Action Flick Chick

Posted By Action Flick Chick on April 7, 2009

12 Rounds is exactly what it seems. It’s an action movie where the plot matters minimally and the action happens maximally. 12 Rounds, directed by Renny Harlin and starring John Cena as Danny Fisher, is about a police officer who catches an international terrorist, Miles Jackson played by Aiden Gillen, and his girlfriend. However, the girlfriend dies tragically making Miles want to do a favor for Fisher by ripping him a new hole.

12 Rounds is insanely full of action. The director made the comment that this was not a movie that had people sitting around talking and drinking tea- it was an action movie, and he was right. Let me break it down for you: There were 9 minutes at the beginning composed of non-action, the first action sequence lasted close to 10 minutes, and then the movie didn’t let up at friggin’ all until the end. So out of the whole movie there were maybe 17-20 minutes of non-action. That’s freakin’ amazing! Even after the big finale it cut right to the end credits. Seriously, there were about 45 seconds of epilogue and then BOOM end credits. It didn’t show them 20 years in the future or even the next day. Things exploded, then end credits. It got right to the point.

Even though it was completely overflowing with action, it lacked a WOW factor. 12 Rounds consisted mostly of Fisher driving cars around racing to the next destination before time was up, being strung along by the too-smart-to-be-humanly-possible baddie the entire time. There wasn’t anything that makes your jaw drop open or makes you shout “Holy Crap!” There aren’t any amazing stunts, and I just don’t see Fisher as being a badass character, just good enough to get the job done.

The one thing I really got a kick out of, though, was making kissy noises whenever the two main characters were having a moment. Yes, I was that girl this time. And the two characters I’m talking about is Fisher and his cop partner, Hank (Brian J. White). They had several bromance moments where they were looking into each other’s eyes longingly and making comments about how they’ve never let each other down in the past and how they can count on each other. What immediately comes to mind that explains it so well is the song “Back at One” by Brian McKnight. So if you go see 12 Rounds, mentally play that song whenever those two are having their bromance moments. It’s a perfect fit for such a bromantic action movie.

Time until the action starts: ~ 9 minutes

Time until the REAL action starts: ~ 27 minutes

Big bad baddies: Miles Jackson, an international terrorist

Best Line: Part of the problem here is that there were no lines that were great, funny, or so retarded that I had to add it in. All of the dialogue was very normal and mundane.

Best Kill: Miles Jackson’s girlfriend is with him when he gets caught. Jackson tells her to run. So she does, and she runs right out in front of a SUV. BAM!!!! Road kill! It was gruesome. Then it focuses on her dead, smashed, bloody body for a little while. Didn’t her mama ever teach her to look both ways before crossing the street?

Best Explosion: There’s a helicopter that’s been shot chock full o’holes and Fisher plus his girlfriend leap out of the choppah into a pool right as a combination of leaky fuel and inaccurate gunplay make for an exploding helicopter.

Action Rating: 4 Pugs with guns, out of 5

Categories: * all movie reviews *, 4 kabooms, PG-13, action, movie
Tags: 12 Rounds, action, Aidan Gillen, Ashley Scott, Brian White, Daniel Kunka, Gonzalo Menendez, John Cena, New Orleans, PG-13, Renny Harlin, Steve Harris, The Marine, violence