"Universal Soldier" tough guy Dolph Lundgren has written, starred in, and directed a hard-as-nail but hackneyed revenge melodrama that he cobbled together from such past hits as "Billy Jack," "High Plains Drifter," and "Pale Rider." Clocking in at a lean, mean 93 minutes, Dolph has all the clichés covered. If you like your revenge movies predictable as blood gushing from a belly wound where the bad guys get their heads blasted off, this is the ticket! There are no surprises in "The Missionary Man," but Dolph lets the formula smolder like a steer being cooked on a spit so you can savor the wicked villainy of the white underworld who believe that they are indestructible. Some of the acting by the homegrown Texas cast is amateurish, but you'll forget these quibbles when our rugged, enigmatic hero goes into a kill mode for a catharsis of a showdown.
Ryder (Dolph Lundgren) cruises into a small Texas town terrorized by white criminals to pay his last respects to a fallen comrade who died under mysterious circumstances. It doesn't take tall, dark, silent Dolph in sunglasses to make an impression. He wears glasses, reads the Bible, and likes to do shots of tequila. The bad guys line up to take it like guys and do they ever more get taken. Jarfe (John Enos III) is the leader of a notorious motorcycle gang and he and his army are summoned to silence Ryder. There is something almost supernatural about the way our quietly spoken champion navigates the dangers. Essentially, it all boils down to an Indian reservation trying to build a casino and the local thugs trying to get in on the action. When they cannot convince one Indian to back down, they kill him and make it appear to be a drowning death. August Schellenberg is good as an older Indian named White Deer.
The last 30 minutes is a solid smack-down that makes the previous 103 minutes of build up tolerable. No, "The Missionary Man" isn't high art, but there is an art to taking something this familiar and making it work for the zillionth time. Bravo, Dolph!
Ryder (Dolph Lundgren) cruises into a small Texas town terrorized by white criminals to pay his last respects to a fallen comrade who died under mysterious circumstances. It doesn't take tall, dark, silent Dolph in sunglasses to make an impression. He wears glasses, reads the Bible, and likes to do shots of tequila. The bad guys line up to take it like guys and do they ever more get taken. Jarfe (John Enos III) is the leader of a notorious motorcycle gang and he and his army are summoned to silence Ryder. There is something almost supernatural about the way our quietly spoken champion navigates the dangers. Essentially, it all boils down to an Indian reservation trying to build a casino and the local thugs trying to get in on the action. When they cannot convince one Indian to back down, they kill him and make it appear to be a drowning death. August Schellenberg is good as an older Indian named White Deer.
The last 30 minutes is a solid smack-down that makes the previous 103 minutes of build up tolerable. No, "The Missionary Man" isn't high art, but there is an art to taking something this familiar and making it work for the zillionth time. Bravo, Dolph!