Ancora una possibilità

First off, I liked this sequel more than One Shot. I liked the setting in an American airport more than a military base in Poland. I liked that he fought the same (really good) opponent three times and his fight against Michael Jai White wasn't as good as Undisputed 2 or Accident Man, but was one of the best parts of the movies. Just like the first movie, takes that long have to be impressive even if you don't like it. The movie may not have ended on a cliffhanger, but it left room to imagine that there is the potential for another sequel. Overall, this isn't one of Scott Adkins better movies but it was more entertaining than some of his worst.

One More Shot is directed by James Nunn and stars Scott Adkins, Michael Jai White, Alexis Knapp and Tom Berenger.

Scott Adkins is back with an American accent for a sequel to his 2021 movie One Shot. Taking place directly after the events of the first film Navy SEAL Jake Harris (Adkins) is ordered to escort terrorist suspect Armin Mansur to Washington D. C for interrogation.

I think Writer/Director James Nunn should be applauded for pulling off something so ambitious without it ever feeling gimmicky (the use of vertical space is impressive), especially on what must be a small budget, but the film never quite makes a case for it being one fake take beyond "Hey! That sounds cool." (which, if it gets the project funded, is good enough, I guess!). These One Shot movies to me are somewhat comparable to Chris Hemsworth's Extraction movies on Netflix and that's definitely a compliment considering those movies have a Netflix budget behind them.

The story here is also way more ambitious than the 2021 original, but a pace killing torture scene and an anti climactic ending hold this back. There's also not enough Michael Jai White here. All his scenes come across like they were shot in a day and he only shares one scene with Adkins at the very end. Also as much as these movies look and feel like video games I'm pretty sure the intention also isn't to have your lead character come off like he's ripped out of a video game as well. It would be nice to give Adkins some type of emotional depth to work with in the inevitable third movie just to make the character feel more human.

Either way, sign me up for ONE LAST SHOT or whatever the next one is.

I've seen bad acting in action flicks, in fact I expect it, but this movie takes the cake. The award for worst actor goes to Alexis Knapp. She sounds like Meg from Family Guy, not credible for a villain, over the top acting on scenes that don't require it, and too robotic on scenes that require more emotion. Scott Adkins is his usual bad, but you watch his movies to see his kicks and aerial moves, not to nominate him for an acting award. On that note, don't expect to see anything spectacular. Instead, they replaced the kung fu with "gun fu" closer to a John Wick movie. Understandable since Adkins is getting up there in years. You can't expect to see him doing the same stunts forever. Finally, I wish Michael Jai White and Tom Betenguer had more onscreen time. They are way underutilized.

Adkins deserves some credit for relentlessly trying to keep his career afloat, against all odds, in the grand tradition of Van Damme and Seagel and Lundgren. Also nice to see Berenger and Jai White back in the saddle. However, that said, there are signs of desperation here. This is sort of a sequel to ONE SHOT, in a quantum universe where time is relative and nothing much happens between installments. Film students will especially appreciate the way every possible trick and hack is used to make a small budget seem bigger than it is. The small cast and static locale -- both telltales of B-moviemaking, are made to seem larger and more important than they actually are. Think Hamburger Helper, only for directors. However, at the end of the day, and in real time, it becomes obvious that world has moved on (in 2024, the Enemy really is inside the gates) and these guys have not. Rule of Thumb, any film where Adkins is not playing the most "perfect" Russian cage fighter on the planet is going to be forgettable. Ditto for any film where Jai White is playing the bad guy. (Blood & Bone still highly recommended for newbies.) ((Designated "IMDb Top Reviewer." Please check out my list "167+ Nearly-Perfect Movies (with the occasional Anime or TV miniseries) you can/should see again and again (1932 to the present))

The predecessor to this film, One Shot, was a unique experiment in action filmmaking. It seemed to be shot in one continuous sequence. It does not jump around in edited from location to location- it follows one linear path at a time. The stateside story of a terrorist transported by Scott Adkins, who is the linchpin to a terrorist plot around the State of the Union address is very engaging and cool. The story and acting are good. The action is unrelenting. The look and feel matches the first one. James Numm;s filmmaking works. Michael Jai White is a great addition to the film. He, like Adkins, is a always fun to watch on screen no matter the budget of the film.