Hey gang, Valkor here. One of my favorite, go-to films is Dolph
Lundgren’s "Dark Angel" aka “I Come in Peace”; it’s a simple,
no-brainer that’s easy to get into, and it’s a whole mess of fun.
Critics who hate it be damned, I’ll probably enjoy it until my
last breath. Anyway, the next film up on the MediaView chopping
block – Bus Driver – gets the same respect as the aforementioned
film. It’s not great, but it’s too much fun to pass up! There’re
some spoilers ahead, so you’ve been warned.
“Bus Driver” centers on a group of deviants, who all fit some sort of stereotype (there’s your jock, weird kid, slut, goth chick and thug), along with their counselor and a bus driver. The group is setting out on a behavioral retreat because why not. But no sooner do they get going does the bus have an accident. Stranded and with no cellular signal on any of their mobile devices, the group finds a pretty rundown house looking for some assist. But what they don’t realize is that they’ve stumbled onto a house that’s attached to a meth lab, where some primo meth is made. Some of which is kept in locked boxes hidden in the house. And the drug dealers who want the product have made their presence known. Things soon turn ugly, with the counselor getting shot and all kinds of hell breaking loose. But the drug dealers didn’t count on one thing – the Bus driver (Steve Daron)! And he has a “very particular set of skills” that’s more than what the dealers can handle yet it's the key to the group’s survival. Ultimately, its one man against a bunch of thugs and not everyone is going to walk away from this unscathed or even alive.
I went into “Bus Driver” thinking this would be more of a horror film where the driver would start popping off the kids one by one. There’s even a point where Daron’s character has a couple of sneaky, side-eye moments before all this shit hit the fan. Thankfully this turned out to be more of an action film and there’s even a hint at a sequel, which I kind of hope it happens. Why? Well, I’ll tell you all about it in the TOV Breakdown.
The Good:
“Bus Driver” isn’t a great movie, and it does have quite a few inconsistent moments. I mean you have a group of drug dealers who are armed to the teeth versus a bunch of teen deviants, a wannabe Joe Pesci counselor and a bus driver with “the mad skills” all trapped in a house with no way out. You’d think the dealers would simply shoot up the place and take what they wanted. End of movie. Yea, it’s pretty terrible. However, “Bus Driver” is the kind of terrible I can get behind. The story is fairly simple, easy to dive into, and things kick off straight away with a few laughs and not too much backstory, which for a film such as this, it isn’t really necessary. And once the action kicks in, the film pulls no punches giving you all the blood spurts, bullets flying, explosions and impaling you can handle all within the window of 75 minutes. From start to finish, I enjoyed every minute of it. I gotta give kudos to the somewhat, sort of “John Rambo” throwback where Smythe (the bus driver) meets with his former General buddy. And this is where the possible sequel kicks in and I honestly hope it happens. I doubt it’ll be called “Bus Driver 2”, but if this kickstarts some type of action hero franchise then count me in!The acting isn’t anything to write home about. But this isn’t really the type of film where you'd go in expecting anything “Oscar-caliber”. But Steve Daron is my new go-to action hero. And if he’s putting out more stuff kind of like this or if there’s something out there I’ve missed, then I definitely want to check it out! In the end, action fans, if you're looking for something that’s a bit over-the-top, yet very entertaining then you should definitely look into “Bus Driver” to get that actiony fix you crave.
The Bad:
Again there were plenty of inconsistent moments, but there wasn’t anything too distracting that would make me want to turn off the film.
The Ugly:
JACE’S FACE!!! GOD DAMN!!!
“Bus Driver” is available now on both physical and digital formats. It truly was an unexpected yet entertaining experience that should please any fans looking for an action fix. And out of TOV 5 stars, I’m giving “Bus Driver” a 4.
