Review of Icarus (2010) by Patrick E — 20 Jan 2011

Dolph Lundgren was one of the biggest action stars of the late 80's to early 90's but just like most action stars his age he has been well and truly relegated to direct to DVD efforts for quite some time. He seems to be undergoing something of a renaissance lately with his big screen appearance in The Expendables and a number of above average DVD action films of which Icarus is one of.

Icarus tells the story of a soviet trained hitman who is determined to leave behind is double life and win back his wife and son. Unfortunately for Dolph, there are a number of people who don't take kindly to this decision and would much rather see him dead. Lots of gun fights and double crossings ensue as he tries to protect his family and leave the hitman business behind for good.

Icarus certainly isn't a great film, in fact it's probably hard to even call it a good one but it's certainly much better than the usual direct to DVD action rubbish we are treated too. Lundgren proves that he can still be a leading man despite the lack of acting skills and has no problem with the action scenes despite his age. He also directed Icarus and shows that he has some skills behind the camera too. The plot is quite good for a film of its type although the so called twists are very predictable. The action scenes are solid enough but mostly consists of gun fights, most Lundgren fans would prefer a little more hand to hand action. At 88 minutes it's a short film and moves along at a nice pace with minimal time between action set pieces never allowing boredom to set in. In the end Icarus is an above average DVD action film that provides some light entertainment from an aging action star.

Lundgren has proven that he still has some skills both in front and behind of the camera. With this film, Universal Soldier 3 and The Expendables his reputation has been improved again which will hopefully lead to him securing roles in better films.