Product: The Marine (Unrated Edition) (2006)
Rating: 2.0
Lots of Explosions But Still Dull
THE MARINE proves yet again that an action movie needs to have the focus on the hero and his motivation. When a film like this one has some truly outstanding fiery explosions to maintain a viewer's interest, that attention span will last only for as long as do the FX, and even with that there are diminishing returns. John Cena, the WWE wrestler, is John Triton, an ex-Marine discharged from the Corps only because he disobeyed orders to save the lives of three fellow marines. You would think his commanding officer would have understood. He takes a job as a security officer and gets fired immediately, again for just doing his job. The primary problem with THE MARINE is the expectation that one has in terms of why one sees this film. I choose to see action movies that have a hard to achieve balance between the exploits of the action star and the believability of the plot. Stallone had no problem doing that in any of his RAMBO films. Cena has a long way to go to find this happy medium.Robert Patrick is the Bad Guy. He mugs, makes unwelcome advances to Cena's wife, and generally conducts a criminal campaign on the fly. You know that an action film is off kilter when the Bad Guy by default becomes the focus of interest. Cena does little more than take beatings, give beatings, narrowly escape death in fiery car crashes, and scowl on cue. If Cena has a future in acting, that future is probably in the ring as a wrestler.