Cena plays New Orleans cop Danny Fisher, who pretty much single-handedly manages to capture international arms smuggler Miles Jackson (Aidan Gillen, who walks away with this film, performance wise), despite Jackson being wanted on several Federal warrants and being tailed by a posse of largely incompetent FBI Agents, including a special agent (Steve Harris) who seems to have a personal vendetta for Jackson. Fisher's capture of Jackson leads to the death of Jackson's squeeze, and Jackson tells Fisher, "I won't forget you." Flash forward a year. Fisher has been promoted to Detective, and suddenly his world is thrown into disarray (as, frankly, is most of New Orleans by the time this film is over) when Jackson escapes, kidnaps Fisher's girlfriend Molly (Ashley Scott), and then sends Fisher on a wild goose chase of various tasks (the "rounds" of the film) to keep Molly alive.

Director Renny Harlin, certainly holder of one of the most impressively "manic depressive career" awards (if there were such a thing), brings his testosterone fueled vision to the project, and manages to pump up the action elements to a point where they're simultaneously hilarious but also bracingly visceral. Harlin, who seems to ping pong back and forth between gigantic worldwide blockbusters and incredibly massive flops of various shapes and sizes (hence the manic depressive award), nonetheless has always had a striking visual sense, and it's on full display throughout 12 Rounds. That said, it's a little disappointing when one of the most innovative visual approaches in the film is opening credits sequence.

This film is so filled with a sort of steroid driven approach that it makes "serious" critical analysis completely moot. You know going into a film like this you're not going to get any deep ruminations on the human condition, or indeed really any compelling performances (which is why Gillen's rather striking work here is so notable). So you're left with the action element, and 12 Rounds mostly delivers in that arena. Some of it is silly, to be sure--Cena madly driving a gigantic fire truck through various sections of New Orleans, basically demolishing everything in its path. Other sequences, such as a streetcar careening madly out of control when Jackson disables its brake, manage to be both intentionally funny (an FBI agent's frustrating attempts to get the power company to simply turn off the power, which is greeted by repeated "please holds") and well staged and at least passingly bracing. Attempts to build a little human interest, such as Cena's unsuccessful attempt to rescue a, shall we say, somewhat rotund security guard from an elevator that's about to plummet to ground just kind of lie there, if they don't actually elicit guffaws from some more jaded viewers.

When all is said and done, then, if you set the bar low enough, any film can at least partially pass muster. 12 Rounds has the same sort of manic energy that, say, Taken does, if none of its (admittedly slim) emotional impact. This is a film designed to boost the blood pressure and adrenalin levels of what I imagine are mostly adolescent males, and it should do that in spades. While the denoument devolves into absolute dreck (one of the worst staged sequences of Harlin's often impressive--and often lamentable--career), for the bulk of this film there are enough explosions and other diversions happening on screen to keep you from thinking too much about the manifold lapses in logic and gaping plot holes. If you have young boys in your household, or are a big kid yourself, you probably won't find a lot to complaint about in 12 Rounds. Of course you'll find virtually nothing to rave about either. It's all about expectations.

The Blu-ray

Video:
12 Rounds at least looks pretty spectacular on this BD, with an AVC encode a brilliantly sharp 2.35:1 OAR. Colors, which are somewhat muted and tend to be on the green side of things, are nonetheless very well saturated and offer a broad palette to enjoy. A bit of very natural looking grain crops up in brightly lit shots (typically in establishing footage). My only complaint, and it's relatively minor, is that contrast is sometimes a bit murky. This film has everything from blastingly bright sunlit scenes to some very dark interior moments, and some of those interior moments are just very slightly hard to make out.

Sound:
As you might expect, 12 Rounds boasts a very impressive DTS-HD MA 5.1 mix that will set your walls and floor a-rumblin' with its frequently overpowering LFE. This is a pretty showy sound mix, with use of surround literally careening from channel to channel (for a good example, pay special attention to the directionality of the fire truck sequence). The only issue I had with this mix is how relentless it is--once the action starts, there's nary a quiet moment to be had, and it gets a bit wearying after a while. DD 5.1 mixes in French, Spanish, and Portuguese are also offered, as are subtitles in all soundtrack languages, as well as Cantonese, Mandarin and Korean.

Extras:
There are two versions of 12 Rounds on this BD--the theatrical cut and the "extreme cut," which is a scant 2 minutes longer than the original version. The only major difference I spotted was some "extreme" language in the unrated version. The Extreme Cut offers two OK commentaries, one by Harlin and another by Cena and scenarist Daniel Kunka. Featurettes include "Streetcar Crossing," detailing the difficulties of filming the out of control streetcar sequence; "A Crash Course" following Cena on some of the very scary stunts he performed for the film; "Keeping Score," showing composer Trevor Rabin working on cues; "Round and Round," a kind of silly sit down with Cena and Harlin; the more interesting "Bonus Rounds," collection of several shorts on various production aspects; a Gag Reel; two alternate endings (with optional commentary); and two "viral" videos about the film. There is a bonus digital download disc included with the BD.

Final Thoughts:
12 Rounds won't be winning any Oscars, but it's an OK action thriller with enough stuff spilling out of the screen and speakers to keep your mind off anything that may be bothering you--like the film itself. Rent It.

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"G-d made stars galore" & "Hey, what kind of a crappy fortune is this?" ZMK, modern prophet