Action Hero MoviesThis movie has a terribly low budget vibe from the start. It’s certainly not Hollywood level, but it’s still a level above B movies — it sits somewhere in the middle. Maybe TV episode level, or something from a video game prelude clip or an X rated movie roleplay scene. That’s literally the quality we’re dealing with, when it comes to some of the acting, sound, picture, script, etc.
The first 10 minutes are watchable mainly thanks to Van Damme’s presence, and the tolerable supporting cast and script etc thus far. But the dodgy intent behind this movie is coming out already, even on its shockingly low apparent budget, in how it’s pushing an anti-anti-journalist narrative, by dressing them up as totally innocent victims where anyone who has a problem with them must be a wildly irrational violent maniac — typical spin from journalists I’d say!
By about 20 minutes in, it’s become quite interesting as Van Damme, working for the US embassy in an unstable Eastern European country, helps the recently elected president to escape a militia-assisted riot while his own army is hours away. The cunning driving tactics led by Van Damme are quite watchable.
By about 30 minutes in, it’s clearly promoting the idea of having big military, including having masses of troops and machinery stationed at every location around the world.
Nice trick around an hour in, as Van Damme gets 2 groups of enemy troops to fire on each other by placing himself between them and shooting from an unseen position. It’s only a small thing but it stands out a bit considering the weakness of the movie generally. I rate this movie just Below Average. About half of the supporting cast are pretty good. There’s some strength in some of the script, props and acting. It’s not quite as bad as the B movie vibes suggested from the outset, but it’s no strong movie either — it’s slightly memorable but slightly nondescript.