Wrestler John Cena goes 12 Rounds with an international terrorist in this high-octane thrill ride from Renny Harlin.
Renny might take some beats from his previous action outings, but there are some thrilling set pieces in this New Orleans flavored jambalaya.
Officers Danny Fisher (John Cena) and Hank Carver (Brian J. White) are on routine patrol when they’re called in by the FBI to assist in the botched operation.
Fisher has been studying surveillance footage of Jackson and recognizes Erica’s face sitting at a stoplight on their way to the scene of the crime.
Fisher returns fire and a pursuit begins, during which Erica is killed. Jackson promises revenge, but it looks like he’s going to be put away for a long time. One year later, Fisher and Carver have risen to the rank of detective, Fisher has moved in with his girlfriend Molly (Ashley Scott), and they have no thoughts of Miles Jackson. That is until Molly leaves for work and is kidnapped by Jackson.
After Jackson blows up Fisher’s house he then challenges him to a game encompassing 12 rounds and if he loses then Molly dies.
Renny Harlin is no stranger to the action flick, with his most famous being Die Hard 2.
12 Rounds bears a passing resemblance to a Die Hard flick with our dogged hero being goaded into playing the villain’s game (Die Hard with a Vengeance is similar though Harlin didn’t helm that picture). There’s a definite vibe that harkens back to Harlin’s earlier pictures.
One of the action set pieces involved a runaway New Orleans trolley that was rather suspenseful. The plot does take a turn towards the end where the hero figures out that maybe the villain has ulterior motives instead of just revenge and these feels a bit staged.
However, since the rest of the film was action packed and got the adrenaline racing, I did have good time with it.
12 Rounds is presented in anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) and is enhanced for 16x9 televisions. You also get the rated (108 minutes) and unrated (109 minutes) cuts of the film. Special features include two commentaries, but they’re only available on the unrated cut.
The first is from director Renny Harlin and the second is from writer Daniel Kunka and John Cena.
There’s also the 10 minute “A Crash Course: John Cena Stunts” about the stunt work, a 5 minute gag reel, and two alternate endings (totaling 2 minutes, mostly adding some jokes) that feature optional commentaries from the parties listed above. There are some trailers for other Fox films, but not one for 12 Rounds.
12 Rounds moves along at a brisk pace so you might not see the stitches until after the film is over. It was passable time filler and had some thrilling action sequences. It’s not going to go down as an action classic, but it does go well with a bowl of popcorn.
Amazon . As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.
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