Product: The Marine (Unrated Edition) (2006)
Rating: 3.0
Trail of Bodies
This film promised lots of action. It delivered. The numerous explosions made a great spectacle. Commercial director John Bonito helmed his first feature. He keeps the pacing going well. I had no clue who John Cena was, and wondered how he grabbed an action lead. After seeing the DVD extras of his wrestling career, I understand how he was cast and remembered him from channel surfing. His reactions are fairly wooden without many levels that we'd expect from a more experienced actor. But he gets an "A" for effort and completed many of his own stunts.Robert Patrick who was the bad guy in "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" and had a small part in Clint Eastwood's "Flags of Our Fathers" plays the bad guy Rome who engineers a bank heist. Patrick looks like he's smart enough to plan the caper, but has a screw loose enough to result in the chaos and trail of bodies.Kelly Carlson from "Nip & Tuck" and many appearances on "CSI" plays Kate Triton, the wife who gets abducted. The brief love scenes looked like both actors were having fun and convinced us of a romantic relationship, although there wasn't much more marital emotional depth beyond that. She looked great.Her female nemesis is played by Abigail Bianca who portrays the trigger happy gang moll with expertise. She excels at the action sequences. My favorite shot in the film is when she is flung through glass and diamonds are scattered, some of them red with blood.The very best performance in the film, however, is one of the gang members named Bennett. Creatively named, he is played by New Zealand actor Manu Bennett. He seems to be the one in the gang with intelligence and emotional realism. His fight scene with John Cena is excellent. I was sad to see him bite the dust.Overall, the film was about what I expected. Perhaps the acting wasn't quite as good as I'd anticipated. However, it picked me up in the action and carried me through swamps and explosions to the final frame. I enjoyed the DVD extra showing the film premiere at the military base with our fighting men and women. This is a good film for an evening's entertainment. Enjoy!