12 Rounds
John Cena stars in action hit 12 Rounds
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Tuesday, 26, May 2009 05:24
Directed by Renny Harlin, out May 27th, in cinemas, starring John Cena, Aiden Gillen, Ashley Scott, Steve Harris, running time 107 mins.
In a nutshell.
An initially exciting fight that fizzles out
What's it all about?
Promoted to detective after managing to ensnare an internationally renowned terrorist, life's a big easy ride for New Orleans cop Danny Fisher (Cena) - until the thief he put behind bars, Miles Jackson, (Gillen) manages to escape from prison and set about exacting deadly revenge on Danny and everything he holds dear, one step at a time.
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Who's in it?
Taking the lead as beleaguered lawman Danny Fisher is WWE wrestler John Cena while Tony and Bafta-nominated Aiden Gillen is best known for his work in the UK series of Queer as Folk and as corrupt politican Tommy Carcetti on The Wire.
Director Renny Harlin became a major Hollywood player after directing Die Hard 2 though his filmmaking career was curtailed by the commercial disappointments of Cutthroat Island (1995) and The Long Kiss Goodnight (1997). Married to Geena Davis for five years, the Finnish-born director's other films include Deep Blue Sea (1999), Driven (2001) and The Covenant (2006)
As an example.
"If you're still standing after 12 rounds, you'll have won her back." - Miles
"What's that sound Danny?" - Hank
"I'm driving a fire truck!" - Danny
Likelihood of a trip to the Oscars?
Slimmer than that of The Rock abandoning his cinema career to return to the WWE wrestling ring to deliver out regular doses of the People's Elbow.
What the others say
"Harlin makes good use of both the architecture of the city and of his formidably muscled leading man. But you will probably find yourself praying for this duel's knock-out punch to arrive long before it actually does." - Clark Collis, Entertainment Weekly
"12 Rounds is the unholy stepchild of Die Hard with a Vengeance and Speed, starring a man whose lack of range makes Steven Seagal seem nuanced by comparison." - James Berardinelli, ReelViews
So is it any good?
Harlin claims to have envisaged 12 Rounds as a "reality-based, high-octane" action film and while this pumped-up revenge thriller initially manages to keep audience's pulses racing, any hopes of placing this old-fashioned effort in the real world is lost through plot holes the size of Cena's biceps and a leading man whose lack of charisma threatens to drain all colour from the screen.
It's not all bad - an on-the-ground, guerrilla-style filming approach to the initial capture of Miles (seemingly the most skilful criminal in the world) is a refreshing alternative to the Bayhem brand of crane shots and slo-mo, while the invevitably episodic nature of the plot means it should be Harlin's biggest box office hit in years.
Cena's also an unsurprisingly athletic star but with the wrestler-cum-rapper only able to conjure up facial expressions that convey mild confusion or a particularly nasty bout of gas, it's left to an adequate Gillen to keep cinemagoers' attention.
His pursuit of revenge is exaggerated to Bond villain levels of parody - could he not just kill Danny's girlfriend right away? - and only manages to go the full 12 thanks to some only-in-a-movie irrationality from 'the damn Feds' and some silly but well-crafted action sequences that prove Harlin's due for a comeback.
Just don't expect a knockout blow.
5.5/10
Lewis Bazley