Maximum Conviction

Maximum Conviction - Dir. Keoni Waxman (2012)

One of the big blockbusters from this past summer was The Expendables 2. The all-star gathering of action heroes had larger roles for Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger along with the additions of Chuck Norris and Jean-Claude Van Damme. The glaring omission from completing the line-up was Steven Seagal. Aside from Machete, he’s been toiling away in the direct-to-video market with a steady stream of low-budget action flicks. Seagal’s latest effort is Maximum Conviction, which features his own epic team-up with WWE Hall of Famer Steve Austin.

The two Steves play Cross (Seagal) and Manning (Austin), a pair of former Special Forces operatives now working as private security contractors. Their latest assignment is assisting in the decommissioning of a top secret military prison in the Pacific Northwest. Most of the facility has already been shut down save for a skeleton crew of guards and a block holding a handful of high security convicts. The number grows when Cross checks in two female prisoners, Samantha Mendez (Steph Song) and Charlotte Walker (Aliyah O'Brien). The ladies are of keen interest to a team of well-armed mercenaries who infiltrate the prison while posing as U.S. Marshals. Cross and Manning are left scattered and outgunned when the bad guys take control and release all the prisoners.

Maximum Conviction is exactly what you'd expect from a run-of-the-mill action flick. This is the kind of movie someone might find in the discount bin at Walmart or playing late night on cable television. The direction and script are handled by Keoni Waxman and Richard Beattie, who have both contributed to Seagal's television drama True Justice. Waxman also directed the Austin vehicle Hunt to Kill. Behind the camera, Waxman handles the action flat though competently handled. The dialogue is wooden and there are a few glaring plot holes. At one point, a female guard provided cover fire for Cross to move his prisoners, but she's never seen again and her fate isn't revealed.

The selling point here is Steven Seagal and Steve Austin. Sadly, Seagal's best days are far behind him. He's looking less like Steven Seagal and more like the monster that ate Steven Seagal. He looks embarrassingly bloated and barely mobile so don't expect him to throw any roundhouse kicks. Seagal's M.O. is to stand still and wait for his opponents to come to him. Luckily, his punches still pack a wallop. Austin doesn't get the chance to show the charisma he once did as the Texas Rattlesnake, except for a couple of funny one-liners. Both deliver their lines in the most gruff and monotone manner possible. Completing this line-up of C-list Expendables is Michael Paré as the villainous ringleader. Paré starred in Eddie and the Cruisers and Streets of Fire back in the 80's, but never hit it big like some of his macho brethren.

Maximum Conviction is a brainless and generic effort. On the other hand, it moves at a brisk pace and keeps you occupied with a steady stream of action. This is a movie only recommended for die-hard fans of Seagal and Austin.

Rating: * (*****)

Recoil

Recoil - Dir. Terry Miles (2012)

The most recognizable name in profession wrestling is arguably Hulk Hogan. He was the largest attraction of the 1980's during the height of the rock 'n' wrestling era when Vince McMahon's WWF enjoyed unheralded mainstream attention. No one ever came close to capturing that same popularity until the late-90's with Steve Austin. Once known as "Stunning" Steve Austin, the blonde haired pretty boy remade himself into "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, a beer-guzzling, foul mouthed redneck with a hair trigger temper. After retiring from wrestling, Austin transitioned to the equally colorful world of action movies. Aside from supporting roles in The Longest Yard and The Expendables, his only starring vehicle released theatrically was the WWE-produced The Condemned. Austin has mostly stuck with direct-to-video films like The Stranger, Hunt to Kill, and Tactical Force. His latest picture is Recoil, which co-stars another renowned tough guy in Danny Trejo.

Trejo spent over a decade in prison where he became a boxing champion before meeting another reformed convict in Eddie Bunker, who is probably best known for his bit role as Mr. Blue in Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs. Bunker co-wrote and acted in 1985's Runaway Train where Trejo made his acting debut while training Eric Roberts to box. Since then, Trejo has had a prolific career thanks to his gruff voice, craggy face, and tattooed body.

Austin stars as Ryan Varrett, a former cop, who has become a vigilante since the brutal murder of his family. He travels across the country in a 1968 Plymouth GTX exacting his own brand of justice on killers who have escaped the long arm of the law. While hunting down a serial rapist nicknamed the Highwayman, he arrives in the tiny town of Hope. This seemingly sleepy burg is controlled by the Circle, a ruthless biker gang run by Drayke (Trejo). The few citizens still living in Hope have none as they live in fear of Drayke, who uses the town as the hub of his drug trafficking ring. Varrett decides to clean the place up with the help of a sympathetic sheriff's deputy (Adam Greydon Reid) and the lovely Darcy (Serinda Swan), a widower running a generally empty motel.

Recoil follows the basic formula of a classic Western with Austin as the taciturn stranger, who rides into a frontier town to make it safe once again for law-abiding citizens. The screenplay by John Sullivan isn't Shakespeare or even Shane Black. It's riddled with corny dialogue and tough guy clichés (the hero walks away from an explosion in slow motion). The plot is incredibly thin with Austin mainly kicking someone's ass, waiting around, and then kicking someone else's ass again before we finally get the one-on-one confrontation between Austin and Trejo.

