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Overall Rating : 6/10
Directed By : John Bonito
John Cena (World Wrestling Entertainment)
Robert Patrick (Terminator 2: Judgment Day)
Kelly Carlson (Nip/Tuck (TV) )
Anthony Ray Parker (The Matrix)
Supplied By : Fox Home Video
Film Reviewed By : Rick L. Blalock
Date Reviewed : Jan. 12, 2007
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| PLOT After he's unwillingly discharged from Iraq, Triton's beautiful wife Kate is kidnapped by merciless jewel thieves led by a vicious killer! Now, Triton must fight to save her, utilizing his most powerful weapon – himself! |
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| THE REVIEW In THE MARINE, John Triton is a Marine through and through, but one day in the heat of the battle in Iraq, he disobeys an order and takes things into his own hands going with is instinct and thus saving the lives of fellow soldiers. No matter if Triton's actions were the right thing to do or not, Marine Officials do not so it that way and hand Triton his walking papers, Now discharged from the service, John returns to a normal suburban life with his lovely wife Kate, but not one to be lazy, he is quick to accept a job as a Security Guard. The job does not last long as he and his partner get a Security call that in the end sees Triton's trained combat to kick in resulting in the offender being thrown through a glass window. Frustrated and finding it hard to adjust to a life without combat, John looks to his wife for a suggestion - and she suggests the takes a trip to the mountains. So on the way there, John and Kate stop for gas, and so do a group of diamond thieves as well in an altercation between the leader Rome and a Police Officer that ends up having the gas station goes up in flames and sees John from the inside of the store watch as they hijack his vehicle as well as his wife. From here on out John is in a fighting struggle to rescue his helpless wife, defying the rules of the law and utilizing everything he has ever been trained. Well, by looking at everything that has been said about this movie online, it looks like not a lot of people like this, but this is a case where I just can't say "well that's their individual opinion" - it seems rather suspicious to me. One of the first overly obvious complaints i've read is that wrestlers can't act" well these dim-witted people must have never watched a wrestling program in their lives, because last time I checked...."selling"(making it seem and appear to be real) an injury was acting - furthermore, wrestlers travel the world almost every day of their lives ACTING and entertaining millions of fans - so the ones to say that, just need to take a nap. I remember the same thing was said about The Rock when he stepped outside of the ring and ventured into acting - it's funny how not much of the same is being said about him now....people accept him as much as they accept Steven Seagal or Jean-Claude Van Damme, who are not very good actors but are damn good entertainers, if Seagal can be well liked as a film star why can't a guy like John Cena? Now that I have ranted a bit, yes I am a wrestling fan, and no Cena isn't necessarily a favorite performer of mine, but yes I was highly impressed with his likeability and screen presence here. The story in THE MARINE, is definitely nothing new in that it would've fit in right at the time in the 1980's in which action stars like I mentioned were center stage, the plot is very similar to things we have already seen. But with that said, thinking about today's cinema, and the countless remakes being churned out it was nice to see something that was not a remake, but something we are awfully familiar with - just a fun action packed movie that exists for no other purpose other than for us, the viewer to have fun while watching it. I will admit that the best acting performances come from, the ones pushed up front, Robert Patrick, Kelly Carlson and yes John Cena himself. I really liked the chemistry between Cena and Carlson, whom seem to share a real affection for one another(especially in the beginning of the film), and how lucky can Cena get? The guy stars in his first major film role opposite a woman whom should be classified as "old fashioned" beauty in Carlson(I could look at her all day) and the man who kicked Arnold Schwarzenegger's ass in TERMINATOR 2.... i'd say he's off to a very good start. The directing here is nothing special i'd say, but seeing this is John Bonito's first feature, I have nothing to support my cause as I have nothing more to base it on, but he is able to deliver a film that is very easy and fun to watch - even if Bonito got a little explosion happy... Some viewers and wrestling fans may not like John Cena, but when it comes down to it, they really have a dislike for what WWE has made him and not necessary John Cena himself. People are quick to dismiss him on a pro wrestling show, but remember, it is not Cena who created the character he portrays on television it is Vince Mcmahon and WWE - the same can be translated to him as an actor, the same people whom say he can't act because he is a wrestler are the same people who love and adore Arnold Schwarzenegger(who I think is a terrible actor by the way), a former bodybuilder..... think about it... The Unrated version is nothing to write about so don't get too excited - only about 19 seconds have been added and contrary to reports the love scene is not extended nor do we get to see anymore of Carlson's lovely body than we already see in the film -- I know....it sucks.... |
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| GORE
METER 3.5/10 Not all that gory, but violent. gunshots, explosions, perhaps the most memorable thing was someone getting their neck snapped via chain... |
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| MUSICAL
SCORE 2.5/10 The score is what I like to call, "generic hero music" nothing special, it's the type of music played when someone saves the day so to speak....but White Zombie's "More Human than Human" is played and that was cool. |
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| OVERALL
IMPRESSION OF THE FILM What can I say, I liked THE MARINE for what it is, a fun action movie that takes it's inspiration from action of the 1980's, being a fan of those types of films...I liked it, and even better than WWE's last project SEE NO EVIL, which was really nothing more than a paint-by-numbers Horror film, that had some good moments, but that was about it. Again, I don't know where all the film's negativity is coming from but I can only speak for myself here - I recommend! This DVD will be released on January 30, 2007 |
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