The tempo of this film is just all over the place. It pretty much instantly drops into action, but then the audio doesn't change suggesting something exciting should happen, when the following scene is just guys talking in an office. Then when action kicks in again it's brought on in a lurch, so whilst it's not surprising, it's not built up to either. The plot is okay, very 'America saves the world', or to be specific, 'Moldavia'.
The acting isn't particularly inspired and the dialogue nothing special, these again aren't helped by the audio. People talking in an empty room with nothing else to engage you with isn't too riveting. Plus, whilst the budget must have been fairly decent, on account of all the helicopter shots, etc., certain parts just come across as cheap. There are graphics, such as the army's ETA or sight through binoculars, which seem like they're more from a video game of the same period.
JCVD is the major draw here, but I wouldn't particularly say he's utilised or that this is a typical JCVD film. His martial arts aren't used for ages, and when they are, the fight scene looks a little lame due to camera shots. Many edgy shots throughout, poorly done.
Still, the ending is kind of interesting, it at least has an enticing ending (despite being predictable, the false ending is a little obvious). It doesn't do a lot right, but it's not atrocious, although I'd choose many JCVD films before this one.
The acting isn't particularly inspired and the dialogue nothing special, these again aren't helped by the audio. People talking in an empty room with nothing else to engage you with isn't too riveting. Plus, whilst the budget must have been fairly decent, on account of all the helicopter shots, etc., certain parts just come across as cheap. There are graphics, such as the army's ETA or sight through binoculars, which seem like they're more from a video game of the same period.
JCVD is the major draw here, but I wouldn't particularly say he's utilised or that this is a typical JCVD film. His martial arts aren't used for ages, and when they are, the fight scene looks a little lame due to camera shots. Many edgy shots throughout, poorly done.
Still, the ending is kind of interesting, it at least has an enticing ending (despite being predictable, the false ending is a little obvious). It doesn't do a lot right, but it's not atrocious, although I'd choose many JCVD films before this one.