John Ritter is a millionaire CEO whose wife is
killed in a terrorist attack by Martin Kove. The government won’t do anything
about it, so he hires mercenary Olivier Gruner to retaliate against the
terrorists. There’s just one catch: Ritter wants to be the one who pulls the
trigger. That presents a problem since
he’s a businessman and not a hardened soldier. Gruner then must put him through a crash
course boot camp before they drop in behind enemy lines and go after Kove.
Directed by Avi (Doppelganger) Nesher, Mercenary
kicks off with a fun opening “How Badass is He?” scene where we see Gruner kill
a gang of kidnappers using only a pen and a credit card. Nesher films the action scenes competently and
offers up interesting variations on the usual formula such as the addition of
hang gliders and go-karts to the action. It’s probably a bit long and drawn out, and
suffers from a lackluster finale, but there are plenty of shootouts and explosions
to be had.
The fun cast also helps keep you engaged. This is probably Gruner’s best performance. He’s a tight-lipped no-nonsense kind of guy,
but his sense of honor and heart of gold makes him more endearing than most of the
characters he’s played. His interactions
with Robert Culp (great as always), who plays his handler, are surprisingly
moving. Culp only has a few months to
live and the way Gruner watches over him offer some of the best moments in the
movie.
It’s also amusing seeing the usually mild-mannered
Ritter dropping F-Bombs and trying to act tough. The fact that he starred in this and Sling
Blade back-to-back really shows the extent of his range.
Kove makes for an ideal villain although he disappears from the action
much too soon. At least the always
reliable Ed (Death Wish 3) Lauter is around to pick up the villainy baton about
halfway through.
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