Hey gang, Valkor here. I’m never one to turn down an action movie, especially if the box art sucks me in; doesn’t matter who’s in the starring role, if it brings the bullets and the explosions, then I’m all in. Last round Michael Jai White’s “Falcon Rising” won me over and it looks to kickstart a series of action films. But then I get tossed this new film, "Misfire DVD” and… the title pretty much describes this film to a T. because it’s a total misfire of what an action film should be.
In Misfire we meet DEA Agent Cole (Gary Daniels – Game of Death, Tekken), who travels to Tijuana, Mexico at the request of his bother Johnny (Michael Greco), after he is falsely accused of killing his wife Sarah (Patricia Peinado Cruz) - turns out she was only kidnapped. But the twist: Sarah is Cole’s ex-wife, so there’s some tension there, but not enough that it'll stop Cole from helping his brother. As he begins his investigation, he comes across Gracie (Vanessa Vasquez), who is also friends with Sarah. And with her help, along with other DEA Agents, they uncover a plot that’s bigger than just Sarah (or so it might seem). A ruthless Cartel looks to take his organization of out the shadows as he attempts to run for mayor. This leaves Cole to not only try to bring down but also save Sarah before it’s too late.
Gary Daniels is a proven action star and he's got the resume to prove it as his list of action films on IMDB is pretty damn impressive, with a mix bag of starring and co-starring roles such as Kenshiro from the HBO live-action Fist of the North Star film, The Expendables and Final Impact, this guy has played with the best and starred in some of the best… and worst action movies out there. So how does this new title rank? Let’s find out in the TOV Breakdown.
The Good:
Misfire, won’t rank high on the action film scale, but not because of the acting. Gary Daniels is at his finest, showing off much intensity in his character as well as being capable of pulling off some crazy moves against the baddies. The choreography is a bit sluggish, but still well done and nicely edited as the action scenes - whether they're hand to hand or shootouts - don't fly by across the screen. Toss in some sweet, sweet eye-candy in the form of Vanessa Vasquez and I’m not too disappointed at having sat through this 90 minute piece of Schmidt.
The Bad:
But it is pretty bad. As an action movie, Misfire needs to grab you right from the beginning – and it does, with a simple shootout. But then it lets you go as the plot slows to a crawl and doesn’t pick back up again until the last 15 minutes. By then I pretty much lost interest. Wait, no I lost interest when the main bad guy takes a backseat for his son, who Cole kidnaps in exchange for Sarah. The guy doesn't even take part in the swap! He's just a bad guy who's just... there. And that whole thing about this kingpin’s rise to political power… we never really go any further than that? Are we saving that for another film? Or maybe I missed something. I don’t know. I don’t care to know. I don’t care about this movie to be quite honest. But to continue with the bashing, the film is so paint-by-the-numbers that you can tell what’s going to happen either as its happening or right before – yes it’s that damn predictable that it makes the whole affair uneventful. Next, some of the shootout scenes are laughably bad; at one point Cole and Gracie are attempting to escape a trio of thugs. Cole takes out two quite easily, but the last guy, who stands all out in the open, he can’t or doesn’t even try to hit. Dude, he was right there and all Cole had to do was turn and fire. Done right? You would think so but that doesn’t happen. Finally, there’s the end battle between Cole and Cesar (the son of the kingpin), which was pretty weak. I mean, they face off with Sarah in between, but as soon as Sarah is out of the way, Cole takes him out and its pretty much end of movie.
The Ugly:
All my rage at this waste of time!
Misfire DVD (and digital format) gets a release on October 21st, but I recommend you take a pass on this one for an action film with a little more – no a lot more meat on it! Gary Daniel impresses but the film as a whole falls short. So, out of TOV 5 stars, I give Misfire a 1.5.
