Missionary Man

only the last scene has real action(except in content and required mood), but because all the other elements are in place you might not even notice. for the general viewer, this is an interesting flick about and with MODERN native Americans and their way of life on the last reservations.from the way they educate the children, to interesting cultural aspects; well documented i actually felt like i learned something beside watching a "classic" revenge movie. "old school" clichés that never get old if done properly.

it is a classic suspense build-up plot; nothing special but simply can not find anything wrong other then being slow at times. however the movie has a lot of shots and visuals that contain artistic images that will not let you loose interest. all actors are decent and in some scenes really good.the best component, i would argue, are the costumes, and to certain extent the well chosen environment; it goes very well with crating the mood required to sustain the simple but effective plot.the biker's gang in the last 30 minutes is well done very menacing and looks real.John Enos III as their leader performs excellently.the soundtrack is nothing spectacular but fits properly as mood definer.

now about Dolph Lundgren; if you have grown up on such flicks as "the red scorpion" you might enjoy this a lot providing you not expecting any sgi fights. he aged decent and his "cold" tone got better and feels more "real". as a director he seems very decent will be checking his future productions hopefully will not be disappointed.he is way better in substance then Stallone is in his "rambo 4"(pointless action). seems like this project is dear to him from the way he handles dialogs, subject matter and the body language on display.

overall i enjoyed it. however i do not agree at all with any "Missionary" men especially "born again" Christians. from a vintage point of view i liked it, but in reality this only creates just yet another type of extremists/extremism.i do not find "cool" preaching the bible to the native Americans ,that got almost exterminated in the past because the "white man's God". however there are some details, for example regarding the facts of how the catholic church and "education" tried to forbid them speaking their own language(s) so they "convert" properly...

This is Dolph in his best ever! For you that don't have seen a lot of Clint Eastwoods movies this is a (official or unofficial, don't know) remake of Pale Raider with a influence of High Plains Drifters. Take place in the modern world but with a western, outlaw feel to it.

A stranger drives in on his iron horse to the town in need of help.It's the classic avenger movie with all the ingredients that you would expect. You know what you gonna get and are NOT disappointed. Dolph really shows that he is qualified as a director. The angels are great,the photo of the film and the feeling, it all fits beautiful! I was really surprised at the quality of the picture and I can't wait to see if he can keep this up in the future!

I give it a 10/10 the best action movie I've seen in years!

Dolph Lundgren is the unappreciated underdog of DTV action stars. While many people flock to buy Van Damme or Seagal's latest pics, less chase after Mr. Lundgren's work, and that's a shame. He has something going on. Something good.

MM (Missionary Man) is his third directorial effort, and although it isn't as good as his last picture, it's still interesting and shows some of the class and skillful touches he displayed in The Mechanik and The Defender.

This film is basically Pale Rider with Dolph in the Clint role. Can he handle such a role? You betcha. He plays a mysterious man named Ryder, who rolls into a quiet small town to attend a friend's funeral. Before you can say "trouble" he's already figured out that a rich young jackass is running the place and is behind the friend's death.

The rest of the first and second act is taken up with the plight of the Indians who live in the town. We're shown how modern America struggles with the Indians' beliefs and their way of life. Credit must be given to Dolph for trying to make more than a low budget shoot 'em up.

Unfortunately, as a result of that part of the story, the middle act drags a little. However, a rousing final act, where a gang of bikers turn up to foolishly stop Dolph, kick-starts the picture back to life.

The high noon showdown is BLOODY. Not Rambo bloody, but bloody nonetheless. One poor soul even takes a 12 gage to the face! It's these scenes that show Dolph has an understanding of action greater than his rivals. If Stallone's enjoying a cinematic action rebirth, Dolph's enjoying a DTV rebirth.

The look of the film is also noticeable. Lundgren has bathed the film is a dark sepia look and the music is subtle and underused.

The supporting players are a slight letdown. Some seem like community theater actors, while others, especially the Native Americans, come off as genuine and real. John Enos III rocks up as the lead heavy, Jarfe, about thirty minutes from the end, and that's a shame. His character should have been in the whole picture.

Incidentally, Dolph does the best he can with the very modest production values he has. Note to Sony: Give these stars more money to play with. Granted, they don't need $100 million, but are a few back more out of the question??? (Dolph, if you're reading this, put Enos in another one of your movies. He was cool.) And onto the man himself. As I said in my review for The Mechanik, Dolph has grown into his skin. He's comfortable and relaxed. He's the same in MM and I'm sure if he keeps getting good material to make, he will continue to relax and look good. It seems the days of the awful Storm Catcher and The Minion are behind us.

Hopefully, Dolph will continue to put out quality efforts like this. I can only imagine what would he would do with a bigger budget and better actors. It's okay though, because for now, we've got The Defender, The Mechanik and Missionary Man to enjoy.

Good work, Mr. Lundgren.

As Dolph's 3rd directorial efforts, I've watched "Missionary Man" twice and the story plot was good. I'm just disappointed that the camera man who did the film-making of the "Missionary Man" - he didn't make the detailed shooting of Dolph's fighting style except the one in his hotel cafeteria that he punched, beat up the bad guys, and kicked their groins. But, the overall of this movie, we don't see HOW he punched some bad guys with his karate skills and we don't see how Dolph handled with an axe except that we see him holding an axe up in the bad guy's stomach. If you watch Van Damme or Seagal movies, you will see the detailed style of the punches, kicks, they used for their movies. Dolph's movie is too "surface", but the plot of the story is good. He looked so cool on the motorcycle. Also, I liked the story about Dolph's interaction with the Native Americans.

A mysterious biker (Dolph Lundgren) arrives in a small town in an Indian reservation for the funeral of his friend J.J. and discovers through his family that he was murdered by the men of the powerful John Reno (Matthew Stephens Tompkins). The corrupt businessman plans to build a casino in association with criminals from the North in the town and J.J. opposed to his intentions offering a better option to the locals. The lone vigilante decides to stay in town with his bible and drinking straight tequila and like an avenging angel, bring justice to people.

While watching "Missionary Man", I have immediately associated the story as an adaptation of "Pale Rider" and the character of Dolph Lundgren to "The Preacher" and also to "Billy Jack", and I found that others IMDb users had had the same impression. Like in "Pale Rider", the mysterious stranger leaves many open questions that may give a mystical interpretation to his character. In the end, "Missionary Man" is modern adaptation and very decent remake of a classic. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "O Missionário" ("The Missionary")