Twenty years after his mother was murdered by terrorists, Harry Turner (Kellan Lutz) must go on a frantic rescue mission (of sorts) to save his father, legendary CIA operative Leonard Turner (Bruce Willis). When his ex-girlfriend and current operative Victoria (Gina Carano) is sent to stop him, the two join forces in an attempt to save the elder Turner, stop terrorist forces, and uncover the bigger plot. You can stop me if you’ve heard the formula before.
While Steven C. Miller throws himself fully into the action, there are significant problems with the formulaic delivery that occurs. It’s certainly not Lutz’s worse movie (Legend of Hercules, anyone?) or Carano’s worst acting job (see:?Heist), but it’s just not very good.
Someone wants Lutz to be a movie star, very badly. In what amounts to a lower budgeted?Die Hard with a Vengeance, Willis is rolled out to prop up Lutz as the “Next Guy We Should Pay Attention To” in the way they tried to transition us to believing that Jai Courtney was just as cool as McClane Jr. Sadly, this one never really sucks us in, either thanks to terrible dialogue or mailed-in acting.
“You’re being too hard on it, I’m sure!” someone will argue.
Case in point: Willis’ Leonard stabs a man’s carotid artery with a pencil, screams, “Never talk about my family again!” and shoots the man to death. Seriously? As if the pencil (the sharp end) wasn’t vicious enough, he had to tell the man breathing blood?not?to speak of Turner’s family in the split second before he shot him.
Later, when the baddies run off with Victoria, Harry shouts “where’s your car?” at a temporary accomplice and they race off, fishtailing for several blocks – in a straight line pursuit of the villains, because, you know, moving side to side makes you go faster?
Honestly, there were some enjoyable moments in the film – if you view it as a spoof. Charlie Sheen made some amusingly funny films (the?Hot Shots series) a few decades ago. Take them seriously, and you’ll struggle; imagine that the star is breaking the fourth wall and laughing with you, and you just might enjoy it.
Brutal flick!