12 Rounds Movie Review
By Adam K.
Who's in it?: John Cena, Aiden Gillen, Ashley Scott
The Basics: A scorned terrorist, Miles Jackson (Aidin Gillen), exacts revenge on Danny Fisher (John Cena), the cop who killed his partner, by sending Danny through 12 “rounds” of highly impractical challenges through the New Orleans streets in order for Danny to get back his captured fiancé. I can only imagine the scenario unfolding like this: Some day last year, Die Hard 2 director Renny Harlin, and Mark Gordon, the producer of Speed, got together over lunch and decided to make a terrible action movie. Since the name Speed 2 was already taken, they decided upon 12 Rounds, AKA what I’m sure will be just another film in the many exploitation films for WWE “superstar” John Cena, who is trying to take a page out of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s career, and become the next mediocre action star.
The Basics: A scorned terrorist, Miles Jackson (Aidin Gillen), exacts revenge on Danny Fisher (John Cena), the cop who killed his partner, by sending Danny through 12 “rounds” of highly impractical challenges through the New Orleans streets in order for Danny to get back his captured fiancé. I can only imagine the scenario unfolding like this: Some day last year, Die Hard 2 director Renny Harlin, and Mark Gordon, the producer of Speed, got together over lunch and decided to make a terrible action movie. Since the name Speed 2 was already taken, they decided upon 12 Rounds, AKA what I’m sure will be just another film in the many exploitation films for WWE “superstar” John Cena, who is trying to take a page out of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s career, and become the next mediocre action star.
What’s the Deal?: Yes, this movie really is terrible. John Cena just can’t turn in a decent acting performance or turn this putrid script into anything above sub par. For a movie that literally has all the elements and practically the entire second half of the movie given to the movie crew already, they still manage to ruin nearly all of it. For those who have seen the movie Die Hard 3, this is a carbon copy. The bad guy’s motivation is slightly changed, and the city is different, but the meat of this movie is basically the same.
Closing Comments: For a movie that should travel down a linear path, this film is incredibly disjointed and somehow the time never matches up with what is happening. Getting from round to round is very confusing and some of the rounds aren’t even properly explained. As far as the action in this film, it’s actually few and far between. No fist fights, firefights, or anything to capitalize on John Cena’s wrestling background. All we get as the viewer is some cars crashing into other cars and two explosions. The rest is just poorly built suspense, jarring camera movements, and caveman-era dialogue. Enjoy.
12 Rounds gets … 3.0 out of 10.
12 Rounds gets … 3.0 out of 10.
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