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Review: 12 Rounds

Posted in: Movie Reviews
Author: Adam Mast
Apr 25, 2009 - 7:20:16 PM

Kyle and I had a good laugh the other day while talking about the marketing campaign for the new actioneer, "12 Rounds". Our fearless music guru thought it was a riot that in the trailer for this recent release, the marketing team goes out of their way to say; "From the director of Die Hard 2!". What makes this statement so funny? Well, "Die Hard 2" came out way back in 1990. Director Renny Harlin has gone on to make other films since then, but aside from "Cliffhanger", you'd be hard pressed to name one that's worth a damn (for the record, I'm not a fan of the cult fave "Long Kiss Goodnight"). How's Harlin's latest effort? Well, it's safe to say that when Renny sets out to make his next film, the marketing team won't use; "From the director of "12 Rounds!" in their marketing campaign.

In "12 Rounds" WWE star John Cena plays a dedicated cop who finds himself involved in a deadly game after he pisses off the wrong criminal (played by an uninspired Aidan Gillen).
"12 Rounds" immediately brought to mind three vastly superior action films; "Speed", "Die Hard With a Vengeance", and "Patriot Games". Hell, this recycled action movie can't even muster up the energy of the similarly themed Denzel Washington/John Lithgow revenge thriller "Ricochet", and not many people will cop to liking that flick (I will).

At the heart of this mess is the somewhat appealing John Cena . Somewhere in there, there's an action star waiting to bust out, but Harlin isn't able to exploit any of this wrestling star's assets. If you can believe it, Cena was even used to stronger effect in that other lame recycled action film, "The Marine". To Cena's credit, he is likable enough, and there isn't much doubt that fans of his wrestling career will enjoy him here. Sadly though, a great hero is only as impressive as his nemesis, and Aidan Gillen is so void of menace in "12 Rounds" that ultimately, this film is over before it even begins.

What's most peculiar about "12 Rounds", is the pacing. It's not like the movie is sluggish. It moves at a quick enough pace, but it never really feels like anything is going on. There's nothing fresh, or exciting about any of this. The situations are completely predictable, the characters are one dimensional, and even the action sequences are tepid. And for those of you who had a hard time buying into the idea that The Joker could orchestrate such intricate schemes in "The Dark Knight", wait until you see the crap Gillen's baddie pulls in this picture. I didn't question The Joker's ability in "The Dark Knight" because overall, "The Dark Knight" was a riveting film experience. I could think of a lot of adjectives that best describe this movie, and riveting certainly isn't one of them. At the end of the day, "12 Rounds" was 12 rounds too long.


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