SYNOPSIS:
Hard-nosed cop Thomas Armstrong's life was shattered when he
became the helpless target of a mastermind assassin. Now the
killer has returned to terrorize the city with an explosive
game of cat and mouse. In a thrilling race against time, Armstrong
must stay one step ahead to capture the madman and save innocent
lives.
MOVIE REVIEW:
If there was ever a movie about how not to make an action movie, then “Deadly Impact” would be it. This direct-to-video release from flagging studio MGM is just about one of the worst action movies this reviewer has seen- heck, it even makes some of the DTV stuff that Steven Seagal and Val Kilmer are doing look like blockbusters. That’s about all you need to know about this movie, though if you’re curious to find out how it goes so awfully wrong, then read on.
Beginning with an awkward scene where our hero Tom Armstrong (Sean Patrick Flanery) jokes with his best friend in the living room over who is more suited to hang the lights on the Christmas tree, the movie goes straight into cliché by setting up a tragic event where Tom is forced by serial bomber David Kaplow (Joe Pantoliano) to shoot his own wife. Flash forward seven years later, and what else can Tom be doing but drowning in sorrows in a Mexican bar.
In comes an FBI agent Isabel Ordonez (Carmen Serano) who enlists his help to identify David’s voice, thereby sparking his almost immediate reinstatement into active duty to track down David and find sweet revenge. First in line to blame is writer Alexander Vesha, who recycles just about every cliché you can find in the books for his unremarkable story. So all of a sudden, Tom becomes this expert on the Lion, shrugging off the depression of his past years and springing into action. You know Tom will eventually hook up with Isabel and what do you know, they do.
It’s not enough that originality is in short supply here- apparently what’s also lacking is some semblance of directorial skills. The man in the director’s seat is one Robert Kurtzman, a special effects wizard who has been in the industry for a long, long time. Probably his best-known directorial outing is the low-budget Wes Craven horror Wishmaster, though the man surely does not have any iota of talent or knowledge how to shoot an action movie.
There is no sense of buildup in the story as Robert throws around his plot points at his own whim and fancy. Ditto for the lack of tension in any of the action scenes, which coupled with the terrible CGI are just amazingly appalling in their bad camera angles and bad choreography. Indeed, Robert loves the ‘shaky cam’, employing it to bizarre effect especially in an interrogation scene where the camera just moves in and out of its subjects inexplicitly.
Lead actors Sean Patrick Flanery and Joe Pantoliano have wisely calibrated their acting to suit the quality of the movie. In particular, Joe seems to have little else to do than strut around in prosthetics (designed and supervised no doubt by Robert Kurtzman) and scream exasperatedly into the phone. For those unfamiliar with these two actors, you’re not likely to have much of an impression after this movie as well.
So there you have it, not one redeeming quality to be found in this DTV mess. Don’t even bother wasting 96 minutes of your life on this- even if you need an action fix, I’d strongly suggest you look elsewhere.
SPECIAL FEATURES :
NIL
AUDIO/VISUAL:
It’s never a good thing when you have to check the back of the DVD to verify if you’re listening to the audio in Dolby Digital 5.1- but that’s exactly what you’ll be doing on this film. Even the explosions sound muted mind you. Visuals are clear but colours look a tad oversaturated.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD
RATING :
Review
by Gabriel Chong
Posted
on 5 October 2010
|
