User Reviews

Another cheaply-made straight-to-video thriller, this time one with too much talk and too little action. The interesting plot sees Dacascos as a former assassin who abandons his violent ways (predictably, not for long though) to become a priest, only for his past to catch up with him. What SANCTUARY has in its favour are a number of well-executed action scenes (like the chase through the town, the assassination of a diplomat, the ending) which make the best of their low budget and become moderately exciting in places.

Unfortunately, these plus points are countered by a cheap, generic script; non-threatening (but irritating) bad guys and a dark and gloomy look which sucks the life from this film and makes it hard to enjoy it. Mark Dacascos is charismatic as an actor but his range is limiting; Kylie Travis is pretty good as a tough companion but given a weak character. Alan Scarfe is distinctly forgettable as the main villain. They make loads of films like this on the cheap these days, and frankly most of them blur into one another. It takes something special (like Dacascos' DRIVE) to make a film like this stand out from the run-of-the-mill crowd, and sadly SANCTUARY doesn't have that.

Luke Kovak (Dacascos) was literally 'Trained to Kill' - from a young age, he learned all the deadly arts. Now an adult, he goes undercover as a priest. While doing so, he realizes his former organization, the CIA, is after him. After Operation Titan, which involves getting launch codes to missiles, he sees that things have changed and his life is in danger. As of late, he has enjoyed the peaceful SANCTUARY of the priesthood, but now he's going to have to revert to his old, more violent ways. What will happen to Luke Kovak?

Snoring noises Snoring noises ending followed by yawning and the sounds of waking up] Huh...what? Oh, time for another review. This week we're talking about the soporific snoozefest Sanctuary, a cure for insomnia if there ever was one. It's not that Sanctuary is a bad movie, per se, it's just that it's very slow and boring. It's 104 minutes of not a heck of a lot. Sure, anyone would be fooled by the cover, with fan favorite Dacascos holding those two guns. But when you sit down to actually watch it, you realize it's the old bait and switch.

To be fair, while it's not exactly action packed, there are a few light action scenes in between all the spaces where nothing is happening. If the filmmakers wanted to make a moody CIA drama, which it seems that they did, it should not have been marketed as a shoot-em-up action movie. Much like a more entertaining film, Blue Tiger (1994), we think director Takacs and the gang wanted to make something "classier" and closer to traditional Hollywood product. Hence the longer running time, increased dialogue and drama, and 'Lacktion', as we call it.

Naturally, we would have preferred a shorter film with Dacascos getting revenge and beating up/shooting the baddies. He barely does any Martial Arts here, just a few quick flashes in a dispute over a jacket. A jacket! But, on the bright side, Woolvett's hair seems to have improved since Terminal Countdown (1999). There was nowhere to go but up anyway.

There also seems to have been increased emphasis on cinematography, consistent with their ambitions to do something "better" than the average DTV actioner. But a couple of cool colors doesn't make an entertaining movie all around. There's no momentum, thrills, or surprises with Sanctuary. A handful of silly blow-ups can't change that fact. Yes, we were happy that Monika Schnarre was here too, having seen her recently in Fearless Tiger (1991), but...still nothing doing. Sanctuary just doesn't have "it", that certain indefinable quality that engages the viewer.

Produced by Imperial, that standby of video-store action, if you want to see a collaboration between Mark Dacascos and Tibor Takacs from around the same time period that's similar, but markedly better, check out Sabotage (1996).

Put simply, this is the most mediocre film I've had the opportunity to watch on DVD. The acting is mediocre, the special effects mediocre, the setting mediocre. For a change the storyline is not mediocre: it's worse than that.

I'm quite sure that I would have done a better job myself with half the budget allocated to the film. The constant referring to flashbacks is good at the start but becomes annoying as the film drags along. Drags, because the story is so damn predictable that you're just waiting for it to end. There are a couple of humorous points ("Fuck yourself." "I can do that, too") but these only highlight how drab and uninspiring the rest of the script is. Dialogue is zero, acting on the same level. You neither care nor want to care about the main actor. Let this be over with, please.

Special effects (usually a comeback for films like this) are hopeless too. Take the SWAT attack on the homeless community for example. How many of you have seen other film where SWAT members spend an inordinate amount of time posing with their guns but then fire blindly from the hip? The whole scene is directed so atrociously you never know hoe many people are actually there and where they really are. You realize the fight has ended when the truck blows up because... that's the way it is usually done. And I really really stood up laughing when the director shows us the main actor removing the tracking device from the pistol: a normal capacitor of the kind you can buy from every electronics shop.

I will not pass comments on the ending of the film, because it's sheer, unadulterated senselessness (and mediocrity) left me breathless. I hope it was a twisted joke I failed to comprehend, and not an attempt at serious film-making.

A young Catholic priest, Luke Kovak, doing good works in his parish has his life turned upside down when his past as an assassin catches up with him. After a previous operation had gone bad he sought sanctuary with the church but he kept a piece of evidence from that operation which his former unit now wants. There are a lot of flashbacks in the film but the narrative is clear and on the whole it is a decent enough film.

The priest is played by Mark Dacascos and he does it very well, not only in the action scenes where he is so proficient but also in the emotional scenes. You get a good sense of how scarred his character is and the mounting despair he has when falling back into his more violent ways. It always puzzled me how Mr Dacascos never became a bigger action and martial art star. He had all the necessary attributes in martial art and acting skills and was very likeable and watchable.

The very last scene is a lovely ironic twist in the tail of the tale.

I managed to catch "Sanctuary" on a night with nothing else to do but flip through the cable channels. I stumbled upon this film simply because i recognized Mark Dacascos from the "Crow: Stairway to Heaven" t.v. series. Needless to say I started watching and actually became somewhat enthralled by this film. The acting is above what i expected considering this is a straight to video movie. The action sequences were directed well, and the story had a surprising amount of depth to it. Not only the entire "conspiracy" like aspects of it, but also the struggle of a man who has chosen to turn away from all he had ever known to be. The flashback sequences were awesome, showing a disturbing yet intriguing look into a strange form of raising children. Ultimately, it was the closing shot of the film ( I won't give it away, but I must say that being Catholic made this especially cool) that just made me say "WOW."

In summary, a surprisingly good late nite movie that is actually worth seeking out. The actors deliver well and the plot is enough to keep even the most easily distracted somewhat entertained.