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DVD The Mercenary
 Run time: 90 min Rating: 2.8 Genres: Action | Drama | Sci-Fi Director: Jeremiah Hundley Writers: Jeremiah Hundley Stars: Danny Trejo, Gary Daniels, Krystal Vee |
| Storyline THE LAZURUS PAPERS is a supernatural action film that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the climatic action filled ending. With an all-star cast that includes Bai Ling, and Tommy Tiny Lister. |
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| Details: Country: USA Release Date: 4 July 2011 (USA) |
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| Box Office Budget: $3,500,000 (estimated) |
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4 comments
Wow, another drive you crazy DVD rental that wants you to pick up in the video stores and cheat you to waste several $s and a section of your lifetime that you could never get back. The screenplay is so stupid and ridiculous. The Latino actor who played in the "Machete" has become so popular and he's so smart to cash in while he's still hot or lukewarm. This time, he played a tribal magician who could heal the blind and could see his massacred tribal people…. Give me a break.
I simply couldn't find any excuse to watch along after 20 minutes. The scenario is so stupid and the acting…!? The reason why I still want to write a review is because I consider myself a good Samaritan, I don't want you to waste your hard earned money to waste on this pathetic movie.
After the first part of this movie, I wanted to turn it off due to its dark depressing matter. However, the movie takes you into a very dark place in order to set the stage for the redemption that the female lead makes at the end.
I won't deny that this movie is flawed at nearly every level, its cinematography being the one redeeming value, but the lead actress does grow on you and at the end of the movie you feel as though you have been on a journey with her. A little more than half-way through the movie you begin to see that the tone is moving from the darkness into a story of redemption and a lesson that love conquers fear. The movie was courageous in that it took you deeper into despair in the beginning and held you there longer than most movies will dare, and I admit I turned it off in the middle and came back to finish it the next day. The end leaves you feeling good, providing you don't feel like you wasted your time watching it, which I don't.
So if you like movies with a heart-felt message that love is the path to healing, and you haven't got anything better to do, this movie will suffice. If you don't care about that subject matter, and you want to critique the movie based on its writing, directing, editing and acting, I would say pass it up.
I am interested to see how this writer/director does on his next film, which is currently in pre-production according to IMDb.
The only reason I watched this is because one of the directors of the company I work for asked me to look at it. It had confused him and so he wondered if I could make any sense out of it. Well, I could, but it's so badly made that I really struggled. The acting, the script… everything about was amateurish and didn't really have any quality to it. More of my thoughts after this brief summary.
When a village in South East Asia is attacked by a mercenary, Sebastian Riker, he murders the village holy man and healer, Aroon, and takes a girl, Nana to work as a prostitute. Little does he know but Aroon cannot die, his powers will not allow that until he can find someone to take his place. So he wanders the land looking for such a person. Some time later Nana is addicted to heroin and working for Riker as a prostitute. He has a scam, luring unsuspecting American tourists over with the promise of a marriage to one of his girls. Of course they get robbed and left in the street. Terminal patient Lonny Smith is such a victim, but he doesn't know it when he meets Nana. She is struck by his honesty and decides to break away from Riker. They go to a refugee camp near her former village, but Riker is on their trail and he wants his cash. I'll leave it there… I've probably made it sound a lot more interesting than it really is! I don't think the Spoiler Police will be bothered this time though.
As I've already said, this is not a very good film and one I really cannot recommend by any stretch of the imagination. It's very poorly produced and, I'm guessing, had a tiny budget. I'll just give a few name checks so you can see just who you're not going to see acting pretty woefully. Danny Trejo played Aroon, Gary Daniels played Sebastian Riker, Krystal Vee played Nana and Johnny Lee Played Lonny Smith. Oh, and I should mention a small part for Damon Whitaker (Forest Whitaker 's brother) as Dock Bagley (a cop).
My Score: 3.3/10.
IMDb Score: 2.5/10 (based on 329 votes at the time of going to press).
Rotten Tomatoes Score: N/A (No listing).
If you were expecting an action packed thriller having picked this up based on the title, star names, or cover art, then you will be disappointed. It is essentially a supernatural drama, with only brief moments of action. The helicopters on the DVD cover art, do not in-fact appear in the film.
It is refreshing to see Daniels take on a more prominent speaking role (which he does well), but would also be rewarding to see him kicking more ass in this film. Trejo adds an element of enigmatic charisma, but too many unresolved details surround the character for it to play out with satisfaction.
Johnny Lee's acting is excellent and he carries the film's intrigue well. He is unfortunately let down by his on-screen counter-part, Krystal Vee, who's erratic and inconsistent delivery fumble the opportunities the script had to shine.
Though well directed, and with some excellent cinematography, this film is ultimately let down by a slightly bizarre performance from the lead actress, and lack of action for the aficionados.