One of the things that I have found a bit surprising,is that whilst pro- wrestling has had some fantastic documentaries made about the subject (Beyond the Mat and Wrestleing in Shadows being two great examples.)It still seems that when a pro-wrestler tries to enter the movie world with a starring role,that they are still not to surpass the great John Carpenter film They Live.With Steve Ausin-who is currently the most successful wrestler in history,due to his amazingly charismatic anti- authority street-punk character of the late 90s to early 2000s.Which,not only struck a chord with the wrestling crowd,but also the mainstream media.
With having found Austins last straight-to-DVD movie,to be very good fun,and with having enjoyed the teaser trailer to the film,I was looking forward to seeing a gripping Death Wish style revenge film.Disappointingly,the story of the film is a very damp plot:
The plot:
A man who is unable to remember who he is,or any of his activates of the last few months,goes on the run from the FBI and what seems to be, some very angry Russian and Mexican gangster's,who are after him over a dodgy deal,that he cant remember ever happening!
Unknowingly to the man,one of the FBI agents searching for him (who has met him a few months earlier)has some vital information,that can help him to remember his past.The only problem for both of them is that there are some people in the FBI,who,are going to do everything they can to make sure that they don't meet up..
View on the film:
As I was watching the film,the main thing that stayed in my head was that,for a pretty low-budget film,Austin gives a surprising stunner of a performance.With a good screen presence,and doing well at showing someone who may not like to remember their forgotten past.
Sadly the same can not be said for the very weak screenplay by Quinn Scott.Scott seems to really want to make this film into an enjoyable mix of the Bourne and Death Wish films,(though it has to be pointed out,that the director created the terrible open-ending)Though the main part of the film,seems to hold over the flashbacks showing the strangers past,and,whilst this type of plotting has been used very well in the last few years,to revel some very surprising things about the main characters,(from the video-game The Suffering to the epic TV series Lost.)the flashbacks in this film don't feel anywhere near as surprising as the film makers seem to think they are,and are actually rather predictable.
Final view on the Film:
A disappointingly written story,saved by a entertaining performance from Austin.
With having found Austins last straight-to-DVD movie,to be very good fun,and with having enjoyed the teaser trailer to the film,I was looking forward to seeing a gripping Death Wish style revenge film.Disappointingly,the story of the film is a very damp plot:
The plot:
A man who is unable to remember who he is,or any of his activates of the last few months,goes on the run from the FBI and what seems to be, some very angry Russian and Mexican gangster's,who are after him over a dodgy deal,that he cant remember ever happening!
Unknowingly to the man,one of the FBI agents searching for him (who has met him a few months earlier)has some vital information,that can help him to remember his past.The only problem for both of them is that there are some people in the FBI,who,are going to do everything they can to make sure that they don't meet up..
View on the film:
As I was watching the film,the main thing that stayed in my head was that,for a pretty low-budget film,Austin gives a surprising stunner of a performance.With a good screen presence,and doing well at showing someone who may not like to remember their forgotten past.
Sadly the same can not be said for the very weak screenplay by Quinn Scott.Scott seems to really want to make this film into an enjoyable mix of the Bourne and Death Wish films,(though it has to be pointed out,that the director created the terrible open-ending)Though the main part of the film,seems to hold over the flashbacks showing the strangers past,and,whilst this type of plotting has been used very well in the last few years,to revel some very surprising things about the main characters,(from the video-game The Suffering to the epic TV series Lost.)the flashbacks in this film don't feel anywhere near as surprising as the film makers seem to think they are,and are actually rather predictable.
Final view on the Film:
A disappointingly written story,saved by a entertaining performance from Austin.