Directed by John Hyams.
2012. Rated R, 114 minutes.
Cast:
Scott Adkins
Mariah Bonner
Andrei Arlovski
Rus Blackwell
Audrey P. Scott
David Jensen
Roy Jones, Jr.
John (Adkins) is woken up in the middle of the night by his
daughter who says there are monsters in the kitchen. Like a good father, he
goes to investigate. When he gets there, he discovers she was right. Three men
in ski masks are waiting for him and proceed to beat half to death with a
crowbar. While he lies in a pool of his own blood, the men bring down his
daughter and his wife and murders them right in front of him. Fast forward nine
months to John waking up in the hospital. He’s told by the FBI that a man named
Devereaux (Van Damme) is responsible. Our hero trying to find this man ensues.
His quest is made a bit more difficult because Devereaux’s second-in-command,
Scott (Lundgren), has sent the maniacal goon known as The Plumber (Arlovski)
after John to kill him. If that weren't bad enough, all these bad guys are
hopped up the Universal Soldier Serum which makes the stuff Captain America got
seem like a B-12 shot.
Immediately, it becomes clear that our focus is on brutal
and bloody violence. At this, it succeeds. The next knock-down-drag-out is
never too far away. Everything in the vicinity gets smashed, blood splatters
everywhere, and body parts are left among the debris. Don’t worry, they get
regenerated. No, I’m not joking. Anyhoo, without overextending itself, it is
enough to satisfy your average action junkie.
Between all the noisy parts, we get a story that’s simple at
it’s core, a bit convoluted in execution, and holds together barely enough to
get us through. A few things don’t quite make sense, but not enough to ruin the
movie. However, if you’re looking for all of this feature Jean-Claude Van Damme
and Dolph Lundgren, you will be sorely disappointed. Neither guy has very much
screen time. It is all about this young guy, Scott Adkins. He provides a solid
enough protagonist. After all, it’s not like Van Damme and Lundgren were ever
accused of being great actors. Okay, maybe once. Van Damme was excellent in
JCVD, but that’s it so the point remains. Besides, they do
get in on the action a little bit.
In case the title and the presence of two 80s action gods
didn’t clue you in, this is another entry in the Universal
Soldier canon. I have no idea how many this makes, nor do I really
care. The very first one is the only one I have seen. I must confess that
happened so long ago I don’t remember much about it. What I’m getting at is
this: familiarity with the franchise is not a must to enjoy Day of
Reckoning. It works well enough as a stand-alone. For those of you
that are familiar, I have no idea how well this fits or doesn’t with the series
motif. In any event, it’s perfectly acceptable as a mile-a-minute, turn your
brain off action flick.
MY SCORE: 6/10
No comments:
Post a Comment