Review of 12 Rounds (2000) by Ryan B — 28 Dec 2010

I liked it better when it was called "Die Hard 3," but I can't explicitly DISlike it when its so earnest and tries so hard. Heck the action is solid and the story (such as it is) functions well on a superficial level. Had the writing been better quality and the leading man been an better actor, this could have been a worthwhile journey.

As it is, its only enjoyable on a basic level, as a fun but silly jaunt around New Orleans.

John Cena's a cool guy, and he makes a great *looking* leading man, but he can't act to save his or anybody elses life. Each line is delivered without inflection and emotion, he reacts to tragic news and good news with the same flat affect, and even when he's supposedly pushed to his limits he doesn't show any signs of strain, mental or otherwise. That's really the difference between a merely watchable film or a truly classic one. Bruce Willis sells his John McClane character. John Cena, well he couldn't sell a limb transplant to an amputee. The rest of the performances are shaky, but when the weight of the movie lands on his (quite broad) shoulders, Cena just doesn't have the chops to hold it up.

The action itself is fine. Its tense and mostly well choreographed and shot. Sometimes it even evokes an actual sense of danger. In fact, when Cena doesn't open his mouth, he really looks like an action movie hero. perhaps if they had dubbed all his lines...

But I digress. The story lifts liberally from Die Hard 3 and other films but does have a pretty charismatic villain and some entertaining sequences. You probably won't fall asleep as the exposition is brief and always sandwhiched between explosive action sequences. As long as you're not horribly allergic to bad acting and a below-average script, you can have fun with it at the very least.