StunnaKrypto
Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.
Teringer
An Exercise In Nonsense
Clarissa Mora
The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.
Marva-nova
Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.
rsoonsa
When FBI agent Jeff Douglas (Robert Patrick) journeys by automobile, along with two other operatives from his Los Angeles office, to fictional "La Ropa", Mexico, to assume custody of an American narcotics dealer incarcerated there, there is no cause for him to expect other than completion of a routine assignment, while looking ahead to a pleasantly familial evening at home with his wife and two children. However, the drug boss, whimsically named Ray Manta (Titus Welliver), is forcefully removed from the clutches of The Law by a large cluster of motorcycle riding desperadoes who capture Douglas and kill his two comrades. His life threatened by the daring rescue that has thwarted the Bureau detail, Jeff is impelled to undertake a galling task. After speaking with his wife by telephone, Douglas is promised by the villains that he will be freed if he will feign at ushering Manta toward FBI custody, whereas in actuality he will be delivering the felon to Las Vegas and into the company of the other four ringleaders of a cabal that calls itself The White Hand, and that has gained what amounts to primary control of liquid heroin trafficking within the United States. Jeff eludes his captors and after he has telephonically learned that his entire family has been slain by minions of The White Hand, Douglas commences upon a mission of retribution, his goal to assassinate the five criminal organization kingpins, including Manta. Therefore, the background has been properly established for an interesting tale of heated vengeance. Unfortunately, the narrative is composed for the most part of set pieces that utilize a large contingent of stunt men and demolition experts, to the detriment of the plot line. It seems that gunmen hired by The White Hand are selected largely upon their proved substandard marksmanship, with scene following risible scene depicting a fortunate Douglas being unharmed by numberless rounds fired at close range by numberless thugs, after which he predictably brings down one each per trigger pull. Plainly, if Jeff were in fact gunned down, the film would be at its end, this truth eliminating any possible creation of suspense. Additionally, when a viewer finds himself chortling at what are ostensibly harrowing circumstances for the hero, it becomes obvious that this production suffers from a shortfall of logic. There is scant opportunity for the display of acting chops here, although Patrick gamely tries to create his role, while playing honours go to Welliver for his consistently effective portrayal of a principal member of the Forces of Evil.
Gary-161
Robert Patrick is quite the little terrier in this routine actioner about a wronged man hell bent on revenge (now, that's what I call a plot!) Patrick's claim to fame is that he looks a bit like Peter Weller (I'm gonna live forever!) And also played a robot in 'Terminator 2' (Now, that's what I call a stretch!) Here, he sports a blonde, bouffant, fifties rockabilly barnet and possibly the tightest pair of jeans I've ever seen in a movie. It's amazing he can talk, let alone roll around incessantly in those things, it's truly impressive, believe me. The whole ensemble makes him look like a reject from a Jimmy Dean look alike contest for violation of the the age limit. A rebel without a pause, he systematically blows away countless mafiosi without seeming to sweat. Patrick has devised a full proof method of combating the mafia which is basically 'duck and cover'. Frankly, I'm amazed he can even move, but it works. Despite having very loosely fitting standard Italian suits, the bad guys have not learned the concept of 'duck and cover' and continuously stand in plain site waiting for the cue to be riddled with bullets. They do not learn from this and just carry on with the same strategy. Back at bad guy central, the Mafia bosses scratch their heads over Patrick's astonishing success and decide that war has well and truly been declared on them, albeit from Lilliput. It can only end in one place. You guessed it, an abandoned warehouse. Or maybe they only look abandoned because they're so big. And full of explosions. Patrick, continuing his zero tolerance of gun control (and underwear judging by the EXCRUTIATING tightness of those jeans), proceeds to single handedly demolish Las Vegas, best described in a better film elsewhere as 'a suitably biblical ending to the place.'The only other film I can recall with a similar looking lead with an eerily familiar pair of trousers is in 'Blue Jean Cop' AKA 'Shakedown', in which our hero, despite having very and I mean VERY tight jeans; manages to run, jump and hang off the wheels of a plane. Despite being called 'Shakedown', nothing shakes in his jeans, believe me. The actor in that film was a chap called Peter Weller. Funny, that.
Bilstein
It annoys the hell out of me when, if a film has a lot of violence and/or gore, that automatically means it's second rate, with poor acting and a weak script etc. I would say 'Wishmaster' is an example. Lots of gore = poor, so to speak. And I would say this is another of those types of films. It has an excessive amount of violence, which means by most people, including major film reviewers, it's discarded as junk.And that's a pity because this film is really rather good. I'll be the first to admit that I'm drawn to any film which has warnings about its levels of violence, but this, along with 'To Protect and Serve', seemed to shine above the rest.Anyone who said this film has poor acting obviously missed the bit when Jeff, over the phone, learns his family has been massacred. After a brief period of time, Jeff goes over the edge, and Robert Patrick does it perfectly.This has been done before, and is, in some instances, ridiculous. (At one point, Jeff drives his car through the side of a helicopter. The helicopter goes boom, but the car emerges almost undamaged.) But then again, Die Hard was pretty ridiculous too, and that was one of the greatest action films I've ever seen. This isn't Oscar winning stuff, but it's damn good.Caution is advised: Some scenes are very violent.8/10 - I thoroughly enjoyed it
Dan-56
Stupid script. Daft body count. Second rate acting. Manipulative and unpleasant junk.