12 Rounds

Much fun can be had when watching action movies and spotting all the other action movies that said film has borrowed (stolen) ideas from. With 12 Rounds you’ll have a field day. Of course, any semblance of fun left from playing this game quickly dissipates as soon as you leave the cinema and it hits you that, once again, Hollywood’s barrel is running pretty dry these days when it comes to originality. However, if the pillaging is well handled, is there too much harm done? Anyway, that’s a debate for another time. In terms of 12 Rounds, Renny Harlin lifts (well, outrageously steals) mainly from Speed and Die Hard with a Vengeance to average effect. WWE star John Cena stars as Danny Fisher, a police officer whose girlfriend has been kidnapped by Aidan Gillen in revenge for Fisher’s supposed guilt at a personal tragedy that had earlier befallen Gillen’s character (Miles Jackson). Jackson sets Fisher 12 “rounds” which he must overcome in order to save his girlfriend. Harlin can still handle an action scene well, and the lack of CGI at times feels pleasingly old school. As for the two main protagonists, well, Cena is a wrestler, so it would be churlish to be too harsh about his wooden performance. Gillen fares slightly better as the scheming Jackson and even racks up an impressive body count for a movie villain these days. The script is full of dire-logue, but there is a half-decent knotting together of the various scenes at the end, and the brisk running time means that this charges past as quickly as a tram with no brakes (Speed 3? No, 12 Rounds you fool!)

The OC Film Sting Final Verdict
This should just about go over with the target audience, and if you disengage brain long enough you should be able to find something in all the ludicrousness to enjoy. Rating: 5/10.