The Package

Steve Austin and Dolph Lundgren put in the same movie? Well, the direct to DVD industry in recent years has been pairing various B movie stars together, so that should come as no surprise. What's surprising about this Canadian/American co-production is that unlike most movies with Canadian involvement, they have a Canadian aspect in the movie's story - the movie is (partly) set in Canada. The plot of the movie will probably be of no surprise to most viewers - they will have seen the "delivery of a mysterious package" story countless times before, and they will more or less guess (like me) the twist near the end concerning the package long before it happens. But the predictable script did not bother me. What DID bother me was how sluggish the entire enterprise feels. The story unfolds very slowly when things should have been more speedy. And the action sequences - the main selling point of the movie - are sluggishly directed, lacking impact and nastiness. I have to admit that I almost nodded off a couple of times, because there was nothing to capture my attention. A very boring movie.

I've read the reviews and I must say; some are very harsh. I also find the apparent lack of open-mindedness to be frustrating. It's a movie and they should evoke a sense of fun and excitement no matter the content. I've seen near all of Dolph Lundgren's movies and not all are great, not all are amazingly well written but all have something decent about them and this one is no different. I'm not the one to go to if you want to see someone denigrate someone's work. I try to find the good points in everything.

The Package, while ill acted at times, does have a good story line.

Tommy, played by Steve Austin, is the hired muscle employed by the mob. He's married, loves his wife and wants a better life for both of them. He doesn't like what he does and he doesn't feel good about it but he does what he has to, to make a life and pay the bills.

Tommy is paying off his brothers debt to his boss and with one more job, he is promised an "out" and a clean slate for his brother. The only thing he has to do is deliver a package to a man only known as "The German" played by Dolph Lundgren.

As he travels to his destination he is followed and attacked repeatedly by thugs from all sides. Their intentions are to take the package, kill Tommy and collect a huge payday. What they don't understand is that "The Package" is not what they think it is and Tommy is not just a delivery boy.

If you look past the semi bad acting you find a story that is actually pretty good. You end up routing for Tommy and feeling bad for "The German".

Not every bad guy is bad for bad reasons. Sometimes they need to be bad for a good reason.

This is pretty average as far as films are concerned, but considering how terrible a few of Austin's STD films are, this is high praise. I'm a huge Stone Cold Steve Austin fan. Despite that he has nothing to work with a lot of the time, with these STD movies I always check them out when they are released. This one actually has some decent character development. Steve Austin does what he does best, play an anti hero, only without the rattlesnake persona. He's not quite ready to take on such a mysterious role, but he doesn't embarrass himself either. He definitely has presence, and commands your attention at all times. With better scripts, and more experience, Steve Austin can unequivocally be a top action star in Hollywood. He's not the greatest WWE superstar of all time for nothing. It's actually Dolph Lundgren who steals the show. His dark sense of humor was a hoot, and he hammed it up big time. Lundgren has really improved over the years with his acting, and he clearly relishes the villain role. I enjoyed him a lot. I wouldn't say this was filled with action, but it has just enough to keep your attention. For a STD film, it's not too shabby. Never something I'll watch again, but Stone Cold is on the right track

5.2/10

At the time of this writing this film has 6 other reviews posted, most negative. Though difficult, I did come up with a few reasons to avoid this film: If you sell girl scout cookies, wear your sister's capri pants, share hair styling tips with your girlfriend, or watch Glee. I could go on but you get the picture. Bottom line, DTV film are rarely going to break any new ground in terms of action filmmaking, so hopefully by now action fans know this going in. Having said that, The Package is above average for such a film. A cool script, that is it mostly avoids ridiculous cliché dialog such as "I'm getting too old for this %$#" or the mandatory cursing that is often substituted for actual lines. Yes the story is old (as most all stories are), but here we get nicely written dialog. The direction is certainly above par, with plenty of well staged action shot in a terrific manner avoiding the jerky-cam style so prevalent today. The fight scenes are not the slapped together affairs often seen in many DTV films. Characters are interesting, including Dolph's (and no, his role is not a cameo). Anyone familiar with Martial artist/actor Jerry Trimble will enjoy his screen time. I recommend The Package not only for action fans, but lovers of romance, humor, and drama (sorry horror fans), and for any boy out there that hopes to one day grow into a man. Now that I've given it some thought, the film should be screened in high schools across the country as part of the "no male left behind" program.

I watched THE PACKAGE last night and was surprised by it; mostly because the earlier Austin vehicles I had seen (HUNT TO KILL, TACTICAL FORCE) were really bad. Austin is still really stiff (both acting and physically) but the director plays upon these traits better than the previous helmers. Also, director Jesse Johnson handled the action scenes a lot better than most, not resorting to the shaky cam crap that a lot of DTV action guys use. Of course, the highlight for me is Dolph Lundgren, who delivers another juicy co-starring role much like he did in the Cuba Gooding, Jr. action flick ONE IN THE CHAMBER last year. While I'd still like to see Dolph get back in the directing chair, these smaller roles are good enough to fill the time in between.