Woodyanders
A gang of dangerous criminals escape from confinement and take over a shopping mall in Texas. It's up to rugged mercenary and ex-Texas Ranger Rudy Ray (a credible performance by a pumped-up Mickey Rourke) to stop these no-count scum and rescue his wayward criminal brother Joe Ray (well played by Kevin Gage) who's mixed up in the whole mess. Director Matt Earl Beesley gets right down to exciting brass tacks in the opening scene and brings a blithely low-grade and enthusiastic pulpy sensibility to the derivative, but still lively and enjoyable premise: the brisk pace rarely lets up for a minute, the characters are drawn with some surprising depth, the violence is both plentiful and excessive, the rousing action set pieces are staged with genuine rip-snorting verve and flashy style, a coked-up slut in a g-string does a hilariously gratuitous pole dance just because she can, and there are even welcome moments of touching humanity amid all the brutal carnage (the strained relationship between Rudy and Joe proves to be unexpectedly moving, with the poignant and tragic last scene between them rating as a truly heart-breaking sequence). The solid professional cast helps matters a whole lot: Danny Trejo goes totally over the top with infectious maniacal glee as vicious and volatile psycho Wallace, Werner Schreyer does well as token sympathetic hard-luck young con Billy, Michael Wright brings real soul to his part of no-nonsense former Marine turned killer Sonny, Paul Ben-Victor is a slimy hoot as shrewd nd duplicitous gay ring leader Howard, Nina Savelle doesn't embarrass herself as sweet sales lady Tracey Deakin, Frederic Forrest is typically fine as amiable good ol' boy sheriff Mack, and veteran character actor James Gammon has a nice bit as Rudy's father. Keith L. Smith's slick cinematography offers lots of snazzy razzle-dazzle visuals. The thrashin' pulsating score by Stephen Edwards likewise hits the stirring spot. The big knock-down bash 'em up confrontation between Rudy and Wallace is simply priceless, with Wallace absorbing a ridiculous amount of punishment and refusing to die. An immensely fun Grade B action thriller.
movieman_kev
Gay Howard, a prisoner convicted of white-collar crimes masterminds a prison break while his fellow prisoners are being transported. They succeed and hole up in a local mall where they take hostages and try to make demands of the police who surround the place. Unfortunately for the criminals a former mercenary and all-round tough guy, Rudy Ray (Mickey Rourke) is after them, in no small part because his brother is one of the escaped prisoners. Check your brain at the door for this one, folks. It's all about explosions and lots of gunfire. None of it makes much sense under scrutiny and the films ever so slightly homophobic (I referred to Howard as 'gay Howard' earlier in the review as the film makes it abundantly clear). The action is good, if utterly ridiculous and the film apes from MUCH better films (Die Hard, Leon, etcetera), but fans of Rourke or Danny Trejo (who is suitably over-the-top as the 'crazy' villain) will enjoy this flick. Just don't expect anything more than a fun little weightless diversion. It feels more like an '80's film than one for the late '90's though.My B-movie grade: B-
rpm_371
The film was shot at Seminary South, a semi-closed mall in Ft. Worth,Tx, likely the cheapest location they could find. That was the primary reason I watched this film, being a local.Letdown? That's an understatement. After hearing the local preproduction hype I was hoping for more than an outlaw version of Walker, Texas Ranger.Sadly, I was forced to watch just that.The writing's bad, the acting is poor and the production values are pure B-grade. But, Mickey looks like he has been spending lots of time at the gym.
Teen_guy_us
This movie is so great and has alot of action!!!!! Why do all you idiot non-action fans hate this?!!! I think it is the best movie as a matter of fact, I am going to dub it or buy it for my movie collection! The hostage plot was so cool because some of the criminals actually didn't mean to be harmful and most were really mean!!! Alot of action and I recommend it to people who love action! Don't listen to those stupid people asses who don't know what they are talking about!!! They are the ones who like stupid movies and hate good ones like this!!!! Point Blank rules!!!!!!!
AD
