Wonderful character development!

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Good concept, poorly executed.

Don't Believe the Hype

Decorated vet Frank Vega (Danny Trejo) returns from the Vietnam War to find his world has left him behind. His girlfriend has a new baby daddy. Nobody is willing to give him a job. The cops reject him. Even his hot dog cart becomes obsolete over the years. Years go by and he becomes a shell of a man. One day, he defends an old man on the bus which goes viral and he becomes famous as the Bad Ass. His friend is murdered but the police pays only lip service to the case. He decides to investigate on his own.The premise is campy and Danny is a good guy to camp it up. While it has some camp value, the movie insists on being serious. Director Craig Moss is making a living from broad spoof comedies. Having never seen his work before, it's hard to know whether he's any good. This is not going to help. As a parody idea, there is good potential. As anything else, this has no chance. For example, there is an obvious miniature during the train crash. The entire bus chase could be hilarious if it's all done with toy miniatures. It's hard to explain it any better. This is too cheap and too ridiculous to be Lethal Weapon. It is too straight to be entirely funny. It doesn't work either way.

Don Perlman was really wasted in this movie. I suppose we are used to people running long distances without getting out of breath. OK it may work with the young guys but Dutton carrying so much weight would collapse after even after 50 yards; then he is also capable of a heavyweight fight with Trajo without getting out of breath. Trajo is not lightweight himself and he would be about 65 in the plot

With the title of "Bad Ass", you know this is not going to be a masterpiece. The story is a parody of sorts of action films (ie: Chuck Norris, Schwarzenegger, Stallone, Van Damme, etc. vs. the bad guys alone) but this time the protagonist is a frumpy old man.There are movies that are so bad they become entertaining; this is one of them. The dialog is bad, the fight scenes are bad, the special effects are bad, there is nothing noteworthy or redeeming at all. I might as well kick 'em while they're down and note that the entire vehicle chase scene is cut and pasted from a 1988 Schwarzenegger film.If you turn off your left brain (the supposedly analytical side) while watching this, you'll find some chuckles here and there. A frumpy old hero? While not believable that an older person can take out all the baddies hand-to-hand, it is not inconceivable that he can win some of the fights.If you are looking for mindless entertainment and don't mind extreme profanity and violence, you may enjoy this movie. For the same reasons, I recommend keeping kids away it.

The similarities between "Bad Ass" and "Rolling Thunder" are unmistakable. Viet Nam Vet avenging the death of his friend pushes the violence scale, including the hand grinding garbage disposal scene from "Rolling Thunder". "Bad Ass" is well made, with some sharp editing to keep the ass whippings moving along. There are some weak attempts at humor and romance, but ultimately it is Danny Trejo and his bad ass attitude that wins the day. Stunt work with two greyhound buses chasing each other and colliding with every obstacle imaginable, only adds to the fun. If you go into "Bad Ass" expecting an ass kicking revenge movie and little more, you will not be disappointed. - MERK