There are some circumstances under which you would find THE MARINE an amazing film. Some of them include:
a) You can't get enough straight-to-DVD Dolph Lundgren.
b) You're a pyromaniac 11-year-old boy riddled with ADD.
c) You found COMMANDO to be "a bit too deep."
Unless you fit into one of these categories, steer clear of this awfully written/executed star debut for pro wrestler John Cena. Here the big guy is a Marine who doesn't know what to do with himself after his discharge. After his wife is kidnapped at a gas station, his training comes in quite handy as he tracks down the gang of thugs holding her in the woods.
Cena is actually not all that bad. He can hardly be blamed for the crapulescence that is THE MARINE; there is much blame to go around. The writers deserve special shame for a cliché ridden script that attempts to get us through the slow spots with one pointless explosion and/or shooting after another. Robert Patrick returns to the screen as a villain, but the talent he showed in T2 is overshadowed by the one-dimensional evil his character displays. Anthony Ray Parker, as one of the thugs, embarrasses himself with tired "black guy" dialog that tries so hard to be funny and timely but fails oh-so miserably.
I didn't know that John Cena was a wrestler before I rented THE MARINE. I guess that's the only thing that really makes sense here. Cena attracts a certain kind of viewer, one with no time for things like plot, direction or creativity. They won't be disappointed. It's not "the worst piece of crap" ever, as one IMDb reviewer called it, but there's certainly no reason anyone should ever view it again.
a) You can't get enough straight-to-DVD Dolph Lundgren.
b) You're a pyromaniac 11-year-old boy riddled with ADD.
c) You found COMMANDO to be "a bit too deep."
Unless you fit into one of these categories, steer clear of this awfully written/executed star debut for pro wrestler John Cena. Here the big guy is a Marine who doesn't know what to do with himself after his discharge. After his wife is kidnapped at a gas station, his training comes in quite handy as he tracks down the gang of thugs holding her in the woods.
Cena is actually not all that bad. He can hardly be blamed for the crapulescence that is THE MARINE; there is much blame to go around. The writers deserve special shame for a cliché ridden script that attempts to get us through the slow spots with one pointless explosion and/or shooting after another. Robert Patrick returns to the screen as a villain, but the talent he showed in T2 is overshadowed by the one-dimensional evil his character displays. Anthony Ray Parker, as one of the thugs, embarrasses himself with tired "black guy" dialog that tries so hard to be funny and timely but fails oh-so miserably.
I didn't know that John Cena was a wrestler before I rented THE MARINE. I guess that's the only thing that really makes sense here. Cena attracts a certain kind of viewer, one with no time for things like plot, direction or creativity. They won't be disappointed. It's not "the worst piece of crap" ever, as one IMDb reviewer called it, but there's certainly no reason anyone should ever view it again.