lot of credit there. It would have been easy to have just made him generic or something like that.

As for the heroine Ruby, she was okay but did find herself constantly getting into trouble. Not much she could do about falling into the lake but it would have been nice to have seen her learning how to shoot or something. I feel like growing up in the wild west should make everyone learn how to use a gun quickly because you never know when you might need it. There are villains lurking around every corner after all.

Her father Dusty did a good job of playing defense though. His plan to outwit Pandro and his gang was pretty good and he also came in clutch during the climax. He’s the kind of guy who never gives up. Meanwhile John is a good hero as you would expect. Very down to business and is always ready to lend a helping hand. He’s the exact kind of hero that you want on your side when you are in a situation like this.

The soundtrack is very familiar if you’ve been watching the other John Wayne films in this series. They always use the same tunes over and over again but fortunately they are always very good. Nothing to really dislike about them at least. They are dramatic, if a bit overbearing. I’ll always take that over the music being too low or being generic. They don’t really make soundtracks like this anymore.

The pacing is good and the writing is on point. This is a very simple film that nails the fundamentals and that is always the right way to go about things. I don’t really have any issues here. Even though the film is very short, it still manages to cover a whole lot of ground. Even after the climax is seemingly over, the film is able to squeeze another one in right afterwards. Now that is absolutely impressive.

I’m thinking the movie did that because the initial climax actually doesn’t have much action. We get a long walking sequence and then the villain ends up poisoning himself. It actually works well as a real twist of what the climax would usually be like, but I could see some people being upset at that which is why it would make a whole lot of sense to try and get around that. Throwing in a more standard kind of climax works well there and also matches the tone of the intro scene more. The film literally starts off with a big gunfight after all so you want to end with something a little more up to that speed.

Overall, If you like a good western then this is a good film to check out. The action scenes are on point and the movie is not afraid to hit you hard with the soundtrack. John makes for a good character and the dialogue is solid from start to finish. It’s a charming film with no real weaknesses and that’s part of why the Wayne films have so much replay value. You can watch them at any time and expect to enjoy yourself. In a way the films could stand to be longer but perhaps that would break the balance of the movies. In which case, this would actually be the perfect amount.

Overall 7/10