FORMAT: DVD
Lou Diamond Phillips stars as the head of a team of mercenaries who are hired to protect a billionaire whose unstable scientist son just invented a newfangled laser beam. Naturally, bad dudes led by Jeff Speakman want to get their hands on it too. Complicating matters is the sudden appearance of a pesky Ninja who seems hellbent on sabotaging the mission.
Lou was pretty good in this. Maybe not up to snuff with his hilarious turn in The Big Hit but he definitely brought personality and humor to what otherwise could’ve been a generic role. (The scene where he nonchalantly realizes he’s on fire was kind of funny.) I also liked the banter between Lou and his right-hand man Tom Wright while on the job. It felt loose and casual; like it could’ve been spoken by a couple of dudes at the water cooler in an office or while toting guns on a mission.
I was a little worried at the outset as the opening action scene had some unnecessary shaky-cam, which was more or less the norm in the early aughts. Fortunately, that all died down as the movie progressed. We also get a really chintzy title sequence made to look like a computer dossier filled with whistles and screeches like they were still running on dial-up. Not to mention the really lame bullet time effects. (I did kind of like the cheesy CGI death at the end though.)
In addition to Phillips, we have Yancy (Hard Target) Butler who isn’t too shabby as his ex who is less than thrilled to be working with him again. Speakman is kind of reserved (both in terms of performance and his Kung Fu skills), but he gets some funny lines. Wright lends solid support as well.
Writer/director Daniel Millican brings a little flair to the proceedings. The little touches of humor bode well too. It’s just a shame that the middle section (set in an office building) really drags. The plot twist involving the mysterious motorcycle-riding Ninja wasn’t really necessary either. However, for every bit that didn’t click, there was something amusing or entertaining, so it wasn’t a bad trade off.
No comments:
Post a Comment