DVD Review: 12 Rounds [Blu-ray]: John Cena, Ashley Scott, Renny Harlin: Movies & TV

Jul01

DVD Review: 12 Rounds [Blu-ray]: John Cena, Ashley Scott, Renny Harlin: Movies & TV

Posted by admin | on 1 July, 09:11 AM

DVD Review: 12 Rounds [Blu-ray]: John Cena, Ashley Scott, Renny Harlin: Movies & TVTons of Action!!!,

By PUMPKIN MAN -

This movie is filled to the brim with action, suspense, and violence! It’s like they took Speed, Die Hard, Saw, 24, Max Payne, and Midnight Madness and mixed them all together to make this movie! Danny Fisher is thrust into a deadly game a year after he arrested an arms dealer named Miles Jackson. Miles kidnaps his girlfriend, and gives Danny 12 things to do. He must solve terrible puzzles, race against time, make sacrifices to save Molly. I love when he drove around in the fire truck, because my dad used to be a Fireman, until he retired. Will Danny stop the bad guy, and save his girl? I highly recommend 12 ROUNDS!!!

Simply enough - it is John Cena in Blu,

By Steve Kuehl “SLV Video” (Ben Lomond, CA) -

A great deal of hate out there about his film, but once again the Blu product outshines the film and provides for an adequate package whether you rent it or purchase it. Our story of John Cena playing a superhuman cop in New Orleans is just that - cut and dry. I have read 10-15 paragraph reviews here about the plot, but I feel one sentence takes care of it - you know what to expect. Now for the fun stuff.

The picture quality was outstanding at times, average in others, but with the amount of CGI clean-up, action, explosions, and camera jitters I feel the only way to sufficiently see the details is in high definition. The sound is what makes this though. They mixed the bass heavily to the front channels, so even when I tested the DTS without the sub on - it still sounded excellent. I would almost have to say it is an excellent test for your subwoofer over the other films this year. I could not find any real faults in the DTS throughout, so finally a great mix on a no-brainer action film.

The special features are what give this 2.5 star film a 4.5 though. Yes, some (at times most) of the material is very egocentric and all about Cena - but I figure one would not be watching this otherwise. I will try to separate them in case one does not have the hours to invest in surfing through all that is offered here.

Cena-centric:
* The commentary on the unrated version with Cena and the writer (Kunka) is almost comical with how it is all about John, and nowhere near as informative unless you want to hear John talk about John.
* The Viral Videos, Hands and Helicopter; short spoofs where John tries to partake in comedic skits that are truly painful to watch.
* Round and Round; played on TV and other WWE products about John and Harlin mock interviewing each other.
* Crash Course (stunts); probably the most worthwhile featurette of this batch that contains the story behind the driving stunts and how awesome John’s abilities are, with some bits on his personal collection of cool cars.
* Cena Gag-reel; John hamming it up on set.

Regular Featurettes:
* 12 Rounds; probably the one to watch if you want the overall feel of production logistics, interviews and such. Totals 20 minutes and grabs footage and various stuff from all of the other material.
* Streetcar crossing; my favorite. Had everything about the work it took to make the streetcar scene happen, filled with plenty of kudos to the New Orleans PD and everyone else who made a very difficult sequence happen in the busiest part of the city.
* Keeping score; for a select few that like the music info for action films.

The alternate endings were thankfully cut out (both total less than a minute and add/subtract a line or character). The unrated cut is only 2:45 minutes longer and had no earth-shattering differences.

Overall, a worthy package for his fans to buy and maybe a rental for those wanting to test their sound system, hope you enjoy.

So much better then The Marine,

By Weather Warden <3 (Auckland, NZ) -

I thought 12 Rounds was a fantastic movie. It’s so much better then John’s first theatrical outing, The Marine. And I’m not being mean when I say that, because I liked The Marine. It’s just that 12 Rounds is infinitely better.

Now, I’m a huge John Cena fan. I’m what you could call a “fangirl.” But don’t let that dissuade you from reading my review or taking it seriously, I’m looking at this movie as a movie, not just because John is in it.

First off, let’s look at the storyline. If you’ve read the other reviews, you’ll know the plot. Here, the ‘girlfriend gets kidnapped’ story arc is much better then in The Marine - in that movie John’s character was just aimlessly running around looking for her, in 12 Rounds, Danny has to follow clues and solve problems to get Molly back. The clues are well thought out and interesting, and the problems Danny gets into are exciting and thrilling.

Next, the characters. The characters in 12 Rounds are much better rounded (no pun intended) then in The Marine. The villain is an evil character who just wants revenge - instead of just kidnapping Molly and demanding ransom, he kidnaps her and makes Danny play his twisted games. I like Miles Jackson as the villain, he’s smart and evil, without being too over the top. John’s character Danny is also a lot better this time around, he has more of a past. He’s a policeman, and lives with his girlfriend Molly and their dog Shorty. Molly doesn’t get much screentime, but she’s not a damsel in distress - she tries to outwit Miles in scenes, and helps Danny if she can. The other secondary characters such as Danny’s friend, and the FBI agents who help Danny follow Miles are also likeable.

The stunts are also amazing - I especially like the part where Danny has to stop an out of control tram. I also like the bit where Danny has to get out of a building by rapelling down the side - that scene was hard for John to film as he’s scared of heights, but you wouldn’t think so watching it. The explosions aren’t over the top, and everything is believable.

12 Rounds is an enjoyable time, and I saw it the day it opened in NZ. I think lots of different people could enjoy this movie, as it has nothing to do with wrestling outside of John. Anybody who likes action movies with lots of cool stunts would like it. A big drawing point is the 12 rounds game that Miles makes Danny play, that would interest a lot of people as it’s an unique plot point.

Overall, I do recommend this movie, and it’s one of the best movies I’ve seen in 2009 to date (the other is The Wrestler). A definite 5 stars, and I can’t wait for the DVD to be released!
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