In many ways, this is Rambo 5 on a budget. It starts out decent enogh. Jason Patric's daughter is abducted in Mexico. But he's a badass ex-marine, and won't give up on her without a fight. So far so good. Up until the first action scene, the writing and acting is pretty strong. The film spends time setting up the Cartel as all powerful antagonists, and they have corrupt cops on their side, too. The acting by the Cartel members and the cops is good. Jason Patric and his army buddy are good as well, but the actress playing his wife is awful.
The first action scene is set up almost like the finale of Rambo 5... and then it all goes downhill.
This film fails at what it wants to be. It could have worked as a gritty crime thriller, but it wants to be an action film. When you make an action film, you have to get the action right. The action scenes are amateurishly filmed, cheaply made, with all muzzle flares, bullet impacts and even the blood cgi. The destruction of the house looks fake, as do the impacts in cars and walls. It's an instant let down. Beyond that, the bad guys have the worst aim of any movie badguys ever. Even Star Wars Stormtroopers don't aim this badly. There are multiple scenes where Jason Patric is right in the line of fire at barely 5 meters apart, yet somehow every bullet misses. Once that first action scene happens, the movie loses all its momentum.
It's a pity, because the setup was done well. Gritty B-movies like this can work, see the recent Mob Land. But for that to happen, directors and producers need to come to terms with their budgetary limitations and work around them. It is better to have less action but done right than to have a lot of action done badly.
The first action scene is set up almost like the finale of Rambo 5... and then it all goes downhill.
This film fails at what it wants to be. It could have worked as a gritty crime thriller, but it wants to be an action film. When you make an action film, you have to get the action right. The action scenes are amateurishly filmed, cheaply made, with all muzzle flares, bullet impacts and even the blood cgi. The destruction of the house looks fake, as do the impacts in cars and walls. It's an instant let down. Beyond that, the bad guys have the worst aim of any movie badguys ever. Even Star Wars Stormtroopers don't aim this badly. There are multiple scenes where Jason Patric is right in the line of fire at barely 5 meters apart, yet somehow every bullet misses. Once that first action scene happens, the movie loses all its momentum.
It's a pity, because the setup was done well. Gritty B-movies like this can work, see the recent Mob Land. But for that to happen, directors and producers need to come to terms with their budgetary limitations and work around them. It is better to have less action but done right than to have a lot of action done badly.