Let's be realistic.

How sad is this?

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Right, well the reason for why I picked up this movie was because it had Mark Dacascos in it. Boy was I surprised to find out that he had less than five minutes of screen time in the entire movie.Well, this 2016 action movie definitely bears traces of wanting to pick up or cash in on the success of "The Expendables", by trying to put together an all who-was-sort-of-semi-big-in-the-late-eighties-action-stars. But these were not the blockbuster stars of the late eighties action movies, but the ones from the lower rated and smaller budgets. This includes Don "The Dragon" Wilson, Cynthia Rothrock and Olivier Gruner. But honestly, it was actually a blast to have these former semi-big action stars come together in a movie such as this.As for the lead cast of Alexander Nevsky and Casper Van Dien, well I was familiar with Casper Van Dien of course. But Alexander Nevsky I have never heard about, and he fared well enough, despite only having one expression for most of the scenes that he did. But a movie such as this runs on action and adrenaline, so the inability to put on a thesbian performance was sort of alright here.There is a good amount of action throughout the movie, which is also what keeps the movie afloat. As for the storyline and plot, well it was entertaining, but it was on the simpler side, so don't expect to be mentally challenged.It was also nice to see Tia Carrere in the movie as well as Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa.An entertaining enough movie for what it turned out to be. Worth watching once if you enjoy a good old action movie.

Nick (Alexander Nevsky) is an ex-cop who got his unit killed through his own bad judgment. Nick delivers his few lines as if he is Arnold and not that well. He teams up as a private detective with Charlie (Casper Van Dien) a former LA cop and self described sex addict. They are being paid by the wife of a dead FBI agent (Tia Carrere) to capture the killers. They also happen to be the same guys who killed Nick's team. The film is straight forward without any twists. Charlie being a sex addict provides for some minor humor, but the joke only works a few times before it gets old. Alexander Nevsky simply can't act, but then again how many tough guys can? It was like watching a Steven Seagal movie without Steven Seagal. Guide: No swearing or sex. Possible distant nipple slip, otherwise no nudity. Girls bras/panties.

I liked watching this film. The casting was normal as would be found among people on the good side and people on the bad side as to be found in a somewhat still 3rd world country. I rented the film hoping to see some of modern manila; most was market places and industrial buildings; so, although colorful, this didn't provide much of a travel-log set of scenes. But there was good variety of the faces on the screen and the dialog plus humor was all natural and appreciated. Hollywood has pretty weird plots nowadays, and this film was not too heavy handed. Good guys die all at once initially, and from then on, the toll taken is strictly on the criminals. It was advertised as disclosing terrorist activity; however, that aspect never was brought up. There seemed to be no religious themes at all in the movie. The film did not have night scenes which I think are much too much overdone in most action films currently made. Music was good with the film and I can't remember being offended by any profanity. Although the chief criminal -- whose name never could be clearly heard in the dialogue (Wrath) -- was a drug producer, there was no overt scene showing drug use. I also welcome this. The sidekick investigator had good lines and he complemented the most-often stone-faced lead male player. They seemed always working together so the "happy medium" of the good guys always seemed personable. The ending was a bit of a shock, but if someone is going to pay one hundred thousand dollars to have this "Wrath" criminal captured, I guess there should be a little allowance for overkill, so to speak. Jungle scenes were colorful, scenic, and not frightening. The writer and director did more than adequate job and performing, only the police force actors actually over-acted a bit and tension being built seemed somewhat far-fetched. The young female informant did a cute job and her lines added to a bit of confidence that movie was headed towards a good resolution. The girlfriend of the Russian star has a somewhat European face and I enjoyed fitting all her features, voice, teeth, nose together to total up to a girl this strong star would desire and kiss on screen. I liked the film. I'll watch it a second time tomorrow.

I saw this movie via my satellite TV's movie package, and it was such a waste of 90 minutes of my life. The movie drew me with its cast of former action stars Don "The Dragon" Wilson, Cynthia Rothrock and Oliver Gruner plus Tia Carrere but gosh, the (lack of) acting, plot, flow and everything else made it one of the worst movies ever. Please do yourself a huge favor and avoid this turkey.