Panama

Mel Gibson was the reason I had to watch it. He hasnt got a big part in this movie though, which is mostly filled with B/C-listed actors, who usually would only star in cheap tv series.

From the very start I felt everything was wrong with this movie: the photography was boring, no thrilling action whatsoever, very cheaply filmed. The sound score is just wrong. Of course the acting is mediocre at best. And finally the story is an incomprehensible mess.

Not any good then? Well, it's not completely garbage. They made an (amateurish) effort, but an effort nonetheless. But it is tedious, incredibly tedious to watch.

It's a decent enough, I've seen worse over the years... 3.3 rating is harsh and that's generally because if the haters of Mel Gibson that will go above and beyond to tarnish his films. Ignore wannabe critics and watch it with your own mind not others. The only issue I had was the camera could be all over and can mess with ones eyes... I don't mind Hauser but I'd rather see Michael Parè and Gibson in something like this...

The one thing I can say about Mel Gibson is that unlike Bruce Willis, he still brings his "A" game when he's trying to make a buck, but the rest of these no-acting clowns wouldn't make it in a high school play.

Really amateurish acting, stupid effects in the fight scenes, and chock full of goofy, you should steer clear of this one.

I put 4 stars because the director managed to at least make it look like a local TV movie. You would have given MG a theoretical or artistic contribution to the production, MG if you continue like this, better go into horror movies, I think it will be more emotional than seeing this type of demotivating action movie.

In the action parts of the movie, I don't know if they wanted to put the slow effects like the matrix movies, they were tremendously slow and boring in my opinion.

Around the time of the US invasion of Panama the CIA decides to make a deal with some contra guerilla fighters. Mel decides to recruit some buddy of his, Becker, who is currently a mess because his wife died. Along for the ride monitoring things is another agent, Burns. Becker is supposed to make the deal happen: he has to buy a Soviet chopper from some bad guys in Panama and deliver it to the guerilla guy. The Panama guys are involved in drugs and Becker has to go undercover and work in a casino where the gets to meet hot girls and the partying bad guy who is supposed to sell him the chopper. He is also contacted by a DEA agent who offers help if he helps them out in turn. Things of course don't turn out as expected at all and Becker ends up stabbed in the back from all sides just as the full invasion breaks out. Yet he somehow has to make it out alive and try to make some deal happen.

Panama has a good idea and story. The cast does the best it can. Mel always delivers but here he is a tertiary character. Kiara Liz is absolutely adorable. Cole Hauser isn't the most compelling lead but does alright. The problem of course is that this was done with a 3rd of the budget necessary to make it a solid international spy undercover thriller. It's not as bad as the rating here suggests but this is an unfortunate case, where they should have really desisted with the project unless they could procure the appropriate budget but instead went ahead and ended up producing a C-level movie.