12 Rounds – 2009

May 18, 2010 by JT
Filed under Film Reviews

12 Rounds , after 12 minutes I was wondering what I was letting myself in for, John Cena another one of the many WWF wrestlers to make the transition to film did not have quite the same impact as say, a Bruce Willis or a Jason Statham.

The film in itself is watchable, I mean I love action it is one of my favourite genres, mainly because you don’t always have to follow the stereotype. You can explore many avenues where no matter how bizarre or farfetched a storyline might be, couple it with great action sequences and you’re onto a winner.

After helping to capture wanted criminal Miles Jackson (Aidan Gillen), whose fiancé was killed in the process, Detective Danny Fisher (John Cena) is targeted a year later by Jackson who has kidnapped his girlfriend.

To see her safe release Fisher must complete 12 challenges across the city, aided by the FBI. Director Renny Harlin might have got some inspiration from Die Hard with a Vengeance, as we all know John McClane was made to run around New York by Simon Gruber, in retaliation for McClane throwing brother Hans off the roof of the Nakatomi Tower in the Die Hard.

So this outing by Harlin, who has already made a name of himself for other well known action films such as Die Hard 2, Cliffhanger and The Long Kiss Goodnight, may have elaborated on this particular plot. Strangely enough it works, the action sequences are great, plenty of high tension and drama. Where it falls down is with Cena, he just doesn’t fit the role, but maybe he needs time to grow like Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson.

If your an action buff then this one might just be for you, but it feels to similar to that of Die Hard 3. I’ll let you make your own conclusions as to whether or not Cena can join the action elite?

View the trailer