It seems director Andrzej Bartkowiak has a knack for making these "mix Asian actors with hip-hop stars"-type of movies. Personally i think the concept is becoming a bit dated, but this is still the best outing so far from the director.
A jewel thief steals a special kind of stone, getting in way over his head. This causes his daughter to be kidnapped and he has to try and get her back while retrieving the stones that are valuable beyond what he could ever imagine.
When looking at the cast, consisting mostly of martial arts experts and rappers, it's clear that this is not a movie to be watched for the acting. Basically if you have seen Exit Wounds you know what to expect. The action is directed well enough and there are some moments of quite well paced fighting. Jet Li is as usual nothing much to cheer about in the acting department, but amazing when it comes to the fighting. Much the same could be said for Mark Dacascos. What i felt was maybe that these two actors were under-used. When having two such skilled fighters one would have thought they would try to exploit that to the max. Instead DMX is given way too much space. His acting is embarrassing and his fighting is decent at best.
Like in Exit Wounds the comic relief consists mostly of Anthony Anderson and Tom Arnold. This works well enough and adds a less serious atmosphere to the movie. Something it badly needs since it's very high-strung at times. So. While this is not crap it's no masterpiece either. Rather it's a good popcorn-movie for a Friday night. Entertaining enough but more or less forgettable. I rate it 6/10.
A jewel thief steals a special kind of stone, getting in way over his head. This causes his daughter to be kidnapped and he has to try and get her back while retrieving the stones that are valuable beyond what he could ever imagine.
When looking at the cast, consisting mostly of martial arts experts and rappers, it's clear that this is not a movie to be watched for the acting. Basically if you have seen Exit Wounds you know what to expect. The action is directed well enough and there are some moments of quite well paced fighting. Jet Li is as usual nothing much to cheer about in the acting department, but amazing when it comes to the fighting. Much the same could be said for Mark Dacascos. What i felt was maybe that these two actors were under-used. When having two such skilled fighters one would have thought they would try to exploit that to the max. Instead DMX is given way too much space. His acting is embarrassing and his fighting is decent at best.
Like in Exit Wounds the comic relief consists mostly of Anthony Anderson and Tom Arnold. This works well enough and adds a less serious atmosphere to the movie. Something it badly needs since it's very high-strung at times. So. While this is not crap it's no masterpiece either. Rather it's a good popcorn-movie for a Friday night. Entertaining enough but more or less forgettable. I rate it 6/10.