Emboscada

"We're businessmen not junkies. We control this world or at least I thought so." Agent Maxwell (Lundgren) is finally about to reach the center of an international cocaine smuggling ring run by Vincent Camastra (Jones). When his partner Agent Royce gets in over her head it is up to Maxwell to get her out and bring the criminals to justice before it's too late. Dolph Lundgren is an actor who started off with a bang (Rocky 4) then slowly started to fade into straight to DVD movies. Most of them are slow, boring and unnecessary. While this one is nothing amazing or original it was entertaining and better then most of his movies. In between the cookie cutter plot there are some actual interesting dialog and borderline social commentary that makes you think. That is not something you would expect from a Lundgren movie. There really isn't much else to say about this, if you've seen one you've seen them all. On the other hand this is better then most of his, which may be because he isn't in it that much. Overall, Lundgren fans will like this. I give it a B-.

Dolph Lundgren as Maxwell is a DEA agent who is investigating drug dealers. However Maxwell and his investigation are not the centerpiece of this movie. That honor goes to 2 criminal friends named Frank and Eddie from whose perspectives this movie chiefly unfolds. Most especially Frank who is a club owner, drug dealer, drug taker and murderer. And this is not the end of his accomplishments: He's also a criminologist, sociologist, economist, dreamer, sage and narrator. And the icing on the cake? He's making it with his dream girl; a college "girl-nextdoor" type.

We know about Frank's afore mentioned scholarly accomplishments because he narrates this movie, talking to us, the viewing audience; even "lecturing", I would say, about how his world works and the world at large. His best bud Eddie is (thankfully) not that deep. Just wants to be a bigshot and have a good time (So school is out with this guy). Frank is ambitious; wants to move up in the drug business and is ruthless enough to do whatever it takes including murder and stepping on the toes of a drug boss Maxwell is investigating.

The drama of this movie basically comes from (1) the doings of Frank and Eddie as they try to climb the ladder to success that dealing drugs can buy. (2) Frank's relationship with his clueless dream girl (Not stupid; she thinks he's only a "club owner"). (3) Maxwell and his investigation into the operations of a drug boss and Frank and Eddie. Throw into the mix a violent, corrupt cop shaking down drug dealers and Max and his team have got there hands full.

I thought the movie felt a bit long because of "dull spots" of conversation in a few places throughout (I would have added another star, otherwise). Sometimes when Frank was talking to Eddie, to his girl, and to us the viewing audience. As well, the 2 chicks in bed; one of them an undercover DEA agent (Frank's paramour, by the way). In this last instance, less talking and more making out would have perked me up and saved that scene. There is rap music in this movie (in case you like it or don't). It started the movie nicely, I thought, but the rest of it -though sounding okay- seemed to me "somewhat" misplaced. Finally: The action is unremarkable but "okay". Dolph as Maxwell is a bit unwieldy but can still get the job done, I think, if you place yourself within range of a fist or leg and wait for it. Or in the event of a chase, don't run too fast. Love, Boloxxxi.

Or how about the German title "Thrill to Kill"? Yes another title change that is just hilarious. Unfortunately that title is the only thing that is really worth anything. Unless you are in it for the nudity and some of the nice effects when it comes to the scenes with violence. Couture tries his best and might be the best thing here, but that still isn't enough to excuse watching this.

Even if you have a heart for B-movies and or Dolph Lundgren (he's not a main character here, but he can be seen a couple of times), this might be worth a look, but overall it does not qualify your time and money to waste and watch it.

Picked up Hard Rush for a quick watch over the weekend and I have to say I actually enjoyed it. Sceptical at first however it was in the charts at Tesco's DVD section so I gave it a shot.

Where to start?

Well, story centres two rising drug dealers who own a club and want to climb the ladder of success in Los Angeles. One named Frank and one named Eddie (who is a Scot). They steal drugs from the wrong man, Vincent. who in turn wants them to sell for him which they do successfully however a dirty cop, Reilly, wants in on the action. All this is happening whilst an FBI agent, Maxwell, is hunting them all down. They ultimately all meet up in a bedroom at the end of the film.

Writing was OK. Story lacked in some places and there were areas which were massively underdeveloped. There was a very weak relationship between Dolph and the undercover agent, that part had no impact on the story. Would have really enjoyed the relationship between the two to be taken further. Would have also been nice to see a further developed story line on the relationship between the two drug dealers and ultimately what happened to Vinnie Jones' character at the end. No closure? Also a little more written on Reilly perhaps? On a positive note, some of the characters he created were original and at times extremely amusing and I enjoyed how all webs weaved ended up meeting in one location at the end. I really enjoyed some of the dialogue too, had sound and original elements in it. Bravo.

The director did a good job as much as I can see with the budget he was given. Casting was great. I liked the shifts/breaks between scenes. I also like his choice of locations believe it or not. His choice of characters were daring and paid off. Some of the sky shots of the city as well as the shots overlooking the sea helped open it up a lot. Nice work! I must watch more from him.

Action. As far as this goes, it was all ground level but solid and acceptable. Fighting scene at the end between Couture and Lundgren was great. They used a rain machine in the last scene and it enhanced the fight. Great choice by the director. Also seeing Vinnie in action was on the money.

Acting. Dolph Lundgren is Dolph Lundgren. To the critic who gave this a bad score, you are not a good reviewer. If I wanted to watch Gosling or Di Caprio I wouldn't have picked up this film. This film is not comparable to anything like that. I am sure at a budget level, whatever that may have been, they did a good job. Dolph will not produce anything worthy of a good actor performance so get over it. In this he was acceptable, lets be honest, when his girlfriend was in serious danger at the bar he didn't change his expression one bit but I did care? No. As far as the others, Vinnie Jones was perfectly cast, he did a great job and wow did he beat poor Eddie to a pulp. Always menacing and threatening as ever. Randy Couture, he is one for the future to watch. I thought he played his part well, maybe he could've seemed a little more menacing at times but he did well. He displayed some softer sides to his character which I really enjoyed, wish I saw more of him doing that. Frank, (Daniel Bonjor) never heard of him before this, but he did a solid job and was well suited for that role. I liked his less menacing approach to his character, was good, possibly question the relationship side a little. Eddie, a Scot, Gianni Capaldi (Dr Who's relative), I thought did really well. As explosive as he was I enjoyed watching his crazy antics, excellent excellent casting, changed paces of scenes and was colorful. Did Peter give him tips? The rest were all solid. On a whole, I thought everyone did well and I enjoyed their performances.

Why I rated this film so highly?

Its exactly where and what this film is supposed to be. It seems like it was developed the best it could be. Its always nice to see a mixture of old faces mixed with new ones balancing out the possibly worn out actors introducing new blood to the screen. I was kept entertained through it and thoroughly enjoyed many aspects of this film. If there is a better film out there made at this level I would like to see it.

Thumbs up!

because they are hardly in it. This movie is marketed to make you think it is an action-fest with these three guys, but it is really a boring movie about 2 wannabe big shot drug dealers played by unknown actors. One looks like David Swimmer and the other looks like James Franco.

This film actually played in theaters where I live and I wasted money seeing it.

Camera-work is extremely shaky and amateurish looking. Vinnie Jones is hardly in it and the scenes with him are pointless. There is also a lot of pointless and contrived nudity, swearing, and poorly done scenes of people getting shot.

This movie is complete garbage.