The fight scenes aren't anything to crow about, but they are competently staged. Austin isn't a martial arts expert nor does he move around with a lot of grace. That works for him as Austin is portrayed as a force of nature. He's a human wrecking machine tearing through a legion of bad guys that appear to have wandered off the set of Sons of Anarchy. Is he a subtle and nuanced actor? No, but he can do the stoic badass with an icy stare with ease. As for Trejo, he appears to have a lot of fun playing the lead villain rather than the henchman for a change. There's even a sly Machete reference where Trejo contemplates using his signature weapon before derisively tossing it aside.

Recoil is your standard low-budget action fare that's elevated solely by the presence of Steve Austin and Danny Trejo. It can be a fun time if you check your brain at the door and lower your expectations.

Rating: ** (*****)

The Expendables

The Expendables - Dir. Sylvester Stallone (2010)


Sylvester Stallone is an action movie icon. He found worldwide success with the Rocky and Rambo franchises before an ill-fated attempt to branch into comedy nearly derailed his career. I’m sure I’m not the only one who’d like to forget about the existence of Oscar and Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot. Stallone returned to his action roots with Cliffhanger and Demolition Man, but things just seemed to go so terribly wrong after that. He starred in a series of forgettable flops like Judge Dredd, Assassins, and a poorly advised remake of the classic revenge film Get Carter. It seemed there was no place in the world for the alpha male hero of the 80’s. Stallone seemed to be passé and destined to drift into the direct-to-video world inhabited by Steven Seagal and Jean Claude-Van Damme. Oddly enough both were approached for Stallone's new film, The Expendables, but both turned down the opportunity.

No doubt that predicament was exactly what the Italian Stallion needed to mount an impressive comeback in the 21st century. Stallone returned to his roots once more and resurrected Rocky Balboa and John Rambo for one more go. Examining their place in this modern world, Stallone found there was still life left in a punch drunk has-been boxer and a burnt out Vietnam vet.

Now in his mid-60’s, Stallone is experiencing something of a renaissance period. It wasn’t so long ago that Rambo could easily cut down a hundred bad guys by himself with a machine gun that never needed reloading. In Rambo, he had help from a ragtag group of mercenaries. There’s nothing ragtag about the mercenaries in The Expendables. Stallone has assembled an all-star collection of tough guys to kick some serious ass.

Stallone is Barney Ross, the leader of the Expendables. His best friend and right-hand man is Lee Christmas (Jason Statham), a skilled knife-throwing marksman. Also on the team are Yin Yang (Jet Li), Toll Road (UFC fighter Randy Couture), Hale Caesar (Terry Crews), and the unstable Gunner Jensen (Dolph Lundgren). They have tattoos, ride motorcycles, and have code-names that sound like bad G.I. Joe characters. Still, the Expendables are way tougher than the A-Team and the Losers.

The Expendables begins with the team rescuing hostages from a crew of bloodthirsty Somali pirates. After the battle, Gunner is dumped from the group due to his apparent drug use. In one of the film’s best scenes, Stallone reunites with his Planet Hollywood buddies Bruce Willis and the Governator, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Arnold plays a rival soldier of fortune while Willis plays the mysterious Mr. Church who propositions Stallone for a risky mission.

Ross is hired to topple a tin-plated dictator named General Garza (David Zayas) in the South American island nation of Vilena. Ross and Christmas scout out the island and meet their contact, the beautiful Sandra (Giselle Itie), who turns out to be Garza’s daughter. Our heroes discover Garza is in the pocket of rogue CIA agent James Munroe (Eric Roberts) who is using the island as a base for his drug trade. Working as Munroe’s henchmen are British kickboxer Gary Daniels and WWE Hall of Famer “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. Surmising that they’d be cleaning up the Agency’s own mess, they turn down the job. However, Ross finds himself inspired by Sandra and the Expendables arrive in full force to blow shit up and blow it up good.

Expendables is meant to be a throwback to the action films of the 80’s which featured ridiculous balls-to-the-wall violence, gratuitous nudity, and witty one-liners. Stallone tries to capture the spirit of movies like Commando and Delta Force. Unfortunately, he doesn’t really succeed until the last half hour of the picture.

Following the opening sequence, the film drifts around aimlessly as it works to introduce the various characters. Stallone and co-writer David Callaham toss in a superfluous subplot involving Christmas’s girlfriend, Lacy (Charisma Carpenter), and an abusive boyfriend. The first two acts sag into a quagmire of labored and uninteresting scenes when all you want to see are explosions. The banter between comrades falls flat. About the only moment that comes to life is the scene involving Stallone, Willis, and Schwarzenegger which includes a hilarious dig at Ol’ Arnold. Stallone aims to be the world weary soldier, but he is utterly outmatched in the world weary department by Mickey Rourke. As a retired Expendable turned tattoo artist, Rourke lends a surprising amount of soulfulness to the proceedings. It makes you wish he had a lot more scenes.

After dragging its heels for about an hour, Expendables finally kicks it into high gear when the good guys storm the bad guys’ stronghold. Stallone utilizes the same visceral carnage of the last Rambo film. Human bodies are ripped to shreds by machine gun fire and necks are broken emphatically. Couture and Austin aren’t the only ones who get to bust out MMA and pro wrestling maneuvers. Oh, and Terry Crews hurls an artillery shell with his bare hands. Even though Stallone tries for an old school feel, he falls into the trap so many action directors stumble into. His shots are in too tight and the editing too quick and jumpy for anyone to actually see what's happening on screen.

Stallone should be commended for returning us to the clean, old fashioned fun that comes from mindlessly violent entertainment. However, you wished he had incorporated even more mindlessly violent entertainment. The Expendables is a good action movie, just not a great one.

Rating: ** ½