Command Performance

Command Performance 2009
Director: Dolph Lundgren
Writers: Steve Latshaw and Dolph Lundgren
Starring Dolph Lundgren, Melissa Ann Smith, Hristo Shopov, Dave Legeno, Zahary Baharov, Clement von Franckenstein, Ivaylo Geraskov, Shelly Varod, Kataryzna Wolejnio, Ida Lundgren, Robin Dobson, Raicho Vasilev, Slavi Slavov and James Chalke

Dolph Lundgren has always been one of my favorite action stars and I think one of the most underutilized and ignored ones. My fave films of his are I Come In Peace and Showdown in Little Tokyo. It had been a long while since I had seen any of his recent films and I saw a trailer for this one and it looked like it could be a good one. And thankfully, it really was. This had a very 80's throwback style to it and some of the best one liners in a action movie sine The Last Boy Scout. The action is pretty brutal and the story flows fast so you never have much time to rethink the film, just to enjoy the carnage that is thrust upon you. From the first kill by Lundgren in the bathroom, you are hooked until the final throw down between Lundgren and the heavy. This is a man's action movie and it makes no qualms about it.
The plot basics are this, in Moscow a charity concert is being thrown that will have the Russian President Petrov (Shopov) and his daughters in attendance. The main attraction is American pop sensation Venus (Smith). There is also a smaller rock band that has a drummer, Joe (Lundgren) with a dark past. Everything starts off well till armed extortionists take control of the stadium and hold the Russian President and Venus captive. This causes Joe to team up with a young F.S.B. agent to try to take control of the situation. Everything is not as black and white as it appears though, as the lead hostage taker (Legeno) has a bloody past with the President and will stop at nothing to get his payment in blood. It will all come down to a stand off between Joe and the vengeance seeking terrorist, but who will prevail?
This is a excellent action film. The direction by Lundgren is expertly done. He sets the mood of the film early on with a flashback sequence and then thrusts you full steam ahead into the action. The fight scenes are cut fast and quick but without being too distracting. The script is good, it gives the viewer just enough cause to root for Joe and his dilemma and I especially liked how they used the characters aversion to guns to get more creative with the terrorist take down scenes. The buddy cop relationship between Joe and the agent was very matter of fact and fun to watch progress as well. The cast is very good, Lundgren as always does a great job of playing the flawed hero, who has issues but is till able to make the right decision. Legeno was very good as the heavy, you really got to hate him and could not wait till Lundgren took him out. Smith was very able and sexy as the American pop star, and you hoped she would survive the experience. The action sequences are done very well, and are never lasting too long, but just long enough to get it done. The best one was the fight in the bathroom, I saw that scene and said "Hell, Yeah!" That is when I knew I would dig this movie. For fans of old school 80's action, I would highly recommend this one.
This one gets 4 out of 